نشریه هنرهای زیبا - هنرهای تجسمی
سال بیست و هفتم شماره 2 (پیاپی 90، تابستان 1401)

In  The  Question  Concerning  Technology,   Heideggerconsiders the Ontical definitions of Technic -  Technic asinstrrument or human activity -  correct. But He believessuch definitions do not reveal the essence of Technic. Withan Ontological attitude, He views the Technic as a kind ofrevealing of Being , like the Art. However He believes UnlikeArt -  that is a Poetical revealing-, Technic is a Gestell  - Typerevealing. In this Treatis, Heidegger considers Gestell asdestining of revealing in our age and describes it’s dangerto us. Heidegger considers the most important dangerof Gestell to be The absolutism of revealing of Being byhuman as a result of that The original and fundamental wayof revealing, Poiesis, has been forgotten and even revealingitself has become impossible. In such a situation, man alsounderstands his essence only as a subject of domination andhe does not remember his true dignity, which is the refugeof Being in beings Thus Heidegger considers the mostserious danger of Gestell to be the damage to the originalityof Dasein, which is the refuge of Being in beings and hebelieves that Poiesis, or in other words, the essence of artin our time can not be realized . According to Heidegger,the human race of our time has two ways forward in theface of such a situation. Or surrender to what is destinedto the status quo; Or, by reflecting on the essence of whatis dangerous to him, finds a way out of this situation.It can be said that Heidegger make a difference betweenfate and destiny. He believes if the man of our age find outdanger of Gestell - which has caused the most damage toits human essence - he will turn toward Beinh. Reflectingon the essence of Technic will lead one to go beyond theOntical view of Technic, that is, to understand Technic asan efficient human product and see it as it really is. Thatis, to understand Technic as a form of revealing. In thiscase, by transcending the beings and being in the opennessof Being, -  which Heidegger refers to as Turning -, Man'srelation to Being will change  - from farness to nearnessand destining of revealing - from Gestell to Poiesis - willchange and consequently way out of Gestell’s danger willbe possible. In the sense that Being will be able to emergein a way other than Gestell. In fact, as a person turns aroundand settles in Being, his way of being will change - from adomineering presence to a poetic presence and the originalform of revealing, Poesis, will be possible. In other words, itcan be said that by Turning, a person connects with his trueself and his way of being will change from inauthenticity toauthenticity. In such a case, Gestell will not rule as the onlyway to revealing and so -  despite the presence  - will not bedangerous to humans.

Kant’s thoughts and his important book on beauty andaesthetics  -  Critique of Judgment  - should be consideredas one of the most important foundations of subjectiveaesthetics. Subjective aesthetics in Kant’s theorydistinguishes fine arts from useful arts by attributingcharacteristics such as non-functional, non-conceptual,and genius-based to fine arts. In this respect subjectiveaesthetics laid the theoretical foundations of modernart - developed in the late nineteenth to the first halfof the twentieth century- in the eighteenth century. Inaddition to modernism, which was directly influencedby subjective aesthetics, this approach also had a greatinfluence on the art of the second half of the twentiethcentury. The main feature of some artistic currents ofthat period such as Pop art is based on a critical reactionto subjective aesthetics. Pop art is a turning point of aradically different approach to art and the foundationsof the art world. Understanding the characteristics ofPop art is significantly based on reaction to subjectiveaesthetics, and it seems that without subjective aestheticswe cannot achieve a comprehensive understanding ofthe nature of some artistic currents in the second halfof the twentieth century, including Pop art. LawrenceAlloway is one of the most important theorists of PostModernist art. Alloway initially used the term Pop artto describe some of the artists’ works in Europe andAmerica; works that were different in themes andformal character from fine arts traditionally based onsubjective aesthetics. Opposing modernist elitism andany transcendental character for art, Lawrence Allowaysought to achieve a broad definition of culture and artbeyond subjective aesthetics; a definition beyond thelimits of fine arts, referring to all human activities. Inthis way, is removed the distinction between fine arts anduseful arts in Kant’s theory. In this article, we seek togain a more accurate understanding of the nature of Popart by considering Lawrence Alloway’s views - as themost important theorist of Pop art- and his thinking onKantian aesthetics. Finally, Lawrence Alloway’s theoryseems to consider art as functional and communicativesystem, in order to both respond to subjective aestheticsand to offer a different definition of art in general, whichis based on the system of functional communication. Onthis basis and regarding Pop art, it can be inferred thatthis theory does not agree with qualitative topics andanalyses of art. Because qualitative analysis dependson subjective aesthetics, it is the opposite of LawrenceAlloway’s communicative approach to art. FromLawrence Alloway’s point of view, qualitative valuesin art seem to neglect the achievement of a commonand equal field for all in art. For this reason, art as acommunicative medium is considered only as a platformfor providing information to the audience.

