• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.15-29
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• 2022

The Byungsan Neo-Confucian Academy, a 17th-century World Heritage Site in Korea, is being praised as a manifestation of naturalness or non-artificiality of the traditional Korean borrowed scenery technique (借景, chagyeong). This study, however, aims to reinterpret the chagyeong of the Byungsan Academy (hereafter the Academy) as a device of illusion evoking an idealized vision of nature. In the process of interpretation, 'picture and frame'-a widely accepted expression that represents the chagyeong of the Academy-will be foregrounded as the pivotal concept mediating the change of perspectives from naturalistic to ideological. This study consists of the following three parts. First, it shows that 'picture and frame' represent a modern way of seeing the Academy as an architectural heritage in harmony with nature; it denotes pristine nature and the empty architectural frame that safely circumscribes the innate beauty of the natural landscape. Second, departing from the naturalistic perspective, this study argues that the architectural framework of the Academy composes scenography enticing the viewer to imagine the idealized, Confucian image of nature that compares to the landscape imagery found in the landscape poetry and paintings that were produced and appreciated by the 17th-century Confucian literati. Lastly, based on the above interpretation, this study stresses that the 'picture' one encountered at the Academy in the 17th century was not the framed scene of a natural landscape but the illusion it caused; the architectural 'frame' worked not as a symbol of naturalness but as an institutional apparatus of vision manipulating the way one sees-and therefore imagines-the landscape.

• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.59
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• pp.287-312
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• 2018

Confucianism which pursues the right relationship between person and person, depicts the ideal that moral individuals contribute to community development. In the 16th century, Toegye Yi Hwang, the authority of Korean Confucianism, reflected his educational intentions and interests and made the whole of the body of Confucianism and the whole process of the study into a series of 10 paintings 'Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning'. The purpose of the education which is claimed in the 'Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning' is to become a saint, and it ultimately coincides with the purpose of moral education which is to be introspective and practical moral man. The whole theme of 'Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning' is related to revealing the principles of humanity and morality in order to restore human nature on the basis of piety. Piety(敬) is also a purpose and a method of self-discipline, and is the main content. The method of education for traditional confucianism is aiming for the organic integration of purpose, content and method of education and reveals the consistency of the combination of knowledge and behavior in content and method. Exploring the universal value of traditional culture and re-raising moral culture that is important in traditional education is to discuss that what is valid for the present and the future is derived from the past tradition. That may be useful in solving today's educational problems. Especially, it is very meaningful to adopt a reflective approach to cultivate talented people who can 'realize oneself' and 'care for the community' which is the ultimate goal of education through analyzing the essence of moral education pursued by traditional education.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.7
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• pp.125-163
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• 2009

The artworks of Socialist Realism of the former Soviet Union, with the beginning of the 21st century, are gaining a new attention from art collectors. One reason for this might consist in the fact that relevant art pieces exemplify the ways in which they visualize ideas on the basis of their high-profile art tradition and also in which they integrate their utopian ideals with mysticism. These aspects of the Soviet art goes far beyond the wide-spread assumption that their art, as a means of propaganda, principally represents a political allegiance to the system. With Stalin coming into power in the 1930s, the artistic trend of Socialist Realism obtained a nationwide sympathy and support from people, giving birth to a new art which essentially corresponded to the demands of the political power. An official art current of the USSR over the period from the 1930s to 1950s, Socialist Realism was in tandem with the Communist commitment to the party and popularity, symbolizing a loyalty to the cause. It was thus characterized by plainness and lucidity so that ordinary people could gain easy access to art. Its salient feature, over an entire range of art, was an optimistic pursuit of a utopian dream. Therefore, it tallied with the popular sentiment for a Communist paradise, giving form to their beliefs in human agency working at the materialist world and also to such abstract concepts as force, fitness, and beauty by adding even mythical ideals. Its main subject matter includes harvest feasts of collective farms, imaginary socialist cities, grand marches of heroic laborers and in this way it served as a propaganda for a sacred utopia of socialist totalitarianism. On the other end of the spectrum, however, rose the second camp of art, which put an emphasis on bona-fide artistic activities of plastic art and on an artist's personal expression and freedom, as opposed to the surface optimism of Socialist Realism. Central to the Russian Avant Garde art, which prized the above-mentioned values, were Malevich's Geometric Abstraction and A. Rodchenko's Constructivism. Furthermore, in the transitional era of the late 20th century and the 21st century it was recognized that film art or electronic media art, rather than traditional genre of paintings, would function as a more efficient way of propaganda. These new genres were made possible by ridiculing the stereotypes of the Russian lifestyle and also by ignoring ethical or professional dimensions of artworks. That is, they reinvented themselves into a sort of field art, seemingly degrading the quality of artworks and transforming them into artifacts or simulacres in the very sense of post-modernism. The advent of the new era brought about the formation and occupation of pop culture of the younger generations, calling into question the idea of art as the class-determined. It also increased the attention to field art, which extensively found way to modern art centers, galleries, and exhibition projects. It can be stated that this was a natural outcome of human nature.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.14
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• pp.33-51
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• 2012

