مجله مبانی نظری هنرهای تجسمی
سال پنجم شماره 1 (پیاپی 9، بهار و تابستان 1399)

The 17th century is well known as the beginning of the continent of Europe's entry into new eras following Middle Ages and even the age of renaissance, when political, economic, philosophical, scientific, cultural and artistic movements emerged. During this period, the ideas of Rene Decart, John lock and other French and British philosophers' ideas as well as viewpoints of scientists such as Blerr Pascall and Isaac Newton, Physicians from the same countries and William Shakespeare the English poet and writer, made significant changes and alterations to previous ideologies, beliefs and principles. At the same time, with the blossoming of Opera, refining of the instruments of modern orchestra and performing sounds in a multi tone manner (polyphony) instead of one melody (monophony), a new era began in music. These revolutions are called the age of enlightenment: the arts are intermingled with intellectualism, self-admiration, materialism and to some extent spiritualism in this new age. And from among all this, Baroque style was born. In fact, Baroque is recognised as an aristocratic, luxurious, counter-mannerist and regarding concept, a spiritual one, yet a materialistic art in terms of skill. One of the Italian artists of this era, i.e. Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, uses this style with a distinct outlook towards light and shade (Chiaroscuro), and creates a new style called 'Tenebrism'. Therefore, artists such as the French painter, Georges de La Tour, or the Dutch painter and print-maker, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, and many others were immensely influenced by the aesthetics of light and made more efforts to use this notion as compared to the past artists. The term Tenebrism is derived from the Latin word Tenebrea (meaning to dive into the depth of darkness) which is rooted in Christianity as well. As a style of painting within the history of Western art, Tenebrism begins with using the contrast between light and darkness as a theatrical element. Most artists use it first in the background of their paintings, then in the middle lastly in the foreground. In fact, they start by a making a part of their work very dark and then use the light to make the main part of painting to pop out and give the illusion of a three-dimensional work of art. This contrast between light and dark is called Tenebrosso in the Italian language. Likewise, Tenebres in the French language means angel, prince or king of darkness. The word Tenebrist also refers to an artist who is creating works of art in the framework of Tenebrism style. The paper at hands intends to analyze, examine and explore the visual construction and influential factors in aesthetics of light within Tenebrism. To this purpose, first the main question of this research is answered: How and why under the influence of new scientific experiments, the meaning of light has changed from that of a divine and sacred element in the past into a materialistic and worldly component in Western paintings? The research findings indicate that Tenebrism is the revelation of light within darkness; due to the firm belief and ideology of a lot of Western artists that everything (including the existence and light) is born from within the heart of darkness. Similarly, in Greek mythology, Apollo, the god of light, dispenses light far and wide while riding on his horse, in order to defeat darkness; Or in the middle ages, light was considered as a manifestation of God. The study comes to the conclusion that the age of enlightenment turned to be a notable era for transforming the preceding notions. Consequently, in a few paintings of this period, light concentrates only on the main subject to highly distinguish objects and characters; and it leaves the rest of the visual space in darkness. In fact, attention to such conception in few of art works of this period is not only driven from mythical and religious motives, but also from enlightening values and aesthetical understandings, all of which have been revealed in this study.

Encoded concepts and symbolic signs have always been used in art to express religious and ritual beliefs. All throughout the history, human societies have highly regarded various animals. Such outlook has ever been exhibited in the art of world cultures; however, none of these animals have enjoyed such significant status as lion. Since the Paleolithic period, various cultures have used lion's motif both in cave carvings and paintings. Looking at the history of art, we find that lion was one of the animals that held symbolic meaning for the peoples of the ancient cultures and civilizations, and they have used this motif, in combination with other symbolic elements such as wings, to convey other concepts. Although lion is one of the animals that threaten human lives, it has ever been portrayed in a positive role and as a powerful and exceptional animal. Lion is one of the most ancient symbols in Persian art and one of the motifs used most commonly on seals, containers, weapons, reliefs and sculptures. Symbolic meanings of this animal include: summer, monarchy, divine power and strength, protector, controller of spirits and devils, constellation and fertility. Persian art contains different illustrations of this motif and such representation is always associated with the magical concept of this animal in protection against evil elements. The human belief in constellation and its impression on life has significantly affected the development of this symbol. The winged lion is one of the most fascinating and common themes of ancient Persian art and has appeared on various artifacts such as reliefs, mud seals and metal objects. In the course of Sino-Iranian relations of the 2nd millennium BC, the native Iranian animal of lion was offered to the Han Dynasty in China, and with the arrival of this mythical beast, its accompanying symbols also made their way to China. In the process of transfer of symbols between nations, the meanings and concepts associated with each symbol are not necessarily transferred or accepted. In the new home, many of the symbols are merged with the old beliefs of the inhabitants and thus take new functions and meanings. Yet, during the transfer process, some symbols not only take their forms with them but also their accompanying ideas. The paper at hand first elaborates upon different types of winged lions portrayed on artifacts and architecture of ancient Persian civilizations to be followed by a study of this motif in ancient Chinese art. Moreover, the study aims to: 1- Recognize the ancient artifacts and artworks holding winged lions' motif which belong to ancient Persian art and art of the Chinese Han Dynasty and 2- Identify the similarities and differences of this symbol between the two cultures. Besides, the paper seeks to address these questions: 1- Where is the origin of the winged lion symbol? 