Making Qur’an stand is an old type of Islamic art andIlkhanid Qur’an stand (attributed to Hassan Ibn Suleimanal-Isfahani) is a valuable and exquisite sample that is heldin the New York Metropolitan Museum. This art objecthas a lot of motifs rooted in Islamic and Iranian tradition.These motifs are very important in terms of mythologicalsymbols and Islamic concepts. The other significant Islamicart of Ilkhanid period is altar-making in the mosques. AlsoPlastering is one of the arts that Islamic artists and MuslimCraftsmen’s have used in decorating mosques and altars.Oljayto altar of Isfahan Jami’ Mosque is one of the Ilkhanidaltars which has excellent and beautiful decorative motifs.In other words, Ilkhanid architecture and handicraftsare very beautiful and full of magnificent and decorativeelements. Therefore, the purpose of this research is toidentify the decorative motifs of the Ilkhanid Qur’an standof Metropolitan Museum and the altar of Isfahan Jami’Mosque (Oljayto altar). Classifying the similarities anddifferences makes possible to acknowledge the influencesof the Oljayto altar decorative motifs in the making ofIlkhanid Qur’an stand. In other words, the present study isdone to answer these questions: 1- What kind of decorativemotifs are there in the ornamentation of two art works of theIlkhanid Qur’an stand and the Oljayto altar? 2- What are thesimilarities and differences between the decorative motifsof the Ilkhanid Qur’an stand and the Oljayto altar? It shouldbe noted that this research is based on descriptive-analyticalmethod while having a comparative approach. The resultsshow that the decorative motifs of Oljayto altar of theIsfahan Jami’ Mosque include the herbal motives (includingArabesque and Khatei motifs and elements), Geometricpatterns and Calligraphy motifs and the decorative motifsof the Ilkhanid Qur’an stand include the Cedar motif,vase design, Altar pattern, Arabesque and Khatei motifs,Geometric patterns, cross design and Calligraphy motifs.In short, the decorative motifs of the Ilkhanid Qur’anstand are more varied than the Oljayto altar, while theCalligraphy motifs in the Oljayto altar are more varied thanthe Calligraphy motifs of Ilkhanid Qur’an stand. Therefore,it seems that the design of Ilkhanid Qur’an stand motifs wasinfluenced by the decorative motifs of the Oljayto altar, andthis shows that the architecture and the art of wood carvingin the Ilkhanid period are significantly interrelated.

According to the studies, without identifying the ideasand beliefs that form the epistemological structure andworldview of civilizations, understanding the culture andartifacts will be hard. Zoroastrianism or Mazdayasna isone of the world’s oldest continuously practiced religions,based on the teachings of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster.Zoroastrianism has a dualistic cosmology of good and eviland an eschatology which predicts the ultimate conquestof evil by good. Zoroastrianism exalts an uncreated andbenevolent deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord),as its supreme being. In Zoroastrian tradition, there are thefirst seven emanations called Amesha Spentas, throughwhom all subsequent creation was accomplished. Haurvatat(Wholeness- Water guardian- Guardian of humanconscience), Ameretat (Guardian of plants and humanImmortality) are known as two examples of them. Thedoctrine of the Amesha Spenta, through their connection withcreation, unites ethereal and spiritual concepts with materialand manifest objects in a “uniquely Zoroastrian” way: notonly as abstract “aspects” of Ahura Mazda but also worthyof reverence themselves and personified or representedin all material things. In the Gathas, each Amesha Spentarepresents a good moral quality that mortals should strive toobtain. Thus, the doctrine of the great seven is that throughgood thoughts, words, and deeds, each individual shouldendeavor to assimilate the qualities of an Amesha Spentainto oneself. Throughout history of Iran, Iranian people haveused some different motifs in their art crafts based on theirthoughts and interpret about universe. Handicrafts in Iranhave a history of several thousand years and are the mostsignificant and original manifestations of ancient historywhich are related to Iranian thoughts