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) has been widely regarded as the most original and brilliant English landscape painter in the 19th century. Admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in 1789, Turner was a precocious artist and gained the full membership of the prestigious Royal Academy in 1802 at the age of 27. Already in the 1800s he was recognised as a pioneer in taking a new and revolutionary approach to the art of landscape painting. Among his early works made in this period, The Shipwreck, painted in 1805, epitomizes the sense of sublime Romanticism in terms of its dramatic subject-matter and the masterly display of technical innovations. Of course, the subject of shipwreck has a long standing history. Ever since human beings first began seafaring, they have been fascinated as much as haunted by shipwrecks. For maritime societies, such as England, shipwreck has been the source of endless nightmares, representing a constant threat not only to individual sailors but also to the nation as a whole. Unsurprisingly, therefore, shipwreck is one of the most popular motifs in art and literature, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries. Yet accounts, images and metaphors of shipwreck have taken diverse forms and served different purposes, varying significantly across time and between authors. As such, Turner's painting registers a panoply of diverse but interconnected contemporary discourses. First of all, since shipwreck was an everyday occurrence in this period, it is more than likely that Turner's painting depicted the actual sinking in 1805 of the East India Company's ship 'The Earl of Abergavenny' off the coast of Weymouth. 263 souls were lost and the news of the wreck made headlines in major English newspapers at the time. Turner's painting may well have been his visual response to this tragedy, eyewitness accounts of which were given in great quantity in every contemporary newspaper. But the painting is not a documentary visual record of the incident as Turner was not present at the site and newspaper reports were not detailed enough for him to pictorially reconstruct the entire scene. Rather, Turner's painting is indebted to the iconographical tradition of depicting tempest and shipwreck, bearing a strong visual resemblance to some 17th-century Dutch marine paintings with which he was familiar through gallery visits and engravings. Lastly, Turner's Shipwreck is to be located in the contexts of burgeoning contemporary travel literature, especially shipwreck narratives. The late 18th and early 19th century saw a drastic increase in the publication of shipwreck narratives and Turner's painting was inspired by the re-publication in 1804 of William Falconer's enormously successful epic poem of the same title. Thus, in the final analysis, Turner's painting is a splendid signifier leading the beholder to the heart of Romantic abyss conjoing nightmarish everyday experience, high art, and popular literature.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.243-263
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• 2022

The royal court of Joseon had a tradition of mounting the Irworobongdo, a painting of the sun, the moon and the five sacred peaks, symbols of the king's immortal presence and authority, on a folding screen and placing it in special spaces within the palace that were reserved for the king. While the Irworobongdo is generally accepted as the important ceremonial object of the royal palaces of Joseon, there have been few studies on the various folding screens used in the royal palaces, largely because the official records about such screens do not match the remaining original relics. In this study, the main discussion is focused on the diversity of the shapes and mounting materials of the Irworobongdoused for various ceremonies held in the royal palaces of Joseon based on the Uigwe, the official records of the royal protocols of the Joseon dynasty. The discussion also extends to the theme rarely studied so far, namely the original form of the Irworobongdo and its evolution in the following period. The ceremonial "five peak" folding screens (Obongbyeong) used at a number of important palace buildings, including the crown hall (Jeongjeon), royal funerary hall (Binjeon), spirit hall (Honjeon) and portrait shrine (Jinjeon), differed in shape and size from the folding screens used in royal celebratory events such as banquets, although the paintings themselves and the style of mounting them were essentially the same. The paintings were mounted on screens bordered with green silk and ornamented with floral gilt designs. The folding screens used in royal ceremonies were produced according to strict guidelines that required the ceremonies and mounting materials to be graded on the basis of the status of each screen. It was not until the 1960s that these ceremonial folding screens of the Joseon dynasty, which had been neglected during the period of Japanese colonial rule of Korea, began to undergo conservation treatment provided as part of a heritage preservation program. Unfortunately, many of the screens repaired in this period lost some of their original features - largely due to the use of non-traditional mounting techniques. Considering, however, that significant achievements have since been made in the heritage preservation field based on the use of historical evidence, it is now necessary to systematically use the repair history of the information about the remaining royal ceremonial folding screens to ensure that they are preserved and managed more effectively in the future.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.9
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• pp.171-193
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• 2010

