• Lingua Humanitatis
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.141-158
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• 2001

Criticism of today finds itself in an awkward situation, for it is now being transformed in the same way that literature and the arts were transformed by the avant-garde movements at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It is characterized predominantly by a break with harmony and with the values of realism. As such, it is driven by a post-modem ethos, an artistic, social, and cultural phenomenon that veers toward open, fragmentary, and indeterminate forms. In this paper, I examine today's most urgent social and cultural issues with reference to artistic production and criticism, in order to illuminate the true nature of criticism. The outstanding questions in the world of art criticism are given in five categories: the lack of critical reality in argumentative criticism; the problem of artistic and literary production in global capitalism; the artistic mind and its consciousness of socio-historical ideology; anxiety of the rise of cyberjournalistic criticism; and the question of subordination to western systems in the field of interpretation and criticism. For my analysis, I have tried to formulate a three-dimensional critique structure that will help us organize the relationships between the points of argument: 1) criticism as a creative force behind the artist; 2) criticism as critique of artistic production; and 3) criticism as critique of other critics. This multi-layered structure will be appropriate to our task of interpretation and evaluation, as the proposed complex structure of criticism will be able to embrace the diverse aspects of our problematic argument. In the final analysis, my argument resolves itself into a question of art, more specifically into a question of criticism as a protective device of art in an age threatened by globalization and cultural monopolization.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.5
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• pp.43-80
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• 2007

PASKYULA was formed in September, 1923 through the union of artists involved in two art groups: Kim Ki-Jin, Kim Bok-Jin, Yeon Hak-Nyeon who had previously participated in the ToWolHoi, and Park Young-Hi, Lee Sang-Hwa, An Seok-Ju, former members of the BaeckJo. After its founding, the PASKYULA artists had been searching for the social function of art to reform the harsh reality of Minjung and the nation with criticism toward society as well as art world. Their art theory for MinJung could grow relatively ease in relation to changing social and political conditions in the early 1920s. In August, 1925, PASKYULA organized the Korea Artista Proletaria Federatio with the YeomGunSa, and laid the groundwork for Proletariat art movement which was regularized in the late 1920s. From PASKYULA up to the early state of KAPF, the theory of art advocated by Kim Bok-Jin and An Seok-Ju could be summarized as "art for MinJung". At that time, widely ranging discourses on MinJung, however, was spawned in art theory, because many intellectuals-including artists and writers-begun to pay more attention to MinJung, who emerged as one of the social forces after the Samil Independent Movement. Sometimes, MinJung was construed as the target of enlightenment from a negative viewpoint. On the other hand, several intellectuals under the influence of individualism asserted that the discussion itself on MinJung exerted an evil influence on art. In contrast of these cases, the PASKYULA artists including Kim Bok-Jin, An Seok-Ju perceived that MinJung had the potential to change society, and regarded them as "a creator of genuine civilization and art". In the PASKYULA artist's writings, the concept of MinJung was often overlapped with the meaning of the Choson nation suffering under colony. Although their concept of MinJung was transformed gradually into the proletariat as they were under the strong influence of socialism, it did not change that they grasped the realities of the whole Choson Peninsula through the proletarian consciousness. In the early state of PASKYULA, the methodology for social function of art was presented in a twofold manner. First of all, Kim Bok-Jin emphasized on the necessity of education to improve MinJung's way of life through art, and it was embodied by the organization of ToWol Art Workshop and public lecture. Also, he championed "the popularization of art", which was one of methods to distribute art to MinJung. According to the PASKYULA artists, art should be not art for art' sake but art for MinJung. That was why they advocated the convergence of art and MinJung's life. Especially Kim Bok-Jin affirmed a link between art and industry because he considered industry the field inextricably linked with MinJung's life. In this context, his idea could be read as the generalization and equalization within the framework of possession. Kim Bok-Jin thought that the social ramifications of capitalism deprived MinJung of their right to enjoy art, and emphasized the artist' social role to return the right to them. That is, the even distribution of art was mainly discussed than the contents of art in the half of 1920s. By 1925, the contents of art itself became an issue in the PASKYULA art theory, and it was based in realism. Kim Bok-Jin and An Seok-Ju insisted that art should be reflection of real life. At that time, realism acquired the representation of MinJung and the nation's realities not realistic style. In fact, the various Western art styles including Futurism, Constructivism, Cubism etc. were exploited in the PASKYULA's visual images. Western art, target of criticism on theory, was selectively adopted in the works which were produced by Kim Bok-Jin and An Seok-Ju. Kim Bok-Jin's MoonYeUnDong cover design was conceived of as the example in which Western art was adopted with it's ideology under the influence of MAVO, while Western art shown in An Seok-Ju's illustrations served as a decorative function in many cases. Especially, An Seok-Ju attempted the various styles of Western art simultaneously, which may be seen as representing that PASKYULA did not have a firm ideology for their style. Also, it can be read as showing his hasty zeal to overcome Western art rapidly. The wish to establish "art for MinJung" as soon as possible was accompanied with the will to jump over the all steps of Western art though it was superficial. This aspiration of PASKYULA was expressed through the mass media, which had the potential for communicating to MinJung. At this point, there was a significant disparity between PASKYULA and another art groups in the first half of 1920s. However, the PASKYULA's method on the basis of the mass media could not but have a certain limitation because of the medium's properties. Nevertheless, PASKYULA' attempts may be considered to be valuable in sense that they expended the boundaries of Korean modern art into the commercial art questioning the matter of the distribution for art.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.10
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• pp.183-202
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• 2010

