نشریه پژوهش هنر
پیاپی 7 (بهار و تابستان1393)

These days، the global village faces with environmental crisis. Therefore، we are living in a world with an increasing need to pay attention to the surroundings through an environmental and aesthetic lens. Meanwhile، environmental art، as a new branch of art، attempts to view the relation between human beings and nature in a new light and with the help of all surrounding situations. With a deeper look at environmental art، its branches and artists who are active in this field، some new aspects will be revealed which are natural and، at the same time، cultural because nowadays cultural oppositions are indicative of the importance of studying culture and the role of various semiotic systems in collective memory. Moreover، it implies how a work of art، as a text، signifies and creates meaning and the artist creates an active، role-playing audience from among the implicit meanings and concepts hidden in layers deep down the work. Therefore، regarding the role played by semiotics in introducing today’s cultures and world، and since there is nothing empty of sign in semiotics، and also because the mixture of sign and non-sign worlds is worth thinking، in this study cultural semiotics deals with the relation between culture، nature and environmental works of art. Furthermore، this study aims to investigate the signs and deep layers of meaning through a cultural semiotic approach in each work. This is a descriptive-analytic study on the basis of which، while viewing some common points in applying the natural elements such as stone، wood، etc. in the environmental works of art and their mortality، it is possible to explore the expressive differences and how the elements are used in the subclasses of environmental art and the works of these artists. Furthermore، it can be concluded that these works، taking shape in the environment، are inseparable part of nature and human culture in different regions or more comprehensive cultures.

The human face and gestures inscribed on artistic works all suggest humane state in a special form and shape. The quality of displaying hair, eyes, nose, lips, mouth along with the general state of the face, hands, posture and gesture are all of this kind. On the other hand, human figures in the artistic form of Sassanid rock reliefs reflect the social conditions in their particular historical moments. Accordingly, analytic-comparative study of human iconography, investigating the significance of using social and aesthetic signs and codes of human states and gestures in Sassanid rock reliefs and stating their visual and aesthetic features and signs are the objectives pursued in this article. Based on inductive reasoning, first, the data was gathered from observing available pictorial works and documents of Sassanid art and library studies in all mentioned theoretical domains. Then, all data was classified and analyzed using content analysis method. Exploring the aesthetic issues in the states and gestures of human figures of Sassanid rock reliefs confronts the researcher with a set of conventions with abstract and general expression which tend to propel the human figure with a variety of edge lines to the two-dimensional surface and create a symmetrical and stable totality. The form resulted from such conventions is isomorphous figures with features which all originate from a single pattern. Human figure in such an attitude is a collection of selective aesthetic and social signs and codes. The stability of various visual signs in human figures of Sassanid art has led to the continuity of their signifying functions besides historical continuity. The functions of aesthetic and social codes in the sign system of mentioned social system is very important regarding establishment, stability and consolidation. Representing the figure of king in signifying gestures, as the sign system of Sassanids manifestation, is the main pivot of many displayed scenes in Sassanid reliefs. Thus, political, military and religious issues with emphasis on divine justifications and foundations of Sassanid government’s legitimacy are amongst the major issues considered by Sassanid artists in creating human figures.

Study of the evolution of clothing and decorations on it is important not only in terms of history and art but also from the perspective of sociology and semiotics. Embroideries of women traditional clothing of Minab city have a great place in Iranian handicrafts. Therefore, this paper has attempted to introduce the traditional embroideries to recognize Shakbafy motives on traditional clothing of Minabian women and thus identify the place of Shakbafy in traditional clothing. In fact, the authors have studied Shakbafy in traditional clothing of Minabian women using descriptive-analytical method (a combination of qualitative and quantitative content analysis) and collecting data via library and field methods by a number of tools such as fisch, observing card, tape recorder, camera and computer. After that, the motifs of Shakbafy have been identified and the application of them has been specified in the women clothing. Finally, the results show that Shakbafy motifs have been inspired and created according to regional paintings and been influenced by several elements such as nature. These motifs can be divided into two groups: geometric designs and rotating designs (flowers and plants) which are used for women traditional clothing including garment, cap and mask. In addition, geometric motifs in this kind of embroidery have been welcomed more than other motifs.

As one of the criteria and indicators for understanding existential aspects of human, ethics has had a great influence on the spatial structure of the Iranian traditional houses for a long time. Confidentiality and privacy which is a social concept are key moral values and the basis of attention to human dignity and esteem, and mean people’s right to be supported against others’ unallowable intervention in their lives. The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate the moral values in the spatial structure of the Iranian traditional houses focusing on the “confidentiality and privacy”. The method of the study is descriptive-analytic. First, through library research techniques, the concepts related to this issue were derived from several books of scholars, thinkers and Islamic verses and traditions, and then the role of confidentiality and privacy in the spatial structure of the Iranian traditional houses has been discussed and interpreted. The results of the study show that confidentiality and privacy are very important issues among Iranians and people have used Islamic verses and traditions as their model in this special field. On the other hand, confidentiality and privacy in the spatial structure of Iranian traditional houses have special manifestation that can be clearly seen in different aspects of spatial structure including awning, entrance and vestibule.