2- Has Iran's winged lion motif affected the appearance of its Chinese counterpart? In what areas can this impression be studied? What are their similarities and differences? In order to answer these questions, the study endeavors to cover wing and lion motifs in terms of their mythical concept and application in both the civilizations through the study of the remaining objects. it seems that the first representations of the winged lion, as the guardian of the temples and tombs, were formed in ancient Elam civilization of Iran and have then become popular in China. Taking historical and descriptive-analytical approach and using library resources including documents, texts and images as well as numerous examples of winged lion in the art of ancient Persia and China, the article tries to make a fresh analysis of the subject matter and present examples of the impact of Persian art on Chinese motifs. The objects to be studied range from the artifacts of the ancient Persian to the Parthian period and the ancient China to the rule of the Han dynasty. The statistical population of this research includes the artworks in the Louvre Museum, National Museum of Iran, Metropolitan Museum of New York and the United Kingdom's Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Zurich Museum Rietberg, the Atkins Museum of Kansas City, The Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio, Guimet Museum in Paris, the Hermitage Museum, Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago, Taipei's National Palace Museum, the Iraqi Museum of Baghdad and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. A total of 21 Iranian and 18 Chinese pieces have been chosen for this study.

My Name Is Red is a novel that contains a small world of painting. The novel, set in late 16th-century Istanbul, revolves around a small group of miniature experts and narrates a story of murder, love, art and philosophy narrated by several people in first-person perspectives. Postmodernist narrative features are apparently displayed in narrations. Therefore, we can see several stories in this novel. First is the story of love between Kara and Shekure, and the other is the disagreement between the court painters and the murders that follow. Fear of the court painters of breaking the old miniature traditions and turning to Western painting is another interesting topic narrated here. The novel has been based on these main motivational stories. Another important issue in My Name Red is the information offered to the reader on the miniature history, explanation of miniature with short stories, the interpretation of this art and other related issues. The novel also illustrates the confrontation between Eastern and Western art among the events. The paper aims to study and compare the impact of Persian painting on the structural and contextual narration of My Name Is Red. What this essay seeks to address is the appearance of Persian painting at the heart of the narrative, on which Pamuk has founded his story's structure. By examining the structure of the novel, one can see that the novel has been developed based on pre-existing materials, just as a Persian painting is based on pre-existing paintings. Therefore, one can say that the foundation of My Name Is Red have been based on Persian painting and the textual world around it. Studies show that most of the pre-texts used in this novel are visual, thus, at best, this structure can be studied and investigated through ekphrasis. Pamuk has incorporated visual pre-texts of Persian paintings through both actual and notional ekphrasis. Ekphrasis is the most powerful tool that Pamuk has used to create the visual world of his novel. The present study attempts to find answers to how the form and structure of Iranian painting has been reconstructed in My Name Is Red. For this purpose, descriptive-analytical research method and library research have been employed to collect information. A number of actual and notional ekphrasis that the author has described in his novel have been identified and elaborated upon. Then, through bringing their pictures, the study illustrates how Pamuk has used them. The characteristics of the Herat School in the descriptions of several scenes of the novel have clear references to some Iranian paintings. The matching of these sections confirms the formal and structural connection of the novel ‘My Name is Red’ with Persian painting. This novel’s charm and significance is due to detailed descriptions of the visual world of Persian paintings. Therefore, painting plays an important role in this novel and presents different features and the history of this art. This study identifies and explains many of the objective ekphrasis that this author has described; through the description of the images of these assemblies, one can find out how these images have been born into words by Pamuk, then we’ll came to the cases where Pamuk's representation of Persian paintings is in the fictional context of the novel. Orhan Pamuk defining features of the Herat School in the descriptions of the novel are close to many scenes to Persian paintings, as if we are watching familiar scenes of illustrations. Comparing this novel’ narration with the paintings brings to mind the theory of intertextuality and reveals the formal and structural entanglement of the novel, My Name Is Red, with Persian painting. The study of important historical and artistic pieces of information and pretexts indicates that this novel can be considered as one of the most remarkable literary works of fiction in contemporary world literature. The world of ‘My Name Is Red’ is surrounded by paintings and their stories that can be seen everywhere and in every field. My Name Is Red is itself a miniature painting created by Pamuk. In fact, he has painted with words. Pamuk has portrayed the scenes, characters, and details of this narrative like a painting. There is a harmonious relationship between words and images. The author describes the visual feature through the verbal characters. Miniature and portraiture styles of painting are described through the medium of written language. The findings of this study prove that this author has used the same techniques for narration. My Name Is Red offers a new perspective to writing and reading literary works. This novel makes use of the potentials of words and phrases to create images. Analyzing and the results of the studies conducted through the lens of visual culture and ekphrasis reveals the author's extraordinary talent in representing this type of writing. It puts before us a novel that is like illustrated copies of images. This narration is filled with images each of which has its own story.