and belief. This articleis a comparative study between the motif of an excellent oldSassanid metal dish and the pictures of two Seljuk potteries- a similar scene is represented in all of them (two figuressitting next to a tree and a pond with fish). The purpose ofthis article is to analyze the similar visual and conceptualpatterns in the two different historical periods of Iran (preIslamic and post-Islamic). The present article tries to answerthis question: what is the most important Iranian thoughtthat caused to create the similar visual patterns in Sassanidmetal dish and Seljuk potteries? The research method isdescriptive-analytical, applied to desk-based data. It seemsthat the visual and conceptual patterns of Sassanid metaldish and Seljuk potteries are related to the Amesha Spenta(Haurvatat and Ameretat) in Zoroastrianism. In Zoroastrianritual, Amesha Spenta Haurvatat, who protects water,is considered as the guide of human conscience to avoidevils. Amesha Spenta Ameretat is responsible for plantsand the immortality of Iranian wise humans. The resultsof this research show Sassanid artist and Seljuk potter bycreating a unique scene of human, water, tree and natureemphasize on the spirit of Spenta hidden in Iranian wisehuman. According to Zoroastrian humanism, Iranian wisehuman with good thoughts and good deeds protects waterand trees and causes the permanence of Iranian culture in asustainable nature.Keyword

Sultan Ali Mashhadi and Mir Ali Heravi are among the mostfamous Nasta’liq writers in the history of calligraphy whohave had influential innovations in the geometric structureof Nasta’liq and the cross form. Mir Ali’s relationship withSultan Ali is important in two ways. Firstly, the emergenceof Mir Ali Heravi coincides with the complete dominationof Sultan Ali Mashhadi throughout Khorasan so that hisstudents were practicing calligraphy in Mashhad and otherparts of Khorasan and Transoxiana, and Mir Ali, who livedin Herat, Mashhad, and Bukhara, was certainly influencedby Sultan Ali. The second important point is that Mir Ali wasa student of Zineuddin Mahmoud, a direct student of SultanAli. Therefore, recognizing the similarities and differencesbetween the works of these two masters of calligraphy leadsto a better understanding of the developments of Nastaliq.This study aims to investigate the formal structure of twosimilar chalipas from Sultan Ali Mashhadi and Mir AliHeravi, focusing on how they are seated. The method ofcollecting information is desk-based and has been donewith a descriptive-analytical approach. Among the worksof these two calligraphers, chalipas whose authenticity isnot in doubt were examined and two chalipas with the sametext and different compositions were used. The reason forchoosing these two chalipas was the existing similarities andthe differences, which makes possible a better comparison.The results show that in both chalipas, the seat of all rowsis curved, which can be considered as a cross-section of anellipse, with the difference that in Sultan Ali’s chalipa, theoval pattern of the first and third-row seats is the same andthe oval pattern of the second and fourth rows is the same.In the Mir Ali’s chalipa, the oval pattern of each of the fourlines is the same.In both chalipas, the arrangement of the figures is doneaccording to the curvature of the seat in each row, butthe effect of the figures is more than the curvature of theseat in Sultan Ali’s chalipa. So that the figures are rotatedrelative to the vertical axis and in some cases are deformed.In chalipa of Mir Ali, figures are regular and carefullyexecuted. Letters and words are executed repeatedly andaccording to defined rules.Sultan Ali’s chalipa is designed based on the oblique andfinal view; In other words, the chalipa is performed witha horizontal view and in line with the calligrapher’s view,but during the performance, the final and diagonal view ofthe chalipa is also considered, which creates a complex andtwo-point perspective, while in Mir Ali’s chalipa, each lineis designed with a horizontal view and the final view is notconsidered. Sultan Ali’s chalipa is designed based on theholistic view and the components serve the whole of thechalipa, but Mir Ali’s chalipa is partisan and the componentshave their own independence.

