Face: a Response to the World
A Semio-Semantic Reflection on Babak Haghi’s Printmaking
Author: Sohrab Ahmadi, Art and Literature Researcher
With over 12 years of artistic activity in photography and the organization of various solo and group shows, Babak Haghi presents a new collection in which he diverges from the medium of photography. What sets this collection apart from his previous works is the utilization of printmaking on cardboard and paper, employing different materials. The distinctive feature of this collection lies in the manual printing process, where the photograph undergoes a dual printing, first on photographic paper and then manually transferred onto cardboard or paper. This dual process imparts a unique formal and semantic impact, capturing the trace of the enunciator twice: first within the photograph and again in the printmaking.
In essence, based on a semantic analysis focused solely on the text (Babak Haghi’s Handprints), we function as commentators or analysts of the enunciator’s presence in the text. Our signs in the text represent the detached traces of the enunciator. Consequently, the central theme of this collection is the body , aligning with Haghi’s recurrent thematic concerns. The body reveals itself in diverse forms as we encounter traces of its presence. The collection revolves around the traces of the enunciator and the body. While the body has taken various forms in Haghi’s previous collections, this time, it is juxtaposed with the face , establishing a duality of face/body. It is upon this duality that we attempt to address the central question of the presence of the body and face in this collection.
It appears that the body, as portrayed or emerged through the technique of printmaking, is at complete or gradual odds with constructed and predefined identities. Consequently, external modalities or actions generate impulses in the body, leading to an identity rupture. With this rupture, the enunciator places identity in parentheses, challenging and transforming all preconceived notions about identity, body, and gender into a central and even authoritative question. Regarding the face, we also observe that while each one in its initial or figurative expression can represent any face for the viewer, in its deep structure , the face becomes a fundamental conceptual representation and transforms into a cognitive object for identity recognition. Only through the face can one move toward others and even oneself, recognizing them and oneself ; therefore, the cognitive dimension takes precedence: by creating emotional conflicts, the body transfers the cognitive burden more toward the face.
them and oneself ; therefore, the cognitive dimension takes precedence: by creating emotional conflicts, the body transfers the cognitive burden more toward the face.
It should be mentioned that the body in this collection is defined as a fundamental rupture from identity and is placed in parentheses. It is through the face that the body moves toward finding its identity. Nevertheless, how identity and the dissociation of identity produce meaning through the expression form of the body and face is the central question of this note. It must be acknowledged that, in this collection, the movement of the body toward the face, or its transformation into a face, occurs very slowly in the plane of expression . The color spectrums, the removals around the cardboard, etc., are evidence of this gradual yet continuous movement. Based on the semio-semantic approach of the Paris School, we attempt to define different body types in the continuation of the text and discuss Babak Haghi’s handprinted bodies. We will then address a cognitive object called the face, explaining how identity is constructed through the face. The use of the Paris School’s semio-semantic approach aligns with the process of staying within the text and disregarding extratextual elements . The aim of this text is to demonstrate that the body, through the face, is not just a physical presence but a way of responding to existence and sometimes reconstructing the identity.
The Body and Its Role in Meaning Production
From the perspective of Paris School semio-semantics, the body assumes a significant and influential role in the production of meaning. Beyond its physical manifestation, the body, encompasses sensory-motor forces, both of which contribute to meaning production . In general, by internalizing and expanding communicative experiences (touch, smell, taste), the internal field of the body constructs a carrier for the inner representation of the body. It is crucial to distinguish the internal field of the body from the physical body, as the latter is the focal point for various movements and senses originating from the “I,” while the internal field emerges from the “self.” While sensations of suffering and pleasure are related to
feeling and emanate from the “I”, the concept of “feeling oneself” or “suffering from oneself” is tied to the “self” or identity .
In contrast to the internal field of the body, where internal feelings and experiences merge, the physical body is body-centric, engaging in rapid and immediate perceptions. As previously mentioned, it is derived from the “I” and possesses a visible and material substance , serving as the reference center of meaning.
Within Babak Haghi’s handprints, tension and conflict arise between the body and identity. The established codes shaping the masculine body or the predefined narrative program in the male body undergo transformations when elements such as flowers or facial makeup are introduced. In other words, the trajectory of the body’s movement changes like that of an agent . With the introduction of new elements, the body, although adaptable to predefined narrative codes, experiences tension due to alterations in the narrative program. When this tension reaches the face, fundamental changes occur, which we will explore further.