The eastern part of Iran, especially Khorasan, has been always considered as an important scientific center from the early Islamic centuries. Most scholars believe that school has been formed and developed in and from Khorasan. Considering the presence of Imam Reza (PBUH) shrine in Mashhad, this city has gained special status among the cities of Khorasan province and governments have built various schools there in different periods. Accordingly, this research aims to identify and investigate the structure and decorative motifs of schools in the historical periods of Timurid and Safavid via historical-descriptive method and using library and field data. Through this, the authors have studied the architecture of these two periods regarding school-constructing in order to recognize the changes of structure and decorations in Timurid and Safavid schools of this city.The principles of structure and decorative motifs have been always used in the design of building in line with transformations of schools’ architecture. Such growing process from Timurid to Safavid in the element of geometry and proportions moves from square to rectangle. Regarding structure, the trend is from four-veranda schools to two-veranda ones. With regard to decorations, the content of epigraphs in the two periods was tied with religious themes. Thus, this study tries to find the course of transformations and evolution in Timurid and Safavid periods and the general principles governing the architecture of old schools of Mashhad in the two eras.Finally, the investigation of schools in the two periods shows that the amount of financial support of patrons have influenced the size of building, method of construction, materials, capacity for accommodating the students and the decorations used in the schools.

The functional pattern and semantic square are both outcomes of structuralism in literary studies which analyze the work and gradually reveal the visual structure of it in order to reveal the motivation behind the main characters’ deeds and thoughts and the hidden structural connections which produce meaning. Accordingly, this paper tries to assess the quality of meaning appearance in the miniature work “The Court of Kiumars”, a masterpiece of Iranian miniature from Shah Tahmasb Shahnameh painted by Sultan Mohammad, concerning the oppositions of semantic square theory and presenting the functional theory by Greimas who is one of the thinkers of structuralism in semantics and semiotics in Paris. Further, the paper attempts to answer two questions: How can Iranian Miniature be analyzed by means of Structuralist approach? Is the general structure of this work applicable to the fixed patterns of Greimas concerning semantic oppositions and functional model? Although the research method used to conduct this study is descriptive-analytic and the information has been collected through library and field research, studying the very figures of the miniature itself has provided the best source to attain novel findings of the research. Meanwhile, while introducing Greimas’s theory of the quality of formation of meaning based on opposite poles, three of the most basic poles including the contrast between culture and nature, life and death, and the one between constant and changing (repose and movement) have been studied in the aforementioned miniature. Then, some clear and concrete instances of Sultan Mohammad’s artistry in drawing the miniature of the court of Kiumars have been presented based on Greimas’s functional pattern. In fact, analyzing this work according to Greimas model reveals the firm structure and connection between the components of this work of the 10th century (A.H). It also shows the potentials of this model in recognizing the structure and order of ancient Iranian miniatures as the drawer has naturally attempted to link the divine and material worlds and state the profound mystical notions by creating the existing contradictions and oppositions and trying to assimilate them.

Iranian ceramics have close relation with the life of people and are of unlimited usage due to the variety of form in all contexts. They are also of significance with regard to aesthetic aspect and considered as a comprehensive document of different eras of Iranian art. Thus, this study aims to explore the motifs of ceramic works of Safavid period from the perspective of Tabriz and Isfahan schools. Indeed, in this study, the ceramics of 10-12th centuries (A.H) are investigated and the prominent features of Tabriz and Isfahan schools of painting and their influence on the design process of ceramic works are explored. Then, a number of ceramic works are analyzed according to dominant themes of painting in that era. The question raised in this study is to what extent the changes present in Safavid painting have been reflected in its ceramics. The method used in this study is comparative-analytic and the data has been gathered via library sources as well as the websites of world museums and private collections. Finally, the results of this study show that the changes created in each school of painting in Safavid era have caused unique transformations in the designing of this era’s ceramics so that the domain of their decorations has been influenced. Meanwhile, Kamal al-Din Behzad and Reza Abbassi as the most influential figures of Tabriz and Isfahan schools of painting and development of Iran’s relation with other countries caused technical and conceptual changes in the performance of ceramics’ motifs.

Via semiotic method and based on alignment theory, this study aims to provide a structural analysis of commercial ads of the brands Coca Cola and Pepsi as well as McDonalds and Berger King, and investigate the formation of their identity. Based on such presupposition, the competitive advertising strategies between each pair of opposing and aligned brands are also evaluated as paradigmatic systems of binary oppositions. The method used in this paper is descriptive-analytic. The data was collected using the library and field methods. Sampling has been done through targeted and non-random sampling from a list of one hundred best global brands in 2010. The objective of this paper is to explore the factors influencing the identification of products and the relationship between form and meaning in them. Accordingly, the following questions can be raised: which factors can lead to the success of aligned brands in international trade and how opposing relations are built between aligned brands. Library studies of product semiotics along with field studies lead to the recognition of influential factors on the perception of addressee, classification of signs in the semantics of product and the table of aligned semiotics in the pair form for each class of under-studied brands.Via studying opposing relations between such brands the semantic implications of sign system used in their ads were found out. It was also found out that aligned advertising method can result in the pairing of rival brands while maintaining their unique identity. Such results can guide domestic companies which like to increase their share in the market and enter the arena of global competition by using aligned advertising method.