Among the most widely used themes of Persian art inancient China are hunting motifs on the walls or vesselsof Chinese and Sogdian royal tombs. In Chinese tombs,there are also murals containing the symbols of the goddessXiwangmu (西 王母) or eternal paradise, which are directlyrelated to the hunting motifs on the walls in the same tombs.Although ancient Iranian cultural objects and elements inChina have been studied, the reasons for use of huntingthemes in Parthian or Sasanid fashions and reliefs of thegoddess Shivangmo in Chinese tombs have not beenstudied. Therefore, the present article intends to use adescriptive-analytical method to first explain the presenceof Iranian hunting concepts in Chinese tombs and then todiscuss the use of the same themes in Sogdian tombs inChina. According to “hunting magic”, the use of hunting intombs seems to have been a magical way for the deceasedto reach paradise. This tradition was first seen in Chinesetombs, and then gradually, Sogdians followed them andmixed hunting motifs with Persian cultural elements todepict the afterlife. Considering the variety of huntingimages on Sassanid vessels and also the use of these motifson Chinese and Sogdian tombs in China, which are mostlyfound near the city of Chang’an or Xi’an, the present articleintends to examine these works in China and to considerwhether the widespread use of hunting images and the useof Parthian and Sasanid style of hunting motifs in Chinesetombs is related to burial rites. In other words, was it theintention of the Chinese to use these unique motifs todepict the afterlife of their dead? The researcher claimsthat the Chinese people from the Parthian period were veryinterested in using the unique works of Iranians and it wasnew and attractive to them. This is especially evident in theritual use of Iranian hunting motifs on the Chinese vesselsand tombs. hunting imagery in these tombs depicted theroute through the desolate spaces that were believed to existbetween this world and the next. In addition to the ChineseTombs, hunting scenes with Sassanid and Parthian fashionsare also engraved on Sogdian tombs in late Sassanidperiod. As discussed, the inscriptions, historical and literarynarratives, and images on tombs and vessels discovered inChina suggest that the deceased tried to walk the difficultpath between this world and the next, in order to reach theparadise of the goddess Xiwangmu. The connection ofthis goddess with hunting has caused her to be depictedin the tombs of the ancient Chinese from the beginningof the Han period. Parthian and Sassanid-style huntingsymbols in Sogdian tombs also were ways of helping forthe deceased to make his way to paradise. In other words,the ancient Sogdians learned from the Chinese and usedhunting symbols on utensils or tombstones in order to helpthe deceased to walk the path to paradise by killing wildanimals.

In spite of the proposal of various theoretical argumentson philosophical, historical, social, and stylistic roots of theformation of pure abstract paintings, their stark appearancehas been often a deterrent factor for beholders to be attractedto this kind of art. One of the main examples of this problemis pertinent to the visual analysis of Piet Mondrian’s (1872-1944) Neo-Plastic compositions. Although, Mondrian’sseminal role in the development and maturation of abstractpainting is evident in Modern art history, yet little is knownabout the development of his artistic ideas on principlesof Neo-Plasticism he wrote in 1926. Mondrian in manyinstances in his 1917-1944 theoretical writings explicatesabout his Neo-Plastic principles which he considers themas universal principles not only for a ‘new art’ -  bestepitomized in his pure abstract style called Neo-Plasticismbut also for well-being of mankind and construction ofa new life and a utopian society. Nevertheless, in theprevious publications, Mondrian’s Neo-Plastic paintingsand his theoretical writings have been analyzed apartfrom each other, rather than to be examined in relationto each other. Hitherto, Neo-Plastic paintings and itspertinent theory have been either scrutinized in the lightof intricate philosophical, esoteric and artistic doctrines,particularly Hegel’s thoughts, Theosophy, Cubism, and DeStijl movement, or they are mostly examined based upona Greenbergian formalist standpoint in relation to criterionof flatness of elements of painting on the canvas as wellas abstraction of representational elements. Nevertheless,Neo-Plastic paintings have been rarely examined in regardto the principles of Neo-Plasticism. As such, the goal of thisarticle is to assess the authenticity of this hypothesis