Using Koki Tanaka's collaborative project as an example, this paper studies the anticipated ... more Using Koki Tanaka's collaborative project as an example, this paper studies the anticipated roles of participatory art in a community, which has become an elusive issue in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. At the 55th Venice Biennale of 2013, the Japan Pavilion presented a solo exhibition of Koki Tanaka titled Abstract Speaking: Sharing Uncertainty and Collective Acts. The exhibition consisted of videos and photographs of collective performances in which the participants collaborated on common tasks, often revealing subtle tensions. The artist's objective was to uncover the vulnerabilities of a community – even the Japanese society that has been known for its unity and solidarity – in the face of abrupt changes in social context after a disaster like the 2011 Great Earthquake. This paper argues that this very awareness of the uncertainty of a community would be a critical step toward alternative types of community.22kc
Since the 2010s, art historians and critics have paid great attention to the 1990s as the origina... more Since the 2010s, art historians and critics have paid great attention to the 1990s as the original moment of Korean contemporary art. By the late 1980s, the Korean art community was split between two opposing factions: monochrome paintings (Dansaekhwa) and ‘People’s Art’ (Minjung misul), pure art and politically engaging practices, the institutionally established and the anti-institutional. However, at the beginning of the 1990s, such dichotomy disappeared with the end of the Cold War, the advent of postmodernism, and the emergence of the new generation. It is generally agreed that the advent of the new generation artists led to the long-awaited globalization and contemporaneity of Korean art. Among the thriving artist groups of the late 1980s, in particular, the group Museum, which was organized in 1987 by the young artists in their twenties from Hongik University, such as Nak-beom Koh, Kyeong-ae Noh, Hye-kyeong Myeong, Bul Lee, Seung Jeong, Jeong-hwa Choi, and Seong-min Hong, has ...
2010년을 전후로 한국 미술계에서는 ‘동시대 미술’의 기원으로서 1990년대에 일어난 다층적인 변화에 주목하고 있다. 1990년대가 본격적으로 역사의 틀 안으로 진입하면서,... more 2010년을 전후로 한국 미술계에서는 ‘동시대 미술’의 기원으로서 1990년대에 일어난 다층적인 변화에 주목하고 있다. 1990년대가 본격적으로 역사의 틀 안으로 진입하면서, 한국 미술은 1990년대에 이르러 비로소 ‘세계화’를 달성하고, 국제적인 ‘동시대성’을 획득했으며, 그 밑바탕에는 ‘신세대’의 등장이 있다고 서술된다. 1980년대 이래로 모더니즘과 리얼리즘 (혹은 민중미술), 순수와 참여, 제도권과 비제도권, 정치와 비정치 등으로 양분되어 대치상태에 있던 한국 미술계는 1990년대에 들어서며 냉전종식을 비롯한 역사적 변화, 새로운 사회 현상이자 문화 이론으로서 포스트모더니즘의 도래, ‘신세대 미술’의 탄생과 함께 전환기를 맞이했다는 것이다. 그중 특히 1987년, 고낙범, 노경애, 명혜경, 이불, 정승, 최정화, 홍성민 등 당시 홍익대 미대 출신의 젊은 20대 작가 일곱 명이 결성했던 그룹 ‘뮤지엄’은 ‘신세대’를 대표하는 집단으로서 짧은 활동 기간에도 불구하고 1990년 이후 한국 현대 미술의 이론과 실천을 주도했던 ‘신세대 미술 그룹’의 효시로 반론의 여지없이 인정받고 있다. 일련의 논쟁을 통해 정리된 ‘신세대’란 대체로 설치, 영상, 복합매체 등을 자유롭게 활용하고, 제도적 권위와 정치 이데올로기에 대해 냉소적이거나 무관심하며, 대중문화와 상품미학, 도시적 삶의 일상성을 주제로 삼아, 통속적이거나 키치적 감수성을 드러내고, 일회적 프로젝트를 선호하며, 쾌락적이고 유희적인 창작태도를 지닌 작가들로 요약된다. 이와 같은 신세대가 출현하게 된 사회, 문화적 배경으로는 포스트모더니즘이 언급되었다. 따라서 신세대는 전지구적 현상의 일부로서 포스트모던화한 사회의 전형적 인간형으로 부상했으며, 이러한 신세대의 존재는 역설적으로 한국이 마침내 ‘세계화’ 및 ‘동시대성’을 성취했음을 증명해주었던 것이다. 그러나 지금까지 