This paper examines Fernand Khnopff's Symbolism, focusing on the I Lock My Door upon Myself as a manifesto of his artistic credo in style and theme. Its title was originally in English, originating from the poem "Who Shall Deliver Me?" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti's sister Christina Rossetti. I use the term "Social Symbolism" which combines a nationalist perspective with traditional French Symbolism, in order to explain how the image of Bruges is represented in his oeuvre. Symbolism calls for psychological introspection evoking death, love, silence, and solitude and recluse from realty in pursuit of the Unknown and the Ideal. Although Khnopff shared this idea, he departed from symbolist tradition by incorporating a political milieu in his paintings. First, I discuss Khnopff's early stage in the formation of his artistic concept, including his family background as well as his early opportunity to visit the Exposition Universelle in Paris where he formed his early interests in aesthetics, philosophy, literature, mythology and Egyptian art. His early works, La Painture, la Musique, la Poesie(1880-1881), Le Crise(1881), and En ecoutant Schuman(1883) reveal his favorite subjects which were quite prevalent in the symbolist traditions of both Belgium and France. By looking at Khnopff's paintings, I endeavor to situate his Symbolism in the context of the development of Belgian modernity and cultural nationalism. Second, my analysis of Khnopff creates a new overview of Symbolism in Europe, especially in Belgium. In the absence of socio-political integration, the Symbolist painter adds nostalgic meaning to the landscape of Bruges. The scene of Bruges illuminates the social atmosphere in Belgium at that time. Since Belgium became an independent country, it tried to differentiate its own cultural and national identity from France. There was a powerful social movement for Belgium to claim its own identity, language, and culture. Bruges was, for Symbolists, the epitome of Belgium's past glory. This encouraged the formation of Belgian nationalism centering on Brussels, as I demonstrate in Khnopff's Bruges-la-Morte(1892). The relationship between Symbolist artist and writers is crucial for understanding this development. Khnopff, for instance, illustrated or provided frontispieces for many Symbolist writers such as Rodenbach, Peladan, Spencer and Le Roy. Khnopff did not objectify the exact meaning, but rather provided his own subjective interpretation. In this respect, I Lock My Door, inspired by Rossetti, started from the same motif, but Khnopff seeked escape into silence and death while Rossetti searched for Christian salvation. Finally my paper deals with the social context in which Khnopff worked. He was a founding member of Les XX in 1883 and later La Libre Esthethetique he also participated in the exhibition of le Salon de la Rose + Croix. Les XX was not a particular school of art and did not have a uniform manifesto, but its exhibitions focused on decorative arts by encompassing art for all people via common, everyday objects. The Periodical, L'art moderne was founded to support this ideal by Edmond Picard and Maux. Les XX declared art as independent art, detached from all official connections. Khnopff designed the 1890 catalogue cover of Les XX and the 1891 cover. These designs show decorative element of Art Nouveau in an early example of "modern poster." Les XX pursued all art including graphic arts, prints, placard, posters and book illustrations and design. These forms of art were l'art social and this movement was formed by the social atmosphere in Belgium in terms of social reforms and strikes by working class. Khnopff designed the book cover for la Maison du Peuple. The artist, however, did not share the ideal egalitarianism of the working class to a certain degree, while he was working in his villa he designed under the ideal motto, "on n'a pas que," he expressed the nihilistic emotions toward society by the theme of interiority such as solitude, silence, narcissism, introspection, and introversion. In the middle of his Symbolism, we find the "cultural nostalgia" or longing that the artist develops in the I Lock My Door upon Myself. Khnopff's longing toward the lost city of "Bruges" form the crux of his "Social Symbolism."

