• American Studies
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.79-107
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• 2019

This article explores the photographic work of North American artist Jeff Wall. While his photographic work has been much discussed in terms of aesthetics and composition highlighting his methodological appropriation of modernist painters such as Eduard Manet and Piet Mondrian, the political aspect of his work remains to be investigated. This article especially unpacks the complicated dialectical relationship between the formal aesthetics and the political nature of his works by visiting his photographic work in the context of contemporary debates on the contradiction and conflicts between aesthetics and politics in photographic form. Ultimately, this article argues that Wall's photograph acquires its political meaning by problematizing the reified social representation of the other in a way in which the materiality and/or otherness of the photographic object is registered within the photographic frame and by representing the violence of the social representation and the un-representability of the object/other.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.16
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• pp.257-272
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• 2013

This paper analyzes six different ways of articulating the relationship between art and politics. It calls attention to the differences that lurk behind the seemingly simple phrase-everywhere in vogue today-the "politics of aesthetics." Five of these models are drawn from contemporary discussions regarding the politics of art. The last model is the attempt to develop an account of the politics of aesthetics that is faithful to the difficult and ambiguous dimensions of the aesthetic experience that were hinted at by the texts of classical philosophical aesthetics. Most notably, this paper is concerned with the idea that the aesthetic experience can be understood as a form of disinterested contemplation-one that is not reducible to cognitive or moral considerations-and with some of the consequences that this entails. It explores some of the political significance that can be attributed to this idea of disinterested contemplation, arguing that the aesthetic should be understood as a withdrawal from the world's pre-established meanings. Unlike some of the other thinkers discussed in this paper, this author doubts that a single, uniform meaning can be ascribed to the aesthetic experience. I thus argue that we need to approach the aesthetic through the networks of textual significance that have been built up around it. Throughout this paper, I attempt to explain how the efforts to link art and aesthetics to politics simultaneously give rise to ideas about the nature of the human community. In looking at the sixth and final model, what I have called the "anarchical politics of aesthetic ambiguity," I argue that the aesthetic tradition offers a rather unique way of understanding the relationship between the individual and the community. Here, we see that the aesthetic is prone to a number of paradoxes, central among them the one that makes art the bearer of a solipsistic pleasure in which we nevertheless discover our capacity for genuinely communicating with others, outside of cliches and banalities.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.241-257
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• 2009

The essay discusses the way in which the aesthetic of Pre-Raphaelites reformulates the habitual system of knowledge in the Victorian age by adapting $Ranci{\acute{e}}re^{\prime}s$ concept of aesthetics. $Ranci{\acute{e}}re$ develops an original theory of aesthetics, a regime of knowledge which enables to perceive and reflect art as such. In this way, aesthetics turns to be the logical system by which the consensus idea of the beautiful comes to exist. For $Ranci{\acute{e}}re$, aesthetics is an agreed system of the sensible and reproduces the habitual knowledge of the world. Therefore, a new aesthetic movement means an attempt to break the given aesthetics and reorients the new distribution of the sensible. The important point of $Ranci{\acute{e}}re^{\prime}s$ argument is that he does not presuppose the dimension beyond the present unlike Frankfurt School. What $Ranci{\acute{e}}re$ claims is that there is no such the aesthetic which can correct the instrumental reason, but rather an indifferent moment in which a worker finds out himself as a creator who can give rise to the new regime of the sensible and feels free from what he must work for. From this perspective, the essay explores the aesthetic of Pre-Raphaelites and its meaning in nineteenth century Britain. Pre-Raphaelites was an artist group who railed against a so-called academic style of paintings and created a new aesthetic criterion to describe the truth of the natural world. The essay examines the interrelationship between Pre-Raphaelites and photography that would enable them to re-distribute the sensible and produce a new way of seeing the order of things. This is related to the birth of a modern gaze as in the case of landscape paintings. What is crucial is that the distribution of the sensible is always-already doubled with the political. In short, Pre-Raphaeltes is not only an aesthetic movement but also a political pursuit to achieve a disenchanted perception of nineteenth century industrial capitalism.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1-21
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• 2011

This study is designed to identify how Demographic Factors affect Fashion Orientation(value), Fashion Response, and Buying Criteria. A total of 355 usable data was collected from housewives in three metropolitan cities(Seoul, Daejeon, Sungnam) in Korea. Young housewives who have one child are a market segment whose buying power is recognized by both the retailers and the market. The housewives' fashion orientation consists of four categories : social orientation, practical orientation, political orientation, and aesthetic orientation. The housewives' fashion response is classified into three areas : self conscious, self esteem, and self monitoring. The criteria of buying children's wear consists of nine components. As a result, the key reason for buying children' wear was 'attractive design'. Research result showed that POLITICAL ORIENTATION(SE beta=.229, p<.001) was more effective than AESTHETICS ORIENTATION(SE beta=.203, p<.001), for enhancing SELF-CONSCIOUS RESPONSE and SELF-ESTEEM RESPONSE. Therefore, this study suggests that the key factor for understanding trend can be a human self concept, consciousness, values, and orientation. The housewives' fashion orientation is responsible for 18.7% of BRAND ROYALTY(F = 20.172, p<.001) from among nine buying criteria. More poignantly, POLITICAL ORIENTATION covered 66.9% of selection of BRAND ROYALTY, and it explained 34.6% of selection of DESIGN among nine buying criteria. Thus, it showed that POLITICAL ORIENTATION(SE beta=.331, p<.001) is more effective than SOCIAL ORIENTATION(SE beta=.146), for upgrading BRAND ROYALTY. In addition, it showed that POLITICAL ORIENTATION(SE beta=.238, p<.001) is more effective than AESTHETICS ORIENTATION(SE beta=.040) for upgrading DESIGN evaluation. Housewives' fashion orientation, and fashion response are differentiated by demographic factors, such as occupation, women's career, husband' job, income, and location related to social status.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.975-999
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• 2012

