نشریه پیکره
پیاپی 15 (بهار 1398)

According to the idea of intertextuality no text is formed by itself separated from other parts; no text is comprehensible without being related with other texts. Accordingly, all branches of science are interlinked to previously existent sciences. Similar to written texts, there is an intertextual relationship governing in painting in general and in classic paintings in particular. This intertextual relationship, during the course of art history, has been represented in certain artworks more vividly than in others. This study aimed to identify and analyze different kinds of intertextual relationship in paintings. On this basis, two paintings of Baroque era were analyzed based on general forms of intertextuality, that is explicit and implicit, posed by Gérard Genette, This study specifically aimed to discover whether it is possible, by analyzing the arrangement of elements and structural parts, to identify the two forms of intertextual relationship creating a semantic relationship between two texts leading to new interpretations. Accordingly, several outstanding Baroque paintings in which signs of one or more paintings are visible were grouped in terms of intertextuality quality by analyzing the structure of the paintings. In this regard, having adopted a deconstructivist approach to read a text, Ali Asghar Gharebaghi(2001) has analyzed one of the paintings of Johannes Vermeer in his article Genealogy of Postmodernism and by raising certain questions, has studied a kind of intertextual discourse between Vermeer’s work and the painting shown in the original work yielding a wider range of interpretations. Again, in Intertextuality in Painting by Wendy Steiner (1985) and in Influence and Intertextuality by Adem Genç (2016), pictorial similarities among the paintings of various perspectives have been examined. Notwithstanding, what has been particularly studied in this research is appreciation of relationship between two pictorial texts in terms of content and intertextuality based on their visual structure. As such, the approach adopted is not only helpful in the analysis process of a painting, but also in how to make references to other visual works.

Pop-up books are different from ordinary books in terms of shape and appearance. When open, the cut illustrated pages of the such books pop-up the book surface and then get back to their place when closed. The spatial sense of the book limits to horizontal space until the next use. The present research studied the structure of illustration in children pop-up books. With this end in view, the pop-up books ofAlessandra Psacharopulo were examined. The visual and narrative elements of three pop-up books of Alessandra Psacharopulo entitled Jungle, Garden and Dinosaurs were structurally analyzed. The research aimed to identify the visual potentials in pop-up books of Alessandra Psacharopulo considering the aesthetic values of the books and to discover the major factors to form the books. The two major sources which were specially used in this regard included Paper Engineering & Pop-Ups for Dummies, by Ives, Rob(2013), teaching how to build different styles of pop-ups and MA thesis of Fatemeh Azarbash entitled The Study of the Depth of Space in 3-D Illustration (2013) addressing the quality of visual element in 3-D illustrations.

In the process of creating and presenting artworks, the economy of art has been always a challenging issue. In this respect, some advocate the idea of marketing artworks which is more commonly known as art expos. Playing the role of the link between artists and clients (or patrons), art auctions both give credit to the quality of the artworks presented and make sure the clients of buying an artistically valuable artwork. In this regard, Tehran Art Expo is one of the best in Iran. Nevertheless, the extent to which Tehran Art Expo has had any impact on the Iranian artists is an issue which has not been studied in detail. In fact, what impact have the art auctions had on the Iranian artist and to what extent have they been motivated by holding national art expos are the main questions of the present study. Moridi and his colleagues (2009) showed in a research entitled the effective factors on the price of paintings presented in Tehran Art Galleries that, in terms of prices of the artworks being influenced, there is a significant relationship between aesthetic factors (such as style, technique, visual effects, etc.) and non-aesthetic factors (such as painters’ age and gender and the physical specifications of the artwork like size and the likes). Similarly, Ebrahimi and his colleagues (2015) in an investigation entitled the art economy and the weak points of Tehran Art Expo concluded that holding art expos, galleries and auctions helps the promotion of art economy considerably. Likewise, in a study entitled the influence of economy, culture and art on the Iranian contemporary paintings, Mobini and his colleagues (2015) showed that Tehran Art Expo’s focusing on visual arts has attracted investors in this field. Given that in the mentioned studies the factors motivating the artists, irrespective of the issue that the amateur artists are able to present their artworks in such expos/galleries/ auctions as well as the artists’ attitude towards the auctions, has not been examined. The present study aimed to examine the mentioned factors and to inspect the influence of holding auctions on the art economy.