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2021

Nam Nong Heo Geon(1908-1987) re-recognized and re-created the tradition of Korean Namjong painting by excluding Japanese art forms after liberation. He is a great painter in the Korean art world, who has succeeded and developed Korean Namjong Painting in a modern way, pioneering a new field of 'NewNamhwa' with a composition that fuses modern Western style and real scenery. Based on optimism, Namnong's painting world can be divided into three periods: the 'Namnong Sanin' period in the 1930s, the 'Namnongoesa' period from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s, and the 'the owner of Unlimsanbang' period after that. The Namnong Sanin period is a period in which the painting style handed down from the traditional namhwau family of Sochi and Misan is fully acquired, and the Japanese painting style for the exhibition in Seonjeon is reflected, and the local real scenery is treated a lot, and the two styles are mixed. In the Namnong-oesa period, after liberation, a new formativeness was explored in the traditional Namhwa style. In particular, based on the scenery and sentiments of the southern provinces, he focused on local and landscape paintings, depicting real landscapes with lyricism and local love, while expressing subjects with fast brush strokes, a worndown writing brush, and dry brushes, along with freehand adjustment of shading. The period of the owner of unlimsanbang is in accordance with the flow of modern art to some extent, but is gradually omitted as a composition full of academic fragrance that draws a meaning befitting traditional painting. I painted a lot of lyrical landscapes and pine trees of sumugdamchae. Namnong named it 'NewNamhwa'. Namnong established 'Namhwa Research Institute' and worked hard to nurture his disciples, where Im-in's son Heomun and Namnong's eldest grandson Heojin practiced, continuing the legacy of the 5th generation Unlimsanbang painter.

• Journal of the Speleological Society of Korea
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• no.95
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• pp.35-49
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• 2009

Ever since the beginning of time, caves not only have offered a place to live for humans but they have also been used as cultural spaces. That is, in the event of making some sounds in a location within the cave, the sound that is created is greatly magnified and sounds out as if it is being amplified from a giant megaphone. This, as we well know it, is known as the resonance effect. Here, the cave itself appears to function as a massive wind instrument. Especially in cases like the Altamira Cave (Spain) where cave paintings were found, the point where the cave drawings were found has commonalities in that it is a wide space and that it is usually discovered together with flutes and drums that are made with mammoth bones. We need to focus on this point. We can infer from these facts that the prehistoric people have carried out cultural activities along with their incantation rituals within those caves. In the meantime, amongst the Korean traditional arts, in the case of pansori which is a representative vocal genre, there have been examples where caves were used as practicing locations for those people who are training to perfect their singing. This is known as toguldoggong(土窟獨功) which literally means 'obtaining one's own art by oneself in the earth cave by practicing incessantly'. This process along with pokpodoggong (瀑布獨功) (same as above except that the location is by the waterfall) is the final training stage in order to become a recognized virtuoso on the part of the apprentice. This could be compared to the final annealing and finishing process of producing a metalwork. This has been a long tradition followed by most Korean traditional artists in order to perfect their sound which is harmonious with nature within natural surroundings. By honing in on this point, I have come to think about this matter repeatedly while coaching the university students in vocal singing. In short, I came to the conclusion that "the making of natural sounds will be obtained naturally within natural surroundings like caves!" Consequently, The Society for Studying Cave Sounds was inaugurated on January 1992 along with some of my students. We made use of times like vacations to go around exploring caves all over Jeju and carried out investigations of sounds along with cave exploration on an experimental basis. After 5 years, in September of 1997, we were able to host the first ever cave concert domestically at the Whale Nostril Cave(東岸鯨窟) on Wu-do. After that, we have been hosting the cave concert once every year. We have achieved a record of a total of 14 cave concerts until 2009 of this year. Out of these, 2 were held in Seokhwaeam Cave in Kangwon Province, another two were held in Manjang Cave which is a lava cave, and the remaining 10 were held in the Whale Nostril Cave of Wu-do. Along with that, I have carried out a special recording for the production of a cave music CD in May of 1999. This paper was written and organized by using the main materials that were derived from the experiences of using caves as concert halls in the past. It is hoped that this cave concert will offer a very unique experience to tourists who come to Jeju every year and give them the best possible superior natural sound effect that only Jeju caves can offer.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.66-80
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• 2009