The Safavid dynasty (1501-1722) is associated with some of the most exquisite works of miniature ever produced in Iran. In terms of significant political and social events, this era can be considered as a turning point in the history of Persian art. One of the considerable events that occurred during this period was the expansion of relations with Europe, the reflection of which might be found in paintings. Moreover, the unsteady royal patronage of miniature painting, especially in the second century of Safavid rule, resulted in the emergence of other patrons of art. The role of these new patrons, who were mostly merchants, professionals and officials, altered the types and content of Safavid miniature paintings. The artists produced single page paintings and drawings, which were not intended for inclusion in literary texts but were rather designed for exquisite albums. This new form of miniature was created most often under the direction of a painter or calligrapher. They grouped together calligraphy, miniatures, drawings, and also ancient works of art. The increased attention to the single page and album making is one of the characteristics of later Safavid art. It was in this context that new subject matters like theater and popular entertainments were chosen by the painters. This paper, which studies theater and popular entertainments in the Safavid period in two groups of religious and non-religious, tries to answer the question of their representation in paintings and drawings. Of the religious types of drama only several examples of dancing dervishes can be mentioned. Among the non-religious examples, attacking animals and other kinds of playing with animals are most often illustrated. The significance of this type of popular entertainment is revealed from the fact that the most famous painters of the later Safavid period like Riza Abbasi (d. 1635), Mu‘in-i Musavvir (d. 1693) and Muhammad Ali have depicted such themes. Whereas most of the talented painters worked for the royal courts, Riza Abbasi, the chief painter of the court of Shah Abbas I (r. 1587 - 1629), since around 1603 held a non-conformist attitude and depicted scenes of everyday life and popular entertainment. In this period of his life that Sheila Canby have referred to as the “rebellious” period, Riza veered away from his courtly life and employment, associating with dervishes, wrestlers, and musicians. One of the most talented followers of him, Mu‘in-i Musavvir, was as prolific a painter like his master. They have portrayed several cases of a monkey riding a lion or ram and also scenes depicting a monkey-trainer (or qarrad). By the beginning of the seventeenth century, several representations of dancers dressed in goat skins, some of which drawn by Muhammadi Heravi, had survived. Muhammad Ali, the well-known Isfahan painter of the mid-seventeenth century, has also depicted animals specially trained for circus performances. Of the other examples of non-religious drama, several miniatures in manuscripts and albums that depict scenes of royal clowns, dancing ceremonies, wrestling matches and playing polo, have survived. It seems that in spite of the fact that Safavid rulers were staunch supporters of Shiʿi Islam, none of the religious ceremonies like taʿzīa was illustrated during their rule. In fact, most types of drama in the Modern sense were formed outside of the royal courts and were not patronized by the Safavid rulers.

The present study aims to explain the role of ethical content among the artists and general audience in terms of (1) ethics in an artwork; (2) relation of ethical elements with the artist as well as the audience. To this purpose, two questions can be formulated: 1. To what extent do artists pay attention to the role of ethics in the creation of artworks? 2. What effect does the moral component of an artwork have on the perception of the audience? The paper at hand has employed a descriptive-analytical method of research and the data has been gathered through the desk study of library resources as well as field survey (filling out questionnaires). The survey included two groups: (1) artists, art graduates and students at different academic levels from six prominent universities in Tehran and (2) general audience comprising of those with artistic background as well as the general audience studying in various academic levels and disciplines at different universities in Tehran. Three factors were considered in the selection of the general audience: (a) strategies in choosing the artistic style; (b) ethics in the creation of the artwork and (c) ethics and the audience. Using the Variance Formula and F-test, the results obtained included 49/59, 26/191, 81/346 respectively. Based on the statistical results, 2/65 of the first group approved the use of strategies and the choice of artistic style above 50% on average. A comparison of the opinions of the members of the same group showed that the use of the ethics in the creation art work is at 29%; i.e. less than the average level. These numbers indicate that in this group, considering the option of audience and ethics in the creation of works of art by 40.2 is consistent with their views. A comparison of the artists' opinions with respect to items such as their years of artistic activities, shows a difference of ideas among them.  However, the application of strategies and artistic style and ethics in the creation of artworks are different. A comparison of the viewpoints of the second group of participants in the study reveals that there is a relation between the rate of employing ethics in the creation of artworks with the author’s academic level. Ph.D. holders of non-art disciplines were more interested in strategies and styles (8.76) and B.A and B.S. holders were the least interested while those with master’s degree had the least interest in ethical factor (2.31). The analysis of the findings related to the art style and ethics indicates that the general audience expect 79%, 63%, and 83% more than average that artists should use style and the ethics for the creation of artworks and believe these are a part of the intrinsic value of the artwork. The statistic results show that the rate of the ethics employed in the creation of art works is lower than the average. There is a meaningful difference between pro-ethic public audience and artists who think of no limitation for the creation of the artistic work in terms of ethics. Standard deviation is higher with the general audience too. Experimental F, also shows the same opinion on the part of the non-specialist audience. The findings of the study indicate that the content-ethnics is not similar for the artists and audience. In response to the study questions, it seems that the ethical factor for general audience is more important than the artists. However, artists and specialist audience are on the side of creativity and artistic values of the artwork than the ethical issues. The conclusions drawn from the study, reveals that among the artistic community, there is no direct relationship between ethical values and aesthetical values of a piece of artistic work. However, the ethical values can be taken into consideration in theoretical and practical education of the art students to make a balance between ethics and artistic works.