thatlooking at Mondrian’s Neo-Plastic paintings and writingsin parallel with each other, helps us to more clearly interpretand discern the apparent changes in the appearance of NeoPlastic paintings in different periods of Neo-Plasticism.Indeed, this article mainly aims to expound the rationalesbehind the extant pictorial changes in appearance of thelate Neo-Plastic paintings, especially those paintingscreated after 1932. To this end, development of Mondrian’stheoretical ideas in respect to role and characteristics ofelements of his Neo-Plastic paintings (mainly line, color,and plane), especially in relation to the content of the firstprinciple of Neo-Plasticism, are scrutinized in two periodsof Neo-Plasticism: 1- Middle Neo-Plastic period (1927-1931) when we realize subtle changes in appearance oflines that differentiate them from pre-1926 compositions;2- Late Neo-Plastic period (1932 -1944) when we findrevolutionary alterations in appearance of Neo-Plasticpaintings such as pluralization of lines, using lines andcolors as free and self-reliant elements, and transformationof the role of lines and colors. The results of this researchdemonstrate that in the late Neo-Plastic period, Mondrian’stheoretical viewpoints on elements of Neo-Plastic paintinghave been noticeably altered in comparison to middle periodand particularly in respect to what he had theorized in hisfirst principle of Neo-Plasticism in 1926; and in some cases,especially after 1938, they even violate the first principle ofNeo-Plasticism

Sani-al-Molk’s One thousand and One Nights is consideredan ethnographic source that can give the readers an insightinto the cultural delicacies of the era of Nasser al-Din ShahQajar. Yet, there is little research on the common nonclothing textiles of the Qajar era. This study explores thepatterns and motifs of these textiles based on the illustrationsof One Thousand and One Nights, which certainly provideclues as to how the textiles were made. With this in mind,the question is: “Based on the illustrations of One Thousandand One Nights, what patterns and motifs were used in thenon-clothing textiles of the Nasseri era? It is hypothesizedthat the Vagirei (repeated in length and width) and Paisleypatterns were the most widely used patterns in the textiles ofthe Early Nasseri Era. However, the results of a descriptiveanalytical desk-based study conducted using the stratifiedprobability sampling method based on eighteen illustrationsof One Thousand and One Nights reveal that : non-clothingand applied in household consumption textiles such ascurtains, furniture, cushions, underlays, quilts, tablecloths,wall coverings, etc. were used in a variety of patterns andmotifs including the simple pattern and Vagirei, Ghabi(frame-based), Moharramat (striped), Afshan (scatteredflowers), Mehrabi (praying cloth) and Toranjdar (Bergamot)with natural and abstract plant-based motifs such as Paisleyand arabesque patterns during the early Nasseri era. Thus,contrary to the first hypothesis, the patterns and motifsused during this era had a broader range than the inducedpatterns. Among the patterns, simple fabrics were used morefor curtains and furniture. However, the Vagirei pattern withthe plant-based design was also rarely used in these textilesas well, but the Vagirei and Ghabi designs with natural andabstract plant-based motifs (especially the Paisley) wereused more often in the production of bed covers. SimpleGhabi patterns in checkered forms were also sometimesused in bed-clothes wrappers. The illustrations show thatthe Moharramat pattern was a common pattern duringthe early Nasseri period. The Afshan pattern with smallflowers was rarely used on tablecloths, cushions and bedcovers. Regarding the Mehrabi patterns with the abstractmotif of cypress as well as the Toranjdar patterns witharabesque motifs, they have been used on wall coveringsand curtains, types that are formally reminiscent of ikat andGhalamkar fabrics. The illustrations not only give us cluesas to patterns and motifs, but also convey the message thatthe simple fabrics were something like velvet or satin, andthe Moharramat types were woven with the simplest textilemachines or the ikat technique were made of cotton andsilk depending on their use. Termeh fabrics used to makebed covers had a woolen material and were of the ikat,silk or cotton types. It seems that Mehrabi and Toranjdarfabrics were also produced using the Ikat weaving methodor by additional operations such as printing and embroideryon cotton fabrics. Finally, regardless of the material andproduction method, Moharramat types such as Termehwere the most widely used types of all.