The term "philosophizing art" was coined by Arthur Danto, who tried to define new forms of art, especially Andy Warhol's pop art appeared in New York after 1960's, which could not be explained by traditional concept of "representation". As Danto said "the term 'philosophizing art' is unclear, whether art discusses philosophical issues or art is the object of philosophic discussions", it does not seem like Danto himself had a specific idea when he used this term. The background for Danto coining this term derives from the fact that the old art concept such as denotation and connotation could not fully explain phenomenalistic aspects of concept art which appeared frequently at that time. Many articles in his book "philosophizing art", in which many of his criticism are included, mainly say that art begins philosophizing by dealing with not mimesis or representation but concepts. According to his argument, the history of western art, which has been consisted of mimesis and representation, has come to end when art is about physically embodied with meaning. Of course, as Danto say so, what goes to end is not art itself, but the narrative of art. It means master narrative saying art should be shown different from nature or artificial daily product is over. Danto could not find principals of mimesis and representation which had been main logic in the western art history, when he saw Andy Warhol's Brillo Boxes at Stable Gallery, New York in 1964. Danto questioned "if we can not distinguish Brillo box's artistic aspects visually from other factory-made products, how can we distinguish art from non-art", By answering those questions, he discovered two facts which made him realize the end of Art: One is there is no special way in which works of art have to be shown or has to exist. Therefore, art history has proven that commercial boxes, trashes and files of underwear can be a work of art. The other is we have fully recognized it at the end of 20thcentury. Danto confessed that through Brillo Boxes, he realized the works of art are decided by something can not be seen by eyes, not by distinguished differences by looking at it. This thesis is trying to show personal understanding about art, philosophy and discourses surrounding them and to figure out how Dante opened a new world to art criticism by using new definitions such as 'end of art' and 'philosophizing art' which Danto used to explain inner aspects of art.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.16
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• pp.7-40
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• 2013

Historian Eric J. Hobsbawm once said "the task that historians have is to analyze the meanings of the past within the context of society and to track the changes and implementation." It would not be too far of a stretch to apply Hobsbawm's quote to art historian since art history, although quite specific, is still history. In addition, Hobsbaum also asserted that, "a mold called the past continuously forms the present or at least thought to be." It is my recognition that the major westernization of the last century took place under the Japanese colonization which served as the channel to usher in western art; however, the current 20thcentury Korean art history fails to recognize that the mold of the past, namely western art in this case, has formed the modern art of the present. Based on this recognition, attention was given to what lacked in the analysis of the current 20th-century Korean art history in terms of "Informel" which was identified as the turning point towards "modern art" in the Korean art history as well as the following "experimental art." My belief is that the art history of Korea has to be reassessed from, a socio-cultural perspective as well as adopting multi-level and diachronic understanding. However, the existing Korean art, especially the one between the end of 1950s to the 1970s was based on the perspective of "severance"; thus, raising the needs for the starting point of a new perspective. It is my conviction that meta perspective on writing is most essential in order to lay a solid basis for the Korean art scene to have a productive discussion. I feel the utmost necessity to reinterpret the typified history analysis and criticism which stemmed from the trauma under the Japanese colonization. The most urgent task is to avoid academic closeness and to share the research. Painting is an individual expression of the artist, but the act of expression is not free from the cultural and societal influence to which the artist belongs.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2002