In their changing, complicated course within the global paradigm, the approaches and attitudes towards contemporary art education have taken new directions mainly towards broader interaction between arts and communities as well as establishing meaningful, critical connection between art programs with that of the learners' daily routines. That is why the study of culture and folk traditions of local communities and integration of such traditions into educational programs tailored to the values ​​and requirements of these communities have been taken into consideration. With a post-modernist perspective, community-based art education is one of the approaches taken to teaching and learning art in an interdisciplinary field, which perceive all types of connections between arts and communities through the elaboration of educational theories and practices. Since one of the important presuppositions of this approach is relying on the rich context of experiences, culture and art of the local/folklore communities, this study will examine the challenges of the area of Iran folklore and indigenous arts pertaining to ritual dolls and elucidate their various dimensions in a community-based art education framework. Then study has employed applied developmental research approach as well as exploratory-qualitative method with phenomenological approach. The study population consisted of educators, artists, and researchers actively involved in the field of indigenous arts, especially puppets, and engaged in art education. The sampling method used was purposeful and homogeneous which, taking into account the inclusion criteria, reached the theoretical data saturation with 9 individuals. Moreover, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data for this study. The validity of the data was confirmed by evaluative criteria of Lincoln & Guba (1985), Denzin (1978), and Patton (1999). The data was analyzed through inductive method using Collaizi's seven-step method (1978). Based on the findings, the challenges of community-based arts education were categorized into two main intra-institutional and extra-institutional levels and 18 themes. At the intra-institutional level, the challenges included the lack of a comprehensive approach to art education, coaching skills, audience analysis, dialogic production, multicultural knowledge skills, and social leadership skills. At the extra-institutional level, the challenges were the social welcome, the reduced status of art to pleasure and delight, semantic evolution, ritual confinement, functional threat, intertwining of symbols and intergenerational expectations. The results showed that the development of a community-based educational approach is considered a necessity in contemporary Iranian art education. Acknowledging the art, the culture, and the heritage of their communities and benefiting from them in their curriculums, the educators can empower learners’ cultural identity. Besides, the study outcomes indicated that the educators who, through experience, have been able to integrate folk arts such as dolls into their art education program, have experienced unintentionally the social functions of community-based arts. According to another part of the results of this study, local community-based arts should be capable of producing intellectual challenges and audience engagement as well as producing content appropriate to the audience, while this is absent in the current education process for these arts. The extra-institutional challenges section illustrates that community-based arts are not a concern for current society, and one of its important reasons is the shift in intergenerational expectations, semantic evolution, and ritual confinement, limiting the doll to the ritual field, which seems to be considered of no use in today's society. In addition, the current society has at best reduced art to a level of enjoyment and recreation; and thus, learning from arts is not much taken seriously. Community-based arts in this sense cannot be central to society.