This paper attempts to investigate how the cultural phenomena associated with 'Wuyi-Doga(武夷棹歌)' and 'Wuyi-Gugok (武夷九曲)' was introduced to Joseon. The icon and code of 'Gugok' cultural text which was observed in the process of transmitting the culture through repetition and imitation were examined. With regard to research methodology, an 'analysis and discussion framework' was designed based on the literature review, field survey and the seven textuality criteria proposed by Dressier. Then the textuality of 'Wuyi-Gugok' was analyzed in terms of the dependent relation of text, the relationship between the creator and user, repetition, imitation and the spread process. Since ZhouHee(朱熙)'s 'Wuyi-Doga' and 'Wuyi-Gugok' were introduced to Joseon through literature and paintings, they became a part of the cultural Phenomena with unprecedented popularity. As a result, a great number of imitations can be found. In addition, governors would even take care of political affairs in a scenic mountain valley as described in this literature. Regardless of the writer's intentiot 'Gugok' settled in Joseon as new culture in harmony with Taoism and Sung COnfucianism. In other words, Joseon's Gugok-Wonlim(九曲園林) accepted the nature-appreciation aesthetic consciousness in 'Wuyi-Doga' and 'Wuyi-Gugok' on the basis of Taoism and Sung Confucianism. In terms of the text-based dependent relation only, however, the geographical coherence was somewhat loosened while the Gugok Culture that was dependent on Taoism or elegance in life dominated the internal structure of the textuality. Meantime, the internal factors that dominated the textuality of 'Wdyi-Gugok' were interpreted as 1) 'Aesthetics of Bending, Water Whirls', 2) 'Territoriality Expression Carve letters,' 3) 'Cultural Landscape seeing through the Speculation of Meaning,' 4) 'The Pursuit of Oddness and Presentationism' and 5) 'Transcendental Landscape of Taoism and Topos.'

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.168-191
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• 2021

This article examines the shape, iconography, and creation date of the Four Buddhist Heavenly Kings (Sacheonwang 四天王) enshrined in the Heavenly Kings' Gate (Cheonwangmun 天王門) of Hoeamsa in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province during the early Joseon Dynasty. First, small fragments of clay decoration excavated from a fourth-platform gate site of the Hoeamsa Temple Site in Yangju Gyeonggi Province were analyzed and compared to other Four Heavenly Kings enshrined in the (Cheonwangmun gates) during the Joseon Dynasty. In addition, the size and shape of the gate were compared to other Cheonwangmun gates constructed during the Joseon Dynasty. Results revealed that the excavated fragments were part of the armor of Sacheonwang, and the clay-standing statues enshrined in the fourth-platform gate of Hoeamsa Temple would be proportional in size to those of Beopjusa Temple in Boeum, South Chungcheong Province. The flame-type pieces, which decorated the Heavenly King's crown in the Joseon Dynasty, and the rectangular-type pieces were not found in artifacts from the Goryeo Dynasty. Therefore, the Sacheonwang sculptures of the Hoeamsa Temple were likely made in the late 15th century in the early Joseon Dynasty. A detailed iconography of the Sacheonwang of Hoeamsa is presumedly based on the Buddhist paintings and illustrations of Buddhist scriptures (Gyeongbyeonsangdo 經變相圖)from the late Goryeo and early Joseon. During the late Goryeo Dynasty and early Joseon Dynasty, Traditional iconography from Goryeo and new iconography from Ming coexisted. However, in the late 15th century, the Sacheonwang statues of the early Joseon Dynasty had many different elements from those of the Goryeo Dynasty and were similar to those enshrined in Cheonwangmun Gate during the Joseon Dynasty. The Four Heavenly Kings of Hoeamsa Temple, believed to have been produced in the late 15th century, has historical significance in the following points. They were the first Joseon Sacheonwang statues example enshrined in the Cheonwangmun gate. In addition, they were established as a new tradition that influenced the iconography of the Four Heavenly Kings during the Joseon Dynasty.