The purpose of this study is research on the characteristics of post-modernism expressed on western hair styles in the late 20th century. Therefore this thesis analyzed the relationship of modernism & the hair styles of that mage and post-modernism & the hair styles of that mage. That will re-illuminate the same beauty worth of same age as to accurate the concept of post-modernism & the hair styles of that mage. And the last, criticizing the post-modernism design and that hair design, helping to find new trends. The method of this study was the literature research & analysis of visual materials focus on upper bust image that can know the relationship of modernism & the hair styles of that mage, and post-modernism & the hair styles of that mage. First, the literature research is composed of analysis of theses, magazines on art, clothing and cosmetology having the contents of 20th century western culture, art and hair styles. Second, the analysis of visual materials is composed of analysis of video films, slide films and photographs of books, magazines, and internet home-pages. Modern western hair styles, appeared after 1910's, is represented as a short cut & permanent wave. That express experimentalism, functionalism, and purism, that is same as the other art's trend of same age. Post-modern western hair styles, appeared after 1960's, also show the same trend with same age's. This summarized & characterized 8 categories; historical method, pluralism, negotiation, escape from the formality, recovery of humanity, ornament, connection with race, metaphor & symbolism. But post-modernism concentrating pluralism makes easy making low quality art and absence of criticism, so this thesis criticised it 5 categories; absence of ideas, absence of the social sense of responsibility, lost of one's characteristics, decline of skills, decline of worth of usages.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Floral Art and Design
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• no.45
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• pp.77-95
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• 2021

This study considers the problem of reality that our floral art has to overcome as a loss of the floral art spirit caused by the expansion of Western-centered formalism flower culture, and considers the discussion on the deformality of distancing and the free spirit of nomadism. The floral art, which works on the creator's aesthetic mental world through flowers, is an art of mental image that values the free mental world of the creator. It also refers to the importance of artist consciousness as an art of self-imago that makes the target world beyond the "expression of similarity" that reproduces the target world. In this context, the lack of concern about the identity of Korean floral art appears to be the creative training and work of Korean floral artists who are biased toward Western expression techniques and creative methods. It also expresses a problem with our cultural consciousness, which is dominated by the Western flower culture of flower design. Here, we are obliged to understand the reality of Korean floral art biased by Western flower design and to organize discussions to solve the problem. Therefore, this study examines the problems that our floral art has to overcome as part of seeking the identity of Korean floral art and enhancing the cultural value of Korean floral art through criticism of Western cultural acceptance. This is a historical consideration of the nature of Korean floral art to recover, while also a process of identifying the meaning of the free creative spirit that the artist should maintain as an aesthetic art. Furthermore, such criticism of the Korean floral art culture and discussion of introspection are expected to serve as an opportunity to further expand the academic discourse system for the floral art while embodying the "identity" of Korean floral art.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.2
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• pp.75-120
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• 2004

Studies on western art in Korea has been caught in a dilemma that they could deal with only those things which had been arranged according to their 'historical generalization' in their contexts because of the bounds of time and space. It is not trivial that such conditions affect art studies in Korea. Access to the original texts and to their contexts of production is so restricted that the studies on them are prone to he superficial. And it is not independent on the politics of Korean art scene. Such factors are on the background of Korean art's excessive 'assimilation or accordance' with western art. The domestic studies on western art history and art theory have failed to notice the differences in context and Korean art has simply mediated or reproduced the restricted information by those studies. Also the studies on western art in Korea have been made use of as a justifying method of one's own academic domains. In such situations we should lead the studies on western art history and western art theory to a more reflective direction and confirm that the studies should not have any privileges of the realities. And we should try to reform a scholarship which participates in our life and existence. The field of domestic studies on western art history and western art theory should free itself from the invention of objectivity or the neutrality of mechanical reading and turn its eyes to the realities of life where events happens. Constantly suggesting which way Korean art and world art should go has to be the field's new coordinates.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.17-32
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• 2008

This study focuses on the analysis of Baudelaire's aesthetic perspective which has established a theoretical basis on research of the critical reviews' salon exhibitions as written by Baudelaire. Charles Pierre Baudelaire(1821-1867) having lived during the latter part of Neo-classicism and the era of Romanticism and Impressionism, Baudelaire displayed opposition to customary realities such as social ideology or religious authority that suppressed human nature. Also he pioneered a new genre known as art criticism and wrote much that provided important insights on the essential elements of artistic work, modernity and trend, as well as art definition and art categories. The aesthetic perspective and creative spirit were formed by Baudelaire, during his age were also reconfirmed in the successive ages of modernism and postmodernism. As such, this study sheds light on how Baudelaire's aesthetic perspective was not only temporarily assertion but it is consistently applied to modern art and fashion area. What is more important that, Baudelaire admired new artificial beauty that is created by the human soul liberated from natural instincts or desires. Especially, informed by strangeness and distinctiveness, Baudelaire's view of fashion ran along the same vein as his view of art, and these views form the basis of that creative spirit which situated western fashion on a center of the world. In conclusion, the research on Baudelaire's aesthetic perspective will reaffirm a firm awareness of the creative spirit essential to globally-oriented creative artists and designers who work within the circumstance of the 21st century, a time when the paving of new aesthetic paths is necessary. The research also offers a clear understanding of the aesthetic values demanded by this age.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.37
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• pp.81-107
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• 2014