Dating back to ancient times, tile-work is of greatsignificance in the art history of Iran. As a result of attainingsuccess in making different types, this craft has evolveddramatically. Luster-glazed tiles of Kashan constitute amajor part of this precious treasure. A great deal of suchtiles offers magnificent display in terms of developing visualelements and designs, and consequently has attracted artdilettantes’ attention. Contemporary artistic taste, commonaesthetic principles, diversity of motifs and meticulousattention to details are indicative of the basic, exceptionalcriteria applied in such tiles’ designs. A representation ofvisual elements used in the composition of Kashan starshaped tiles on the basis of Gestalt theory is the primaryobjective of the present essay. Gestalt theorists emphasizethat organisms perceive entire patterns or configurations,not merely individual components. Gestalt principles,proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, and connection,describe how humans perceive visuality in connection withdifferent objects and environments. These principles areunder a general law, called Prägnanz. The law says that wetend to experience things as regular, orderly, symmetrical,and simple. As theorists of this realm believe, it is of severalgeometrically possible organizations that one will actuallyoccur which possesses the best, simplest and most stableshape. Accordingly, the main questions to be answered in thisessay are as follows: What are the most important principlesin the formation of the designs and motifs in Kashan starshaped tiles? What visual features would be consideredon the basis of Gestalt theory in this respect? The resultsdemonstrate that Iranian tile makers gave serious attentionto structures and beauty of motifs. Choosing a basic frameis a significant factor in the arrangement of visual elementsof the composition. Such a frame provided artisans witha limited polygonal composition to execute the designsand motifs. To execute the desired designs, artists createdorganized structures the commonest of which could becategorized under radial, symmetrical, center-oriented andactive types. The way motifs arranged in the frames was inorder of importance. In most cases studied here, the designsand their distinctions were done according to contours.Incidentally, the main motif was placed in the center,usually in bigger size in comparison to others. The wayother visual elements are designed to emphasize the mainmotifs is another point to achieve balance and harmony,best manifested in the Kashan star-shaped tiles. Generally,with a view to evaluating the Gestalt laws in the mentionedtiles, we may claim that achieving the desired quality andcomposition in such works has been fulfilled with thehelp of a series of factors, including proximity, similarity,figure-ground, continuity, simplicity, and symmetry, allcontributing to lay emphasis on a certain motif. This fact isindicative of the total mastery of designers and painters ofthe artworks in developing the potentials of visual elements.Putting all these factors together, we can claim that suchprinciples would play a pivotal role in the study andevaluation of Kashan star-shaped tiles’ designs and themes.

Design with the aim of changing the world is a creativeand systematic process and has different stages with aclear, orderly and relational sequence. Design thinking,which has long been the subject of discussion by designresearchers, is a set of internal and external concepts andaspects that are used by designers in the design process.Therefore, it is important to conduct research that examinesthe design thinking style and creates a good understandingof it. During the studies conducted in this research in thefield of design thinking, the necessity of addressing thetheories of thinkers in this field about the intrinsic aspectsof design has been realized. The purpose of this research isto achieve the most important intrinsic and internal aspectsof design that are considered by prominent researchersin the field of design thinking, which is descriptive andbased on studies and studies conducted in the research andwritings of these five prominent designers in the field ofdesign thinking. They have mostly worked in this fieldand the book of design encyclopedia has been done witha qualitative approach and has been done by desk-basedstudy. After a preliminary study of the text of the researchesand writings of the selected researchers, and achieving theintrinsic and internal aspects of the design expressed bythem, this study examines the level of attention of eachresearcher that has paid to this aspect. Therefore, from thisperspective, it is a kind of theoretical study and contentanalysis and is based on the study and inference of topicsfrom data. The results show that researchers have pointedto seventeen inherent aspects of design in their studies,of which Brian Lawson and Nigel Cross have done themost. Also, the most attention of researchers has beenpaid to the intrinsic aspects of “creativity” and “sketch”,respectively, and the least attention of researchers has beenpaid to the intrinsic aspects of “sudden mental insight” and“schema”. Most researchers have dealt with the aspectsof “creativity”, “discovery or discovery”, “intuition” and“unconscious”, respectively, which show the importance ofthese aspects. Finally, this research is a step to start futurestudies in order to achieve the way of thinking of designersand provide the best model of design thinking based onthe intrinsic and internal aspects of design. Based on thefindings of the present study, the question arises: To whatextent do they create the product according to the inherentaspects of the design? And whether it is possible to providea suitable model for the design process according to themost important internal and intrinsic aspects of design forthe work creation process? Also, in the continuation of thepresent study, it is possible to study the in-depth positionregarding the content used in each of these intrinsic andinternal aspects along with environmental influences andpersonality traits and use factor analysis methods to expandthe results as much as possible.