Tribal and nomadic Iranian rugs are adorned with various motifs arranged as per the known rules pertaining to visual rules. The geometric pattern of square comprises the basis of many motifs used in handwoven fabrics. A detailed study of the background of the motifs on hand-woven rugs reveals their most ancient counterparts. Based on a comparative study, these motifs might be the roots of contemporary geometric motifs reflected on handwoven fabrics. Continuity is the characteristic of Iranian art. Although it was believed that the written signs and symbols used in the pre-Elamite and old Elamite era before the popularization of cuneiform have been forgotten, a comparative study of the motifs used in the rural and nomadic handwoven fabrics with some of such signs reveals some surprising facts. This research paper has employed intertextuality approach. Whenever there is an element in the two texts, an intertextual relation is created. In general, the intertextual relations can be categorized into three: explicit, implicit and tacit. Explicit intertextuality refers to the apparent presence of one text in another. In this type of intertextuality, the author of the second text does not intend to conceal his reference, and thus, uses signs that can be identified and even referred to as intertextual. The type and application of the contextual symbols and the difference between these two texts results in the formal transformation of the elements in the second text. For this reason, in this type of intertextuality, certain people, that is special audiences, who are specialized in the texts (especially the first one), are able to identify the intertextual elements. In this study, the first or pretext are Elamite tablets and signs and the second or hypertext, is the nomadic and rural rugs of Iran. Based on intertextual relations, if the geometric patterns of the hand-woven fabrics are repeated exactly similar to inscriptions, they should be classified as explicit intertextuality. Investigations carried out for this study display that the system of inscriptions and their layouts have not been exactly reproduced on the hand-woven fabrics; however, a new system have repeatedly organized Elamite scripts on the Iranian Rugs. This can be identified as some type of tacit intertextuality which results in the formal transformation of the elements in the new text.     In this research, formal transformation of geometrical signs derived from squares have been analyzed. The signs have been read based on the formal similarity of the elements because the meaning of the signs in the inscriptions have been read hypothetically without any decisive proof. Therefore, to prove the intertextual relation of the two texts, the comparison has been made on form and appearance. The main question of the research is what are the differences and similarities between the common signs in the two areas of Persian hand-woven fabrics and ancient cuneiforms. In fact, the paper seeks to prove one of the earliest pretexts of the formation of geometrical square motifs in Iranian handwoven fabrics which is the Elamite cuneiform. Moreover, it aims to illustrate what changes have Persian handwoven fabrics have imposed on pretexts (Elamite signs). The analysis focuses on a kind of transtextual relation between the two fields of study of ancient scripts and Persian rugs, with the two having around 5000 years of time difference. Moreover, the paper intends to study the visual and semantic values ​​of the rural and nomadic rugs and their similarity with the most ancient cuneiforms in Iran; elaborate upon the motifs of handwoven fabrics as meaningful signs, and finally elucidate the possibility of the continuation of the disrupted cuneiforms on the textiles. The study has employed descriptive-analytical approach in terms of methodology. Data has been collected through desk study of library resources (i.e. note taking and image analysis) and data analysis was done qualitatively. The study results indicate that the Elamite inscription cuneiforms are the oldest pre-text of the formation of geometric patterns of Persian rugs. Twenty-one geometrical symbols derived from square geometrical motifs are common to both the ancient Elamite cuneiforms and Iranian handwoven textures. Some of the signs are totally unique and have been used repeatedly within the text and on the margins while some others constitute the overall structure of a texture and imply a tacit intertextual relation. There is no explicit intertextual relation between the works of the two fields as no systematic representation of the inscriptions have been found in any of the texts. What is certain is that 21 cuneiforms that were hitherto thought to have been forgotten have made their way to the present day in Iranian handwoven fabrics. The main difference between the two categories is the transformation in the arrangement of the signs from that of the Elamite cuneiform to the recurring geometric patterns on the Iranian rugs. As per the rules of intertextuality, no text will be created without a reflection of previous texts. The earliest meaningful Iranian signs that form geometric patterns are the Elamite cuneiforms. Pre-Elamite and Linear Elamite scripts carry signs, some of which may have been deciphered by Walter Heintz. A comparative Study of the motifs of handwoven rugs with Pre-Elamite and Linear Elamite scripts demonstrate that the earliest pre-text of the square-shaped Iranian motifs is rooted in inscriptions dating from the third millennium BC. The intertextual relation between the linear signs of the pre-text (inscriptions) and motifs of the hypertext (handwoven fabrics) is tacit. Because the motifs drawn from the square pattern taken from the structural system of the Elamite script and language have recurred on fabrics.