Freud's' discovery of the unconscious' is a great revolution. Because of this, human beings were able to get the opportunity to look into their inner than honest. Lu Xun and Guo Mo Ruo a pair of realism and romanticism literature representative of Chinese modern literature writers. They then absorb the psychoanalytic theory o Freud along with other Western zeitgeist, introduce them widely inliterary theory and creative practice, which was again. Lu Xun was reflected in the human world of the unconscious Freud uncovered on the basis of strict realism literary spirit, Guo Mo Ruo is in accordance with the romantic literary time for the purpose of 'art for art' depicting a man's inner psychological well did. Although Freud spirit they claim to social and literary artistry of literature based on different yarns in the Acceptance of analytical theory, has the characteristics of a common sentiment analysis method to express and describe the unconscious human potential. 5.4 When Lu Xun and Guo Mo Ruo China Journalism writers, including Freud's psychoanalytic theory has embraced the Enlightenment and the old feudal society was a major contribution to want to read exactly what the human inner hearing. Chinese modern literature writers have to accept sometimes positive, sometimes accepting the psychoanalytic theory was intellectually sharp criticism, which could be a great instrument in time to the 5.4 Enlightenment and psychological fiction novel further development.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.5
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• pp.217-229
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• 2007

Many historical research and facet about modern art in Indonesia which formulating background of contemporary Indonesian Art. Indonesian art critic Sanento Yuliman states that Modern art has been rapidly developing in Indonesia since the Indonesian Independence in 1945. Modern Art is a part of the super culture of the Indonesian metropolitan and is closely related to the contact between the Indonesian and Western Cultures. Its birth was part of the nationalism project, when the Indonesian people consists of various ethnics were determined to become a new nation, the Indonesian nation, and they wished for a new culture, and therefore, a new art. The period 1960s, which was the beginning of the creation and development of the painters and the painters associations, was the first stage of the development of modern art in Indonesia. The second stage showed the important role of the higher education institutes for art. These institutes have developed since the 1950s and in the 1970s they were the main education institutes for painters and other artists. The artists awareness of the medium, forms or the organization of shapes were encouraged more intensely and these encouraged the exploring and experimental attitudes. Meanwhile, the information about the world's modern art, particularly Western Art; was widely and rapidly spread. The 1960s and 1970s were marked by the development of various abstractions and abstract art and the great number of explorations in various new media, like the experiment with collage, assemblage, mixed media. The works of the Neo Art Movement-group in the second half of the 1970s and in the 1980s shows environmental art and installations, influenced by the elements of popular art, from the commercial world and mass media, as well as the involvement of art in the social and environmental affairs. The issues about the environment, frequently launched by the intellectuals in the period of economic development starting in the 1970s, echoed among the artists, and they were widened in the social, art and cultural circles. The Indonesian economic development following the important change in the 1970s has caused a change in the life of the middle and upper class society, as has the change in various aspects of a big city, particularly Jakarta. The new genre emerged in 1975 which indicates contemporary art in Indonesia, when a group of young artists organized a movement, which was widely known as the Indonesian New Art Movement. This movement criticized international style, universalism and the long standing debate on an east-west-dichotomy. As far as the actual practice of the arts was concerned the movement criticized the domination of the art of painting and saw this as a sign of stagnation in Indonesian art development. Based on this criticism 'the movement' introduced ready-mades and installations (Jim Supangkat). Takes almost two decades that the New Art Movement activists were establishing Indonesian Installation art genre as contemporary paradigm and influenced the 1980's gene ration like, FX Harsono, Dadang Christanto, Arahmaiani, Tisna Sanjaya, Diyanto, Andarmanik, entering the 1990's decade as "rebellion period" ; reject towards established aesthetic mainstream i.e. painting, sculpture, graphic art which are insufficient to express "new language" and artistic needs especially to mediate social politic and cultural situation. Installation Art which contains open possibilities of creation become a vehicle for aesthetic establishment rejection and social politics stagnant expression in 1990s. Installation art accommodates two major field; first, the rejection of aesthetic establishment has a consequences an artists quest for medium; deconstruction models and cross disciplines into multi and intermedia i.e. performance, music, video etc. Second aspect is artists' social politic intention for changes, both conclude as characteristics of Indonesian Installation Art and establishing the freedom of expression in contemporary Indonesian Art until today.