Comparative Analysis of the Works of Kambiz Deram Bakhsh and Seyyed Masoud Shujaei Tabatabai during the Corona Pandemic based on Umberto Eco’s Semiotic Approach

The spread of the corona virus has affected many aspects of human life around the world and has led to drastic changes in all aspects of human life. Due to the extraordinary importance of such a situation, which is unprecedented in the history of the world, it is necessary to document its various dimensions for the benefit of future generations. Therefore, during the spread of the Corona virus and artists living at home, in addition to the official narratives that will be recorded in this regard, individual artists, such as Kambiz Deram Baksh and Seyyed Masoud Shujaei Tabatabai, have written their individual narratives that are most similar and compatible. Compared to other Koronanegar artists, they have recorded this disaster together, so that it will be available for various studies in the near and distant future. In the process of researching the Covidgraphic works of Iranian artists, the works of Kambiz Deram Bakhsh and Seyyed Masoud Shojaei Tabatabai had the most similarity and compatibility with each other, and the visual signs of their works created a discourse in the text and the audience's mind that helps to form a common concept of Corona. Semiotics deals with everything that is considered a sign, words, sounds, images, gestures, etc. can be signs.
The subject of research in this article is the study of signs, analysis and comparison of the meanings of the works of these two artists using the theoretical approach of Umberto Eco in the application of art in a certain statistical population, and the purpose of this article is to analyze the process of formation of meaning through the study of signs by using visual symbols of Eco in the works of Kambiz Deram Bakhsh and Seyyed Masoud Shojaei Tabatabai. This is then followed by the following questions: 1- In the works of Koronanegari (Covidgraphy) by Deram Bakhsh and Shojaei, how did they create discourse in interaction with each other? And 2- What relationships do Deram Bakhsh and Shojaei's works of Covidgraphy tell in their underlying layers of meaning? The research method of this article is based on semiotics, and the information was collected in a library-based manner, and by matching the ten codes of Eco with the details of the 8 images of Covidgraphy by Deram Baksh and Shojaei, we will recount the discourse view that these signs provide. Semiotics is the semantic study of texts, which includes artistic texts in its various branches. In reading an artistic text (Covidgraphy as a text), signs are not seen as separate elements from each other, but in an interactive and confrontational manner. And in a discourse with the space inside and outside the text, they are considered to study the sub-layers and the process of formation of signs and to challenge them with each other to enter discourse semiotics and to study the texts.
The necessity and importance of the upcoming research comes from the fact that despite the importance of recording and writing the events that happen in the present time, so far the collection of works of the chronicles of Kambiz Deram Baksh and Seyyed Masoud Shujaei Tabatabai has not been comparatively studied from the point of view of semiotics. The answer to these questions is based on the research necessity to analyze and investigate the collection of dramatic and brave chronicles based on the semiotic method and the approach of Umberto Eco's image code theory.
The results of the research show that the cartoons of the two mentioned artists with the caricature language, which is the shortest means of messaging in the world, have presented a social, iconographic and descriptive view, influenced and emphasized on cultural and social roots, in the representation of Corona, and it is possible to express layered signs. Moreover, visual codes have provided the possibility of a special reading for the audience to create meaning in this discourse process by placing signs next to each other. The main and central points in the visual message are conveyed through symbolic signs and reproduction of some of the conditions of perception that are related to normal perceptual codes. In fact, we find a series of images that refer to certain codes. Here, the analysis of the artist's works was done by using visual signs and reading them according to Umberto Eco's ten codes, which can be said that these ten codes were not used in Kambiz's works of drama, sensory, identification, transference, and tone. And, the theory of expression is seen more, while in the works of Shojaei, the sensory codes, recognition and tone are completely evident, and only transferable codes are not seen, and all of them inspire the audience with the hope of destroying the dreaded corona virus with all kinds of available ways.