• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.825-842
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• 2014

This study is to analyze essays on the practices of consumption happiness which the students who took the class 'consumption and happiness' wrote. To do this, 108 essays which the students submitted in both semesters in 2013 were analyzed qualitatively. As a result, the 4 themes such as 'reflection on the life of consumption', 'practices', 'changes', 'recognized meanings of the class' were extracted. Firstly, some students were reflective on their acts of consumption in everyday life. They have consumed in an undisciplined, unthoughtful manner and have experienced various negative emotions in their consumption, and have the motive of change. Secondly, the study showed the consumption of clothes, eating, house, leisure, body, digital, wedding is variously included in their practices of consumption. In the category of common practices, 'sharing consumption giving a bigger happiness', 'sustainable consumption caring about the earth and the next generation', 'smart consumption through discipline', 'responsible consumption considering community and producer', 'field trips and consumption of experience as learning' are included, and 'meaningful feeling of happiness through practices' are extracted. Thirdly, they have experienced positive changes such as reduction in consumption desire and increased concern with mind, relationship and conscious consumption. Fourthly, students think of the class as a necessary, useful, practical subject, and have a precious opportunity to learn many aspects they don't think about before, and don't practice, and say that they persistently continue to practice. Therefore, to promote the happiness as a consumer and consumer citizen leader in the society, it's necessary to offer a related class in more universities.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.7
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• pp.7-36
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• 2009

This paper intends to examine the significance of the "Minjoong Misool(People's art)" of the 1980s emerged in Korea in its social, cultural, and art historical context. This paper also aims to provide an analysis of the meaning and form of the individual artist's works, which have been overlooked under the dominant discourse that has emphasized their political role as a collective group. In particular, this paper scrutinizes the work of "Critical Realists" by examining the way in which they perceived Korean society in the early 1980s and visualized their experiences of the period. The figurative art newly emerged in the early 1980s challenged the formalist Modernism, which was adopted into Korea and translated into monochrome paintings and the work of the conversative academicism of the 1970s. The figurative art encouraged a social communication and moreover it intended to criticize the conflicts in the political, economical, and social domains in Korea. The targets of its critique include the unavoidable results of the unprecedented development of economy, various social phenomena of the post-industrial society, and the growth of the commercialized kitsch culture. Along with Shin, Hak-chul's work that incorporates collage technique since the 1980s, the work of some members of "Reality and Utterance" and "Im- sul-nyun" exemplify their critical interests in disclosing the false dream of wealth and happiness by both referring to and drawing on the utopian fantasy manipulated and distributed by mass media and commercial advertisements. This paper pays particular attention to Nouvelle Figuration emerged in France and Europe during the 1960s, which is comparable to the new figurative art emerged in Korea during the 1980s. Nouvelle Figuration criticized the autonomy in art isolated itself from political and social reality after WWII, in particular the indifference of Informel and abstract art as well as American abstract art. Moreover it became rather politicized around May of 1968. Given that French Nouvelle Figuration was introduced in Korea in 1982 and made a significant contribution to the formation of figurative art in Korea, it should be noted that the new figurative art emerged in the 1980s in Korea cannot be categorized merely in relation to People's Art. This paper intends to critically redress the notion that People's art was formed in the particular political, economical, and cultural context of Korea independent of the contemporary artistic practices outside Korea. It will provide a critical examination and analysis of the content and form of the new figurative art, from which People's Art was germinated, in the global context.