In this collection, the agent-body does not simply repeat the predetermined lessons but takes on new roles by incorporating narrative elements in the specific way we already mentioned. These roles deviate from the predefined ones, placing the agent-body in novel emotional situations. The physical body, on one hand, and the “I” and the “self”, on the other, experience conflict with each other.
The conflicts and tensions between the body and identity stem from the presence of two types of identity: identity with others and identity with oneself. If the physical body is regarded as a linking device with others in gestures and movements, it establishes a sensory envelope between “me” and the others, neither representing me nor others. Theis sensory envelope guides the energies emanating from the “me”, and “the me as another” . Thus, in addition to the physical body, Haghi’s prints reveal that the sensory envelop of the body is clings to the unity of the “me” to prevent it from transforming into another and undergoing identity loss. This, in turn, becomes a source of conflicts and emotional struggles within the body.
Another role of this sensory envelope is to bear the pleasures and pains. We perceive these emotions through the sensory envelope, sometimes playing a destructive role in conflict with the “self.” In the collection of prints, we observe various roles of the sensory envelope, sometimes displayed through the rupture of the body, sometimes with a disconnected front view, and other times through formal renditions on the cardboard by removing its surface. Most visual agents are in a state of physical pain and suffering, resulting from conflicts occurring between the body and identity. The body, still striving not to be annihilated, seeks a carrier to reflect its identity, seemingly expressing identity through the face. We will further examine the face and the emergence of identity through it.
Identity and Face
According to Ricoeur and Fontanille (see the previous section, “the Body”), “self” is linked to the question of of identity. However, identity itself has two facets: on one hand, it pertains to the “same” or the “similar to the same,” the one that is printed on national ID cards or birth certificates. On the other hand, it signifies “self-same,” referring to the unique individual I am in comparison to others. Thus, identity is constructed and projected through the “I.” Let’s not overlook that “I” and “self” are commonly intertwined, constituting two sides of a singular essence, that is, the body-agent.
As previously mentioned, the conflicts of bodily identity in Haghi’s works give rise to the manifestation of the face and impose identity construction through the face on the agent. In their quest for identity through the expression of their views, Haghi’s faces are confronted with the question, “Who am I?” – a question the face asks itself among other faces. Responding to this question and explaining the pronoun “I” are among the challenges faced by the photographer-printmaker. As a result of this questioning, a discursive rupture occurs between the face and the body. In essence, “I” serves as the central reference of the current body of the agent, while the face, with the eye as its focal point, does not acknowledge this predefined, pre-elaborated “I”, whose identity is also constructed during encounters with others in its discursive separations. The “I” intends to construct the identity of the agents in a specific manner. Therefore, even though the body in this print collection is in conflict with identity, the face, through detachment from discourse and subsequent reconnection, establishes identity. This identity is a confrontation with the world, embodying all the codes that society has doubted, and this doubt has arisen through discursive separation and in comparison with others.
In light of what has been said, Haghi’s faces, which sometimes gaze directly, sometimes adopt a profile gaze, and at times conceal their gaze, signify an identity that has been denied from their bodies, enduring affliction, constraints, encirclement, damage, and wounds inflicted by the body. Alongside the body, the face moves toward expressing meaning and identity, which had been lost due to a narrative detachment by the body. Consequently, the face becomes the primary feature of the body and the means of responding to the world, reconstructing the identity of the bodies depicted in Haghi’s prints.
In light of what has been said, Haghi’s faces, which sometimes gaze directly, sometimes adopt a profile gaze, and at times conceal their gaze, signify an identity that has been denied from their bodies, enduring affliction, constraints, encirclement, damage, and wounds inflicted by the body. Alongside the body, the face moves toward expressing meaning and identity, which had been lost due to a narrative detachment by the body. Consequently, the face becomes the primary feature of the body and the means of responding to the world, reconstructing the identity of the bodies depicted in Haghi’s prints.
References:
Jacques Fontanille, corps et sens, PUF, 2011.
Paul Ricoeur, soi-même comme un autre, Seuil, 1990
Jacques Fontanille, DenisBertrand, Ivan Darrault-Harris In Search of Meaning, a Semio-Semantic Analysis of Mehdi Sahabi’s Visual Artworks, translated by Marzieh Athari Nikazam and Sohrab Ahmadi, Tehran: Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts Publications, 2022