The period of decline
Interview with Professor Ghobad Shiva
About the role of graphics in preserving and transmitting culture
Nasser Nasiri: Graphic designer, university lecturer
Let’s start with a definition of culture,
Culture means knowledge, with respect to the past throughout history and in every country, cultures have come and gone and have reached the present, a set of insights, knowledge and beliefs of each land that is transmitted to one person and Accordingly, it is said that man is with culture.
What is the implication of culture in the artist’s work? Why should a work of art represent the culture and society of the artist himself?
Look, this plant was small at the time of planting, it slowly watered and grew and grew to the stage you see now. If the root was cut at any stage, it would dry out. Culture is the root of every race, country or tribe. Continuity of insights Continuation of divisions Continuation of findings now in any field. It must take water and resources from those roots and grow. Do you understand? Linking is wrong. It is like cutting down a branch of this plant and transplanting a rose. This is something that is not at all compatible with the nature of this plant, so the set of knowledge that has remained for each nation over the centuries, the intellectual, mental and artistic exudates, make up the culture of that society.
That is, if a poster is designed with this support, immediately after the media performance and messaging, it presents the audience with a background of the community and enters the field of culture of that community. it’s true ?
one hundred percent . You see, for example, in the field of graphics, we have Polish graphics, Japanese graphics, Indian graphics, first of all, growth is an algebraic thing. That is, we have to grow even without wanting to. Well, now where does this information come from in our brains? From the seed of the father and the environment in which we grew up. All this creates a personality for any Iranian or anyone anywhere in the world. Especially in artists of any climate. If it were not for the fact that Polish graphics did not exist, Japanese graphics would not exist today, you know? Now, this topic of graphics is present in two modes. The first mode is the products that are consumed in the market, which is in fact the commercial part of graphics. That’s why they hire a custom graphic designer. The first thing he does is sit at the computer and search – this is our father’s search – well, those graphic designers who do this, their products are basically market food, and this It is common all over the world. I mean, there are market graphic artists all over the world, and these are done by the people I call graphic workers. So why are some graphic artists more famous than others in all countries of the world? These are the group that incorporates their own culture in the production of their works and continues to rely on their own culture, not a foreign culture. That is, the statics of their productions say that this work belongs to Japan or that this is something else for India, Poland, Iran, etc. Culture can not be learned, it can be mixed. That is, one cannot force a person to work as an Iranian. If the person himself is an artist, he is mixed with the culture where he came from and grew up. This is a natural routine. These become graphic artists, who value what they have inherited from their fathers, but it is not the will of a graphic worker that only satisfies the customer, and that’s all. You see, maybe right now there are more than 10 million graphic designers in the world who are working that neither you nor I know, but some of us we know are people who are familiar with the graphic culture of their country. Seriously, they think that not only the customer’s wishes and, ultimately, the consumer tastes of the people are more attracted to graphic cultural products, not those who work with chewing gum, puffs, etc. They become good masters who know all the worries and go and search and glue everything together and then show the customer and all that is everywhere in the world we do not want to say just here is everywhere The world is the same in Japan, but when we talk about Japanese graphics, for example, we say Fukuda, we know Fukuda by name because his work is a crystallization of Japanese culture. Otherwise, there are many people in Japan who work the same way as the French. Well, this society also needs this group of graphic workers, but if someone claims to be a graphic artist, he should not give in to a graphic worker.
What is the main difference in the view of Western and Eastern aesthetics? What kind of behavior in the production of the work makes us say that it is a Western work and another work is Eastern or more specifically Iranian?