Machine-made carpet industry is now welcomed throughout the world. Due to their reasonable prices and also the wide range of manufacturers' advertisements, Iranians tend to buy machine-made carpets more and more. In recent years, the efforts of machine-made carpet manufacturers have focused more on upgrading weaving machines and increasing the quality of carpets in terms of weaving technology and the production and supply of 1000, 1200 and 1500 reed carpets with high densities which has made the competitive market more dynamic. However, unfortunately, due to lack of consultation with professional designers and the lack of attention towards research and development particularly in the field the design, many deficiencies in this field. Because of the variety of tastes of consumers and their different needs on one hand, and the existence of a competitive environment among manufacturers, on the other, the design and development of new carpets has always been a challenge for companies. It is now time for customers to choose the right carpets from companies whose products and services are of the same quality, and the customer's better sense of the variables, such as design and color, can greatly influence their choice of selection and purchase. Therefore, in today's competitive environment, consumer-centric carpet design is a necessity. The current paper aims to examine the social behavior of buyers of machine-made carpets and the relationship between the design and color of carpets and the emotional preferences of the consumers of this product. Then, it tries to answer these questions that what is the relationship between the social variables of buyers and the design and color of carpets? What are the desirable visual features of the buyers of machine-made carpets? This study employs descriptive-analytical method of study. Data for the descriptive section have been gathered through the collection of information on the machine-made carpet industry with theoretical orientation of research being Kansei engineering. Kansei engineering method has been used to analyze the data collected using SPSS and Excel software. The correlation test has also been used to study the relation of demographic variables with design and color on one hand and the relation between design and color characteristics of carpets and customers' feelings on the other. Kansei engineering method enjoys a special technology that regulates human emotions in the form of quantitative data. In this area, those products are developed that bring happiness and inner satisfaction for the user. A number of 110 Machine Carpet buyers who had visited "Mr. Carpet" hyper market in the summer of 2018, expressed their feelings regarding the carpets of their choice in the form of Kansei words. Eleven Kansei words related to the feelings of carpet customers were selected by observing the buyers’ behavior and interviewing them as well as consulting with the sellers and experts of this industry, and semantic differential scale and rating of 7 houses was presented to buyers.  Also, 27 features related to the design and color of these carpets were considered. Data was analyzed using SPSS software and correlation method. The results indicated that at present, Afshan (all-over pattern) design is more attractive to buyers than others followed by Corner-medallion design. Also, the three features of quality, harmony with the household furniture and price, are more important in the customers’ choice of selection. The results of correlation analysis showed that the customers are more looking for impressive, elegant, vibrant designs for their living rooms, and the effectiveness of the design can be achieved by designing two or more texts, using delicate designs, Khatayi spirals as well as discontinuous and meander borders.

The mysterious nature of mirrors has always been and attractive for artists to choose as their subject matter for the creation of the artwork. This is not just due to their reflective quality of their surroundings but also because of their capability to change such reflections. Today, mirrors and knowledge about them are being used beyond their reflecting feature more than any time before. Mirrors have coexisted mysteriously with the art and have found their special meanings in different cultures in the same way that art has enveloped other sciences, like psychology, politics, and technology. The complexity of mirrors and their ability to reflect things in a unique way is contrary to their simplicity. Therefore, their impression on their audiences varies from person to another. In other words, this method of “deconstructive reflection” (as Derrida has named it), can be explained as: the hidden meanings of signifiers that are constantly suspending and floating; the subject finds its meaning only through its division, multiplication, and expansion in space and floating in time. Using mirrors in the field of interactive arts can represent the relationship between the artist and his inner and outside world. The involvement of mirrors in artworks can be a way of representing the audience by the artist, in a way that the presence of the artist/author is unavoidable in some of the new artworks. This form of indirect interaction within the symbols, signs, and/or archetypes in the art work can create a multi-layered relationship with the audience. Moreover, such interaction between the audience and artwork makes the role of artist even more effective and also creates a new form of perception and understanding for the audience. In this essay, attempt has been made to study and analyze the roles and functions of mirrors in the new interactive arts. Therefore, the author has proposed a method to examine the potentials of the poststructuralist ideas, such as Roland Barthes and Derrida’s, and if they are employable on Post-modern art. Furthermore, the paper seeks to respond to the literary idea of “The Death of the Author” and if we can perceive new meanings from artworks through this Barthesian debate. To this purpose, the research studies the roles of mirrors in the post-structuralist framework and Barthes’ theory of “The Death of the Author”. Hence, on one hand, this essay challenges this Bathesian theory in the interpretation of contemporary artworks, and on the other, analyzes mirror’s functions through Derrida’s post-structuralist theory. Finally, this essay concludes new responses to the author’s transformational role in the relationship with the audience and artwork. Through this relationship, the paper presumes that not only the author is not dead or absent in the art work-audience relationship but also exists in a more effective way through his indirect interaction with his audience. Interactive arts, including those that involve functional mirrors, are appropriate candidates for this research elaborating upon the thoughts and ideas of post-modern theorists like Barthes and Derrida. The data required to conduct this research has been gathered through the desk study of library resources taking descriptive-comparative method. The statistical population includes six examples of interactive arts created during the past decades. The works selected are sufficient to support the paper’s hypothesis and also extend it to the aforementioned theories.

