In this paper I will demonstrate a consequence at times manifest in the semiotic transformations involving the treatment and conversion of a semiotic representation whose sense derives from a shared practice. The shift from one representation of a mathematical object to another via transformations, on the one hand maintains the meaning of the object itself, but on the other can change its sense. This is demonstrated in detail through a specific example, while at the same time it is collocated within a broad theoretical framework that poses fundamental questions concerning mathematical objects, their meanings and their representations.