Oriental view is indirect, that is, our people will never express this directly if they love you, but will convey this meaning to you in the form of a poem, and if they criticize you, they will express it again in the form of a poem. In general, the Eastern look is a mysterious look, our people love this kind of mystery and discover the secret in every work of art. If this is not the case in Western culture, every will is expressed directly. This difference in meaning is very important and cannot be ignored or neglected. Based on what has been said, we can not make a poster for the people of the East and express the issue very clearly and directly, and then expect this work to penetrate the culture of the people and be lasting. No, this is not the case. This kind of view among our people will have no effect other than short-term media performance and will be quickly forgotten. As a graphic designer, I have always sought to discover its poetic events in each order, to perform and present it in the form of a visual poem, so that the audience can encounter my work in different dimensions, and the communication and message layers of the work are only Do not function as a news message.
if we want to be a little more precise in your point of view and find the root, unfortunately our colleagues do not look at it this way. This means that if you see our colleagues with our names and customs right now, they will not pursue such sensitivities at all, and well, because they are very effective in shaping the tastes of the community and the students, this expectation from the graphics and its performance will not be met. Right now, we see the output of the eyes of these friends, who are on a large scale in society, on the covers of books and posters, etc., in which there is no sign of this history, culture and taste, but acceptable to the cultural community and consequently It has become a people and a role model for others.
Yes, this has unfortunately happened and they are marking a period of decline in Iran. These may be very effective in attracting the client and the publisher and even the people at a time but they are not graphic artists and they can not be considered the author artist. Their work is not worth cooking. You see, we are all Iranians now, we speak Persian, but when we work, our aesthetic basis is Western static, that is, we produce work based on Western meters and criteria. If we have to make our own statics. In every static age, we create our day with the axis and foundation of our culture. These, you say, are the graphic workers on another level.
let’s talk a little about typography. How many types of writing do we have in total? Can you please explain this typography very clearly so that we can sort out all the confusion in understanding and using this concept, at least right here in our two-page text?
Graphics, which means media – because there are many graphics that do not have a media load – wherever you look in the world, graphics are a combination of image and text. This companionship is because if the image is alone, everyone will have their own personal impression, but when they read that text, the message of the image becomes a single unit for everyone. That is, after placing the text below the image, the image actually takes on a specific meaning. Wherever you look in the world for good or bad graphics, you see that there is definitely an image and a text that each fills another gap. There are three types of writing in this century. One is calligraphy, which the Persians call calligraphy. There is another type of typography that goes back to the history of typography. You see, once we recognize that the text below our image is better to come with the same lead letters or machine, which of course is now a computer. The third type is handwriting, which the Persians call handling. We have nothing outside of these three types in the world. The Persians called their letters the alphabet like we call the alphabet. But when the technology of producing letters with lead entered the field of Persian culture, they were called typing. Those letters that were lead were never called calligraphy by the French. This word typing originated after the invention of typewriting. Here, unfortunately, everything is called typography. You see, the Persians call the text inside, for example, a poster, a copy. Now, this is a copy or calligraphy, which we call calligraphy, or typography, which is typography or handwriting, which is the equivalent of handling. Not all of this can be called typography. Many concepts are broken here. Everything is in my opinion. These are clear titles and concepts. Design basically means logic. In a logical sense, there is no place for me to say. Every logical matter has a specific framework, and from that perspective, everything can be critiqued and evaluated completely scientifically. For example, one of the reasons they call calligraphy typography is that they have made calligraphy software, and because they write with typing like other computer letters, they say that this is also typography, and the Persians do the same. But in the end, under their work, they write calligraphy, not calligraphy, that is, quasi-calligraphy. No longer write typography. These are all codified and clear, I think, I think the statements are baseless. My opinion and yours do not matter at all. That is, scientifically, these divisions do not need us to comment.
Considering what has been said so far, another topic that I think is not bad to talk about is the issue of creativity. Is any work that has some kind of innovation necessarily considered creativity? That is, for example, can we break down cultural structures to achieve something called creativity? Now they are destroying every principle with the title of creativity, innovation and …
No. We must not break. We have to grow. Breaking will eventually lead to what we see now. For example, look at the posters of this year’s Fajr Theater Festival. His designer brought these and showed them to me, I said that these are good for Atari, not for the theater. But they do well. The boss also accepts and goes to be consumed by the people. When he sent it to me, I said that this had nothing to do with theater. Those tragedies, those joys, those games are not in these posters at all, then he brought a series of justifications that well, everyone brings a series of reasons for everything he does. You see, there is a discussion called design and personality, that is, the character in the design. Which includes ideas, composition and letters that should provide the character to be ordered. Their justification is innovation. Innovation that has no roots does not fit into the people and is rejected. People do not accept. You see, theater is an exhibition art. Unlike cinema, which is not art of exposure because you see light images and shadows, but you are sitting in the theater and in front of you is the actor with his own voice with his own blood and skin, this is the art of exposure. Well, then you should use this exposure in designing your poster for the theater. The work that all good designers in the world do. We can not come to ruin something and call it innovation. This is not good, it is not rational.