This paper interrogates what a new point Schmitt shows concerning the problem of sovereignty in Hamlet or Hecuba in comparison with his Political Theology. Schmitt reveals his political stand on sovereignty through ‘political representation’ that connects the politics to the aesthetics in Hamlet or Hecuba since Hamlet is above all aesthetic work as play. He stresses the determining effect of political reality over the play as he links the story of Hamlet to the tragic family of James I and the religious conflicts of the Stuart dynasty. This leads to, on the one hand, supporting the myth of absolute sovereignty by elevating Hamlet to the transcendental and the exceptional status of sovereign. However, Schmitt’s intent over the absolute sovereignty is, on the other hand, demolished with the two shadows that he scrutinized through the couple of Hamlet and James I: first, the suspect that Gertrude(Mary Stuart) was involved in the murder of Hamlet(James I)’s father, and second, the century’s conflicts with religious reformation and civil war. The perils of sovereignty are manifested not only in these two, “the taboo of the Queen,” and “the Hamletization of the avenger.” It is most of all evidenced in Hamlet itself that subverts the unconditional sovereignty consistently. Hamlet’s selfreflective remarks likening the king to the beggar and the reality of Denmark succession prove that Hamlet’s political discourse is totally different from the politics that accentuates the divine sovereignty.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.184-193
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• 2021

Interactive documentary refers to a new style of documentary that is created and accepted through active interaction. It is attracting attention as a platform that forms a public sphere and mediates audiences to participate in social change. However, the possibilities was not systematically explored, and there was insufficient consideration on how to realize them. In this paper, discussions on the political aesthetics of Walter Benjamin are examined, and the media characteristics of interactive documentary are analyzed through text mining. Then, by connecting the two to each other, we draw a map of the political and aesthetic possibilities, and based on the map, we analyze the actual works. This study has the value of establishing a theoretical framework for the possibilities of interactive documentaries. In the follow-up study, we will consider the practical strategy of interactive documentary as a transmedia activism and develop a practical analysis and planning methodology.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.48
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• pp.109-134
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• 2009

This study explores the political parody, which has become an active art form in order to express Korean Internet users' political practices, especially, during the politically turbulent periods from the presidential election of 2003 to the recent candlelight vigil protest of 2008. This study investigates the rise and fall of a parody culture by online users from the mid-2000s, and also examines aesthetical aspects of parodic artworks relying on amateurism culminated in 2004. Specifically, the current study questions an aesthetical lack shown in 'appropriation', by which most of the online users simply produce imitations of original image. This study rather notes 'photomontage' as an aesthetic prototype, the political aesthetics made by John Heartfield, through which this study intends to observe how his aesthetical legacy of political art could be realized in the contemporary form of political parodies produced by online users. The present paper concludes that online users' political participations in producing critical works of art could allow us to negate the dichotomy between the elite and the mass, professional artists and amateur parodists, and a radical politics and the politics of style.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.52
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• pp.5-59
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• 2014