Graffiti, a kind of media art originally emerged in the West, is not a medium to express ideas and attitudes of the marginalized political groups or those deprived of formal ways of propaganda. It appeared for the first time in New York in 1980’s. Thanks to symbols and allusions applied in graffiti, young artists represent their feelings and ideas through an arcane language. As such, they try to make themselves differentiated from the commonly accepted culture. This, to some extent, accounts for the underground nature of this art. Iranian artists, likewise, have started to express their stances with the help of graffiti.   In fact, in large cities of Iran, mainly in Tehran, a hidden bond has been made between graffiti and other aspects of the Iranian young people’s life style. The present research has examined the graffiti drawn in Ekbatan Town, western Tehran, in terms of style, technique, theme and semiotic elements. Considering graffiti as an objection art, this research has analyzed the visual and written content of the graffiti shown in Ekbatan Town in terms of social semiotics. In fact, the research aimed at, firstly, identifying graffiti as an art and, secondly, at addressing applications, styles and themes of graffiti. What is graffiti? What themes does it often deal with? What structures and styles are applied in graffiti? Does the society recognize graffiti as an art? These are all the questions the research is to answer. So far, certain studies have been done to address the issue of graffiti in general. However, no study has been conducted on the graffiti shown in Ekbatan Town, in detail, dealing with techniques and themes applied. Among the studies pointed out, two works are noteworthy: Graffiti as an Art for Objection, an article by Masoud Kowsari(2010), addressing graffiti sociologically, examining the history of graffiti in Iran. The second one is the book What is Graffiti written by Karen Rashad(2004) analyzing graffiti from philosophical, historical, artistic and social aspects.

During the Islamic era, carpet designers, influenced by the aesthetics of this religion, opted for the designs and patterns reflecting the Islamic concept of spirituality and monotheism. One of the oldest patterns that have been used in such designs is star shape, which has been applied in different forms in most of the Islamic artworks. This symbol is also of historical significance since it was used in different places, especially Iran, even in the pre-Islamic eras in order to convey particular concepts. The frequent use of star figure in the backgrounds, margins, medallions, and corners of different types of carpets in the Islamic era underscore the importance of investigating this pattern from aesthetic and symbolic points of view. The present study aimed to identify the various types of star patterns and examine their position in the Islamic carpets through investigating the carpets entailing this shape. In other words, this research was targeted toward determining the symbolic significance of star pattern in Islamic carpets and the manner of its utilization. This research sought to create awareness regarding the symbolic elements used in the Iranian carpet. One of the sources that has dealt with this topic is a book titled Kilim (Hall & Vivoska, 1998), according to which the star is generally a sign of happiness. Eight-pointed stars are most often observed in the Anatolian rugs due to technical principles and limitations. In a book entitled ‘Masterpieces of Fars Rugs’ (1996), Syrus Parham writes that stars, especially the eight-pointed star, plays a major role in the carpets produced in Fars.

As a result of the recent floods in the country which broke out in spring, 2019, affecting many cities of the country, not only many lives and properties were lost and huge numbers of citizens were displaced, but also serious problems were created. One of these problems was the disorder incurred damaging the views of the cities, villages and natural environment. In this regard, the intensity and volume of such disorder in Khuzestan province was much greater compared with other parts of the country. It was because in Khuzestan very extensive areas were seriously inflicted by the floods for much longer time. Accordingly, large numbers of levees and floodgates were built in various urban and rural spots of the province to mitigate the impact of flood havoc. As a consequence of these proceedings, many urban beautification practices previously done, including built urban furniture, particularly those built alongside the rivers, were totally damaged. The visual quality of urban and rural views in the province, though, was not that satisfactory even before breaking out of the floods. As such, the main problem the present study aimed to address was describing the challenges related with views of urban and rural spots in the province in general and to propose preventive approaches and regulations to lessen the destructive impacts of unexpected crises like floods and the likes in particular. The extent to which the urban view of Khuzestan province has been affected by the floods under discussion is the question the present study aimed to answer. The final aim of the study is to direct the attention of urban and rural authorities as well as those involved in natural resources towards the potentially dangerous problems existent in their districts particularly in the case of unexpected floods. As far as the issue of the impact of the floods on the urban and rural views as well as on natural resources is concerned, the author did not find any study done before. Most studies carried out so far have dealt with resistance of the cities during a flood.