Semiotics, as a text-analyzing method, among others, studies semiotic systems to infer overt and covert implications of signs. It seems that during Naser al-Din Shah's monarchy, semiotic system succeeded in making the desired nature of its own using new tools of promotion such as banknotes which were the product of the advent of modernity in Iran. On the other hand, as this pictorial text combined textual and pictorial signs, it paved the way for the emergence of a new branch in the Iranian graphic design called 'banknote design'.  However, banknote was introduced in Iran almost a century after it became popular in the world and after Nasser al-Din Shah's return from his third trip to Europe. But apparently, from the very beginning, this visual text served as an appropriate context for the King's propaganda campaign. Supporting such claim is possible through analyzing it using approaches such as semiotics, because in general, the main focus of the studies conducted so far on the subject have been limited to examining its historical and artistic aspects including photography, without endeavoring to explore its explicit and implicit implications. Therefore, some researches must be conducted that apart from the above, are able to discover the intent behind using the image of Nasser al-Din Shah on Iran's first paper currency. Through the application of one of the practices of semiotics called 'the Pierce trilogy pattern', new data of the unknown dimensions of the subject can be obtained, because if studied through semiotics, that its broadest meaning is the study of forms of formation and the exchange of meaning on the basis of sign systems,  the meanings conveyed through the printing of this visual element could be identified. However, a more accurate analysis reveals that due to the visual nature of the the design of banknotes, it is recognized as a physical phenomenon. However, this not absolute because this text, like other ones, has constantly fused with the implications which play a covert, yet practical role in reading its text. Such has happened to the extent that it has affected the original formula and its literal meaning in the name of paper money. Nonetheless, Barthes 'anchor theory' can be employed to avoid the floating of various meanings and concepts of this visual symbol and image and thus stabilize the multi-semantic feature of the language, because through reading the figures or other information written on the banknotes of this era, their economic value could be determined. Yet based on the fact that semiotics is phenomenally textual, that is in every action, an objective communication is formed according to its comprising implications and that's why it's open, not closed. Hence, based on this open process, the design, printing and overall production of banknotes contains the image of Nasser al-Din Shah during the Qajar era were not just meant to produce some valuable piece of paper because otherwise, its meaning would have just served as a sign or its explicit meaning and doesn't serve other intertextual implications or other tacit notions. Therefore, the paper at hand intends to examine multiple implications of this pictorial text and its signs. Semiotics comprise of different approaches including reading and analyzing artistic texts. In fact, as a narrative analysis of texts, this method of study emphasizes on the role of the semiotic context in shaping meaning through examining signs as constructive wholes and also seeks to discover their hidden and implicit meanings. Accordingly, in order to conduct a proper analysis of the subject matter in this article, Pierce's three-dimensional model has been taken from among a wide range of tools. Pierce introduced his paradigm of sign in the three aspects of form, interpretation, and subject. Based on this pattern, it seems that a note, reflecting the image of Nasser al-Din Shah, is an interpretation, because interpretation is the form in which the sign appears or in the way the object is represented in the manner. So as to obtain results, this paper has adopted qualitative approach and has used analytic method. Data has been collected through desk study of library resources and examination of pictorial documents. Moreover, the research has been based on the semiotic theory of Charles Sanders Peirce which covers elements of sign, interpretation and object to answer this very question that what is the interpretation of the semiological analysis of Naser al-Din Shah's portrait on the first Iranian banknote as a reflection of the top official authority of the country? Aiming to discover and infer the hidden meanings and implications of the said sign (i.e. Naser al-Din Shah's portrait on the first Iranian banknote), the semiotic theory of Charles Sanders Pierce has been used. The research outcomes indicated a continuity of the court's iconography and portrait painting traditions of Iranian monarchies along with habit of highlighting the most powerful auhtority of the country which resulted in the use of banknotes as both ideological tools and public advertizing media to emphasize the legitimacy of the prevalent government.