This paper investigates the development and aesthetics of Korean political theatre from its quickening period 1920s to democratization era 1990s. Political theatre before 90s developed an antithesis resistant movement toward Korean modern history that had been scattered with suppressing political circumstances such as colonial era and dictatorial government, the movement has powerful activity and social influences. Just like the 20 century political theatre had been quickened under the influence of Marxism at Russia and Germany in 1920s, Korea's political theatre began in socialism theatre movement form around the same time. Proletarian theatre groups had been founded in Japan and Korea, and developed into practical movement with organized connection. However, the political theatre movement in Japanese colonial era was an empty vessel makes great sound but not much accomplishments. Most performance had been canceled or disapproved by suppression or censorship of the Japanese Empire. The political theatre in liberation era was the left drama inherited from Proletarian theatre of the colonial era. Korean Theatre alliance took lead the theatrical world unfold activities based on theatre popularization theory such as 'culture activists' taking a jump up the line and 'independent theatre' peeping into production spot as well as the important event, Independence Movement Day Memorial tournament theatre. Since 1947, US army military government in Korea strongly oppressed the left performances to stop and theatrical movement was ended due to many left theatrical people defection to North Korea. The political theatre in 1960s to 70s the Park regime, developed in dramatically different ways according to orthodox group and group out of power. The political theatre of institutional system handled judgment on sterile people and had indirect political theatre from that took history material and allegory technique because of censorship. In political theatre out of institution, it started outdoor theatre that has modernized traditional performance style and established deep relationship with labor spot and culture movement organizations. Madangguek(Outdoor theatre) is 'Attentive political theatre', satirizing and offending the political and social inconsistencies such as the dictatorial government's oppression and unbalanced distribution, alienation of general people, and foreign powers' pillage sharply as well as laughing at the Establishment with negative characters. The political theatre in 1980s is divided into two categories; political theatre of institutional system and Madangguek. Institutional Political theatre mainly performed in Korea Theatre Festival and the theatre group 'Yeonwoo-Moudae' led political theatre as private theatre company. Madangguek developed into an outdoor theatrical for indoor theatre capturing postcolonial historical view. Yeonwoo-Moudae theatre company produced representative political plays at 80s such as The chronicles of Han's, Birds fly away too, and so on by combining freewheeling play spirit of Madangguek and epic theatre. Political theatre was all the rage since the age of democratization started in 1987 and political materials has been freed from ban. However, political theatre was slowly declined as real socialism was crumbling and postmodernism is becoming the spirit of the times. After 90s, there are no more plays of ideology and propaganda that aim at politicization of theatre. As the age rapidly entered into the age of deideology, political theatre discourse also changed greatly. The concept 'the political' became influential as a new political possibility that stands up to neoliberalism system in the evasion of politics. Rather than reenact political issues, it experiments new political theatre that involves something political by deconstructing and reassigning audience's political sense with provocative forms, staging others and drawing discussion about it.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.315-335
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• 2009

Controversies over W. H. Auden's "political" poetry remind us of an old but perhaps never easily resolved problem about the relationship between poetry (literature) and politics. Auden has arguably been referred to as a "leftist" or "Marxist" because of his political viewpoint registered in "Spain" or "September 1, 1939," which embodies his contemporaries' loss and fear, brought by the socio-political turmoil, economic depression, and moral conflicts of the 1930s. Interestingly, however, Auden is known to have an ambivalent position toward the political reality. He once disavowed the above "political" poems as "dishonest" in the preface of the 1966 edition of Collected Poems and declared, "poetry makes nothing happen" in "In Memory of W. B. Yeats," which seemingly acknowledges the political incapacity of poetry. Auden's position and poetry should be understood as the result of complicated interactions between his perspectives on society, human beings, and poetics. Auden definitely believed in the role of poetry in such a politically demanding time, yet was not concerned with the anticipation of certain immediate changes effected by poetry in real situations. Instead, he sought the intellectual and moral effects that poetry could give his readers to help them survive the dismal circumstances of the 1930s. This is what distinguished Auden's poetry from political propaganda. In doing so, Auden's poetry captures the zeitgeist of his generation and has privileged him as the leading voice of his time, but it has also encouraged the following generations to confront different socio-political difficulties. This is something poetry can make happen politically, and the survival of Auden's "memorable speech" proves the legitimacy of his frequently misunderstood poetics.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.42-53
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• 2023

This paper explores the recent development of environmental aesthetics and critically examines the main agendas, claims, issues, and implications of everyday aesthetics, which is emerging as an important branch of environmental aesthetics. Environmental aesthetics began in the context of cultural change and environmentalism in the 1960s and expanded in the second half of the 20th century with a solid theoretical foundation. At the beginning of the 21st century, it entered a process of diversification of objects and subjects. Having reached academic maturity, environmental aesthetics has expanded into theoretical territory considering the urban environment and the human environment, providing practical coordinates as a discourse for planning and designing urban environments and landscapes. The most notable achievement of environmental aesthetics since the mid-2000s is the establishment of 'everyday aesthetics'. Yuriko Saito, who is leading the research on everyday aesthetics, expanded the objects and scope of aesthetic theory to everyday objects, events, activities, and environments. She excavates the microscopic and sensory aspects of everyday life, which have been overlooked by conventional art-centered aesthetics, through the lens of aesthetics. She reinterprets various layers of phenomena in contemporary urban landscapes and analyzes how the 'power of the aesthetic' hidden in everyday life profoundly affects the quality of life and the state of the world. Saito examines the appreciation of the distinctive characteristics and ambiance inherent in everyday objects and environments and proposes a 'moral-aesthetic judgment' to alert citizens to the environmental, social, and political consequences of everyday aesthetic appreciation and response. This paper identifies the issues and implications of everyday aesthetics as first, the expansion of aesthetics and the ambiguous everyday, second, the moral-aesthetic judgment and the aesthetics of care, and third, urban regeneration landscapes and aesthetic literacy. In particular, the moral virtues of everyday aesthetics that Saito proposes, such as care, thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and respect, provide a critical reference for the practice of contemporary urban regeneration landscapes. The 'aesthetic literacy' is a key concept demonstrating why an environmental aesthetics perspective is necessary to interpret everyday urban environments and landscapes.