What is minimalism master? Can we give an equivalent or a model to our culture for mini-malism? Or does mini-malism have no roots in our culture?
Minimalism has a similar path among our designers. See, we have Iranian minimalism. If you want to work on minimalism, go and see what minimalisms there are in Iran and follow their example. You have seen these Mogharnas works in some places full of patterns, but in some places only the gypsum of these Mogharnas. This is Iranian minimalism. Do you understand? Otherwise, say the least with everything. There must be a thought, an idea behind your work that reflects the culture of the society in which you were born and raised. Not using this thinking and insight in work has caused us to actually have reached a period of decline.
Where is the problem, Master? In other words, where do you think is the source of all this negligence or anonymity in contemporary graphic design?
It can be said that most of these institutions and universities have the main share in the formation of these events. You see, in America, which has the most market and art feed in graphics, 200 people graduate every year in all its states. In Iran, six thousand people a year. This statistic is accurate. The question then is, who is going to teach this large number of students in universities now? Now, in every alley, a university has been opened part-time and full-time, and … well, they do not have professors, what do they want to give to the students? Well, that’s what we see now. Anyone, wherever they graduate, finally wants to live. Good graphics are a job. Painting is not a job. This graphic graduate sees that he does not have the skills to perform as much as the children who work in the market. On the other hand, he does not know enough to start his own business from a small studio to a room. . His only wish is to go and become a master. This means that the most backward graphic designers are all the same masters now. Woe to these children who have come to learn something. Now we are where the rotten salt is.
Graphic art, due to its proliferative nature, has the greatest influence among people and their culture, and a graphic artist should make good use of the power of this influence in promoting the culture of any border and environment.
We know that Eastern aesthetic beauty is very different from Western aesthetics, and because of our relationship with our people, we are not allowed to confront our people with Western or even Arabic aesthetics, and if we do, we have caused a cultural assassination that must be avoided. Because culture is like suicide. The Western look is direct and the Eastern look is indirect and full of mysteries, and our people are fascinated by the same poetic mysteries in an image or a poster or any other graphic work.
Which work and which artist are enduring, Master? Does it mean long-term survival, that is, they enter the history and culture of the people and stay forever?
Any work whose artist starts to come up with ideas for designing and executing orders based on cultural backgrounds will undoubtedly be lasting. Apart from informing about the subject of the order, the graphic designer’s role is to preserve and perpetuate the culture with a creative approach. When a work is produced in which the graphic artist incorporates all the cultural components of the people of his region in the course of its design and production, that work is placed in the memory of the people and begins to conquer the emotions and minds of the people like a piece of calm poetry. Slowly Such works are lasting and will not be forgotten.
what about the global village? If we are all going to live in the same village, isn’t one of the requirements for achieving this kind of look a homogenization? That is, preserving regional taste is not in conflict with reaching a common language in the global village?
You see, this is the right thing to do, to think that everyone’s somehow wrong’s does not mean a global village, a global village that does not exist for the elimination of diversity, maybe I can give a better answer with this example. You see, in a greenhouse that is not just a flower, there is a purple flower, there is a red flower, there is an enamel flower, and there are all kinds of flowers, but they are all under one roof. This is the main meaning of the global village, where each flower has its own presence with its own aroma, color and form. To have one kind of flower in one place does not really mean coexistence. Do you understand? No thought can prevent different cultures from coming together. Global village means the simultaneous presence of different cultures together without one wanting to solve and destroy the other.