The present situation of clothing and fashion refers indicates that the new middle class generation associates more importance to a clothing’s brand rather than its quality, beauty and other common element and considers it as a way of self-presentation to others. Brand is one of main the concerns in designing and producing commodities, especially in fashion designing industry. In general terms, brand refers to the name and logo of a product, while it conveys a more profound concept in the professional world. The classic definition of brand is: the interaction between the consumer and the product with the intention of shaping the consumer's identity, creating a sense of belonging to a specific product to ensure its continuous use and thus cater for economic benefits. Brand is a system of signs and symbols that involve the consumer in a process of symbolic participation and mental interaction that turn to be the tangible values of a product. This system is organized by a complex matrix of indicative factors. So, usually, its realization is possible through relying on a complex of connotations such as quality, beauty, form and etc. The present research concerns the signs' function in todays' clothing fashion industry and the consumer's behavior in contact with it. In the modern industrial age, every brand was trying to persuade the consumer of the advantages of a product in terms of its superiority, distinct identity and a specific social class through aesthetic factors and signs such as quality, beauty, high costs and etc. As a result, the consumer used to do all his/her best to own the product and that was how the Brand was able to create and provide identity. This way, the leading brands of industrial age became an incentive for creating mental associations and were also able to establish some sort of stable and fixed image about themselves in the minds of the consumers beyond the product codes and the customer's personal mental ambience. At that time, brand was a seamless totality and the design found meaning through production. Every brand used to not only define its consumer class but also set the competition atmosphere and concentrate on this limited yet permanent market. However, in postmodern and present post-industrial age and with the advent of globalization, the structures have changed. Some factors have revolutionized the former situation of brands. Some of these include the surge in competition and consumption, diversity of societies, tastes and cultures, variety of choices for the previous users who were in minority, social classes with different incomes and eager to use brands and finally, fake products of high quality. This will transform one of the most important exterior expressions of the brand: the symbolic expression. The study aims to investigate the functional characteristics and role of the signs in the formation of the consumer's identity and maintaining his/her loyalty to the brand with the purpose of acquiring economic objectives. It also intends to examine the influence of the changes on the signs. With the study of the brand function, the identity, the sign and their relation with fashion’s functions, the changes in signs as well as the relation of the clothing’s brand with the consumer to define identity will be revealed. The research has employed descriptive method and the theories of great postmodern intellectuals including Roland Barthes and Jean Baudrillard on fashion, connotations and signs act, and also Charles Sanders Peirce semiotics to define the rank of signs in a product (clothing) have been applied. The results indicate that besides the postmodern developments in the transformation of structures, the attempts to develop markets and maintain the connection with the consumer, the brands have replaced modern, symbol-index based signs with that of direct implications, self-referrals and inducing identity through iconic immediate interpretations while they still apply connotations to form the user's identity. Such attempt results in decreasing the consumer's role and his/her resistance when facing a brand and results in using the simple symbolic exchange. This can be called a de-identifying process with much transformation.

Beauty is a divine blessing which is reflected in all aspects of the Iranian life and has affected all parts of their lives. Every applied object is also beautiful and has ever held such charm. This aesthetic aspect of the Iranian art is expressed in the form of decorations and elements of the Iranian art. No boundary can be defined in the application of the decorations and their artistic aspects. This mutual interaction can be seen in architectural decorations and illustrations of certain books, such as Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, so that in each period, the Iranian miniatures have been used to depict decorations used in other arts and the magnificence of the buildings has been reflected in the paintings and the miniatures. Built between 1304 to 1312 AD by the decree of Oljaitu, the Soltanieh Dome is one of the architectural masterpieces of the Ilkhanid period and it has various decorations. Demotte Shahnameh is one of the oldest pictorial versions of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, which is believed, by most researchers of the Iranian art, to date back to the years between 1331 to 1337 AD. Therefore, given that the magnificent monument of Soltanieh Dome and the pictorial version of Demotte Shahnameh were created in a close time span during the Ilkhanid period, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of the architectural motifs of Soltanieh Dome on architectural decorations depicted in the illustrations and motifs of Demotte Shahnameh and thus to provide a comparative study of the two. The key question is: How has Soltanieh's dome architectural decoration influenced the architectural motifs of the Shahnameh paintings and miniatures? In order to answer this question, the architectural decorations of Soltanieh dome and the miniatures and paintings of the Demotte Shahnameh have been analyzed in terms of decoration style, motifs and the applied location. In order to conduct a comparative case study of the two artworks, written sources, library documents and a valid virtual database have been used to gather the required data for the theoretical section of the study while data for the field study section have been acquired through observation. Decided by the nature of the data gathered, they will be first analyzed qualitatively to be followed by comparison. The results of the comparison of the samples demonstrate that the architectural decorations used in Soltanieh dome of Zanjan are very diverse and extensive. In terms of the method of application, it includes different types of brickwork, tiling, and plaster while in terms of motifs, it contains a variety of geometric motifs, circles (Khatai and Arabesque) and inscriptions. In the selected paintings of Demotte Shahnameh, architectural decorations are strongly depicted in the composition of the paintings. On the other hand, the exterior and interior views of the buildings have various decorations comprising of various styles of brickwork, tile and plaster as well as plaster painting along with geometric, Khatai, arabesque and inscription motifs. Therefore, the research findings reveals that the architectural decorations depicted in the Demotte Shahnameh are comparable to the architectural motifs of Soltanieh dome in terms of decoration technique, motifs and application whereabouts and different types of brickwork, plaster and tiles containing geometrical, circular and inscription motif used in different parts of Soltanieh Dome have also been illustrated in Demotte Shahnameh. This illustrates the close relationship between the art of architecture and Persian miniature. Based on the outcomes of this and other research studies conducted in this respect, the surviving paintings of each period can be considered as a realistic reflection of the architecture of that period, which can be referred to in the study of architecture and decorative practices of that period on one hand. On the other hand, it shows a cultural continuity in different aspects of Iranian art during the past centuries and some sort of harmony in the application of ancient patterns in different fields of art; Something that has been ignored in the contemporary Iranian art. Returning to this cultural policy can solve the problem of cultural rift in the contemporary Iranian society.