Commercial advertising in the environment of social networks is an important basis in attracting the audience, current customers as well as potential customers, via visualcommunication. In such advertising, it is required to recognize visual metaphors according to structural and meaningpatterns. Academic studies of this type of metaphor have often focused on the literary aspect, but the typology of Phillips and McQuarrie examines the visual elements involvedin creating such metaphors.The research question follows the typological and qualitative analysis of visual metaphor by adopting descriptiveanalytical method to find out visual structure and meaningoperating in metaphors used in Instagram advertisements.Quantitative analysis also presents the distribution ofcomplexity and richness in a statistical sample consistingof 24 Instagram advertisements where visual metaphor isthe main design device. Phillips and McQuarrie typologyconsists of three distinct visual structures: juxtaposition,fusion, and replacement, having an increasing complexity,respectively. Meaning operation also includes three distincttypes of connection, comparison aimed similarity, and comparison aimed opposition, with an increasing in richness,respectively.Visual structure is about the physical arrangement of visualelements while meaning operation is described in terms ofthe instructions for inference they suggest. In juxtaposition,two elements are juxtaposed side-by-side with the samesize. Fusion is a kind of representation that the two visualelements are combined together and a new visual element isresulted which includes some parts of both elements. As thename shows, replacement is a situation which a visual element is absent and the other element is substituted instead.Complexity and richness are defined by the way the audience interacts with the design and the increase of each onerequires more cognitive activity by the audience to perceivethe content. Richness of a visual metaphor refers to ambiguity, multiplicity, and polysemy. The results show that thedesigners of commercial advertisements in Instagram social network have employed all three visual structures tothe same extent and the degree of complexity, and this issuedoes not influence the use of the visual structure. On theother hand, the amount of richness affects the number ofads. The meaning operation of connection which presentsthe lowest richness includes half of the samples. It meansthat designers prefer lower richness. Comparison operations, similarity and opposition, are employed in other halfof the samples and the number of adds with opposition isless than the number of ads with similarity operation. It isconcluded that the increase in richness is inversely proportional to the usage of meaning operation. Besides, the mostused type is the combination of replacement as the visualstructure, with connection as the meaning operation and itreached around 21 percent of designs. The combination ofjuxtaposition and connection is found in the second positionwhich is employed in 17 percent of samples. The least usedtype is the combination of replacement as the visual structure with opposition as the meaning operation which is onlyconsists of around 4 percent of samples.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role and thecontribution of photography in socio-political events in thedecades leading up to the revolution of 1979. Photographyhas always been used by political actors in their pursuit forpower since it is an ideal tool of mass communication. Theclose relationship between photography and reality, givesit a unique persuasive power as the most realistic form ofrepresentation. This makes photograph an inimitable tool forconveying political messages or promoting specific ideas inthe society. Although the programmed use of photographycan promote the ideology of the ruling party, the criticsand opponents of the status quo can also use it as a tool forpolitical resistance. In other words, the study attempts todemonstrate how the political struggle for power resonatedin disputes about the changing meaning of photography inIran during the Pahlavi era. By focusing on pre-revolutionpolitical discourses in Iran, the paper tries to indicate howphotography can become a political action beyond artisticactivity. The fall of the Qajar dynasty, as well as globalchanges such as Marxist revolutions and anti-imperialistmovements in third-world nations, prepared the door fornew political discourses in Iran. Reza Shah's ascension topower as the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty spurred theemergence of political discourses, particularly Pahlavism.Pahlavism was indeed a mixture of nationalism, archaismblended with western-oriented policies. With the growingdemand for change, however, Iran's political scene wassplit into two main rival groups: revolutionaries, mostly theleft-minded Marxist-inspired forces, and pro-Pahlavists,also known as regime loyalists. Meanwhile, the rise ofthe middle class, along with the need for a modern state todeploy mass media for propaganda, thrust photography intothe spotlight. The social necessity of photography graduallygave way to an expressive form of a representation. Thus,the competing, rival political forces began to develop theirown version of photography in representing the socialrealities. Trying to depict Iran as a progressive, moderncountry, the Pahlavist agenda utilized photography topromote western ideals as well as pre-Islamic icons. ThePahlavist-inspired photography, which painted an idealizedIran, portrayed Shah as a great leader and displayed growingtowns, modern-looking Iranians, with no trace of poverty orinequality. The approach could be named as Idealist realismrepresented by, photographs published in newspapers andmagazines, as well as the works by photographers suchas Bruno Barbey and Roloff Beny. On the other hand,revolutionary groups, notably Marxist-inspired lefties, usedphotography to illustrate social disparities and miseriesin order to both question the picture portrayed by the andagitate the masses. The social documentary proved to bethe best method for them. I this regard, one could referto works by photographers such as Kaveh Golestan,Hengameh Golestan and Nasrollah Kasraian. Parallel to thepolitical struggle for power, therefore, there was a struggleover Iran’s image. The study uses the descriptive-analyticmethod to build up a socio-political context in which theconcept of photography in Iran was changed.