فصلنامه کیمیای هنر
پیاپی 53 (زمستان 1403)

For Gilles Deleuze, time in cinema has two main moments; on one hand, it can appear only as a platform for the action of subject, and on the other hand, it can overcome the limitations of recognition by freeing itself from the subordination of the action and give a deeper view of the reality of the object. By proposing the concept of time-image, Deleuze shows that the virtual forces of time remove thought from the sensory-motor schema of cognition and bring it to a state of the unthinkable so that the new image of thought can be recovered in its becoming. This descriptive-analytical article with a qualitative nature examines the time-images in four films of Mohammad Reza Aslani using the library method and image study according to Deleuze’s approach. Considering the hypothesis of the non-chronological presence of time in the narration of these works, the question is how time-images expand the different aspects of the original form of the image and invoke its multiple possibilities. The results show that in the mentioned works, time reproduces the different by passing the image from its apparent function. What happens is the resurrection of an image that, not as a repetition of the identical, but as an image of the possibility of what was in its novelty, returns the new in the structure of cinema and thought to re-establish our links with the world, according to Deleuze.

In the vast expanse of Iranian civilization's history, the crafting of objects has always been influenced by diverse themes within a meaningful context, shaping their formation beyond the mere technological constraints of manufacturing and production. Among the objects, tools related to lighting and lamps, especially tallow burners, exhibit a distinctive form of symbolic content and form in their outward function and provide a ready platform for analysis and interpretation. This study aimed to analyze the four elements of water, wind, earth, and fire and their mythological and symbolic content in the form and function of historical tallow burners in Iran. Therefore, Gaston Bachelard's imaginative criticism approach was considered a framework to measure the configuration of form and function and answer the two research questions as follows: 1) What visual and symbolic components are there in the content of form and function of metal tallow burners in the Seljuk era? 2) How are the four elements concentrated and explained in the configuration of metal tallow burners? The research method is descriptive-analytical, and the samples were photographed and collected from the field visit of the Gorgan Archaeological Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum of London, and written sources. The results of the research regarding the analysis and imaginative criticism of the artworks show that the visual nature of the body formation and the specific function of the tallow-burners have multiple meanings that are hidden in the lower layers of these artworks in the form of water, wind, earth, fire, and opposite pair concepts such as life and death, world and hereafter, and body and soul.

Zhang Yimou was influenced by profound mystical thinking of Taoism, with symbolic language in the colors and the design of the scene, he uses it as a powerful framework in his cinephilia to restate the epics and history of his country. In the crisis-stricken world influenced by Western philosophy, he uses the concepts of Tao's Eastern philosophy to achieve his goals in a practical way in the mise-en-scène of his films. This research is a descriptive – analytical method to distinguish the aesthetic characteristics of Zhang's films in the Wuxia genre from the perspective of Lao Tzu's philosophy, at the same time, it examines them in contemporary Chinese cultural debates. The main objective has been to analyze the revolution of Taoist seasons and its influence on the mise-en-scène in Zhang's Wuxia works and to understand the thought and foundations of the artist's ontology. Thus, the research findings show that Zhang’s cinematic thinking, as a field associated with movement and time and image, it allows us to rethink in the themes of traditional thinking and even recognize the interrelation dynamics of the link of Taoist thinking with modern phenomena such as cinema.

Somaesthetics, as an emerging and at the same time retrospective movement, has been proposed by Richard Shusterman in the field of contemporary aesthetics. This project is formulated in a pragmatic context and inspired by the idea of "philosophy as the art of living" and some Eastern embodied traditions and modern Western psychosomatic treatment methods. Somaesthetics is defined as the critical study and meliorative cultivation of the experience and use of the living body (soma) as the site of sensory appreciation (aesthesis), and its purpose is based on enriching propositional knowledge of the body and the lived somatic experience in the process of perception. The critical position of somaesthetics is, first of all, towards the dualism of mind-body arising from the western metaphysical thought and then towards the tradition of western aesthetics. After about two hundred and fifty years, Shusterman brought Baumgarten's aesthetics to the philosophical scene and presented it in a different discursive context. Schusterman's pragmatist reading of Baumgarten's aesthetics has opened a new perspective in the contemporary aesthetic space. This article was written with the aim of investigating the relationship between Schusterman's somaesthetics and Baumgarten's aesthetics and analyzing the consequences of this movement for contemporary aesthetics. By legitimizing the body and emphasizing the neglected role of sensory perception, somaesthetics has placed itself in an alternative and complementary position to Baumgarten's incomplete aesthetics. Shusterman considers somaesthetics to be the end of the neglect of the body. Influenced by the rationalism of the Enlightenment era, Baumgarten denied the body, and the neglect of the body was reinforced in the aesthetics of the 19th century through the idealist tradition. By taking a clear stance on the importance of the soma, somaesthetics has made a special impact on contemporary aesthetics. Somaesthetics has been able to revive the fundamental concept of aesthetics; expand the field of aesthetics beyond Hegel's philosophy of fine arts; realize the link between the aesthetic and the practical; expand the somatic perception turn to other fields of knowledge; and formalize a kind of aesthetic activism in theoretical-philosophical aesthetics.

Cinema was initially silent and without the presence of verbal dialogues, it solely conveyed meaning to the audience through images. Thus, during this period, and even afterwards, the dominant expressive element in cinema was the image. The rules that were established in the foundations of visual arts were the same fundamental principles applied in the art of cinema. Cinema, built upon the scientific achievements of visual arts, formed the basis of the visual composition and the undeniable connection between these two artistic domains. Therefore, filmmakers who remained faithful to the rules and principles of visual arts or utilized them achieved significant success in incorporating aesthetic elements in their films. The main question of this research is, what influences has cinema accepted from the basics of visual arts in its framing? The research method is descriptive-analytical and its approach is historical. It is also a method of collecting library information and direct observation of works. According to the investigation and study of the history of cinematographic works, it can be said that the basics of visual arts are the inspiration of cinema, and by applying similar rules, cinema frames its works both visually and in terms of content. . In this research, a list of influential films and directors in the history of cinema from different countries and in different periods of time, in which there is a trace of visual arts before it, has been selected in order to be better and more comprehensive. It is possible to reach a complete summary of the influence of visual arts on the images of cinematographic works and analyze them.

Ibn Khaldun is the first thinker in the history of ideas who systematically examined the social factors influencing the formation and development of the arts within his historical analyses. However, previous research on his thought has primarily focused on historical, philosophical, economic, and general sociological aspects, while his sociological analyses of the arts have received little attention. This study, focusing on the social factors contributing to the development of the arts in Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah, aims to elucidate the relationship between cultural, economic, and political elements and the flourishing of the arts. It seeks to answer the following questions: What factors does Ibn Khaldun consider influential in the growth of the arts within societies? How does he analyze and explain the role of these factors in the formation and expansion of the arts?This foundational study falls within the field of sociology of art and employs a descriptive-analytical methodology. Data has been gathered through the study of written sources, particularly Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah. The findings have been analyzed using qualitative content analysis, with conclusions drawn from a sociological reading of the Muqaddimah. The results indicate that Ibn Khaldun perceives the development of the arts as deeply intertwined with various social factors. In his view, social cohesion and solidarity, urban population concentration, governmental authority and patronage, and cultural education of the populace are among the most crucial prerequisites for the growth and flourishing of the arts in any society. Furthermore, Ibn Khaldun emphasizes that the arts not only reflect social equilibrium but also play a fundamental role in maintaining and reinforcing it. Additionally, beauty in his thought-both on an individual and societal level-is closely linked to rationality and wisdom, and it can only thrive in societies that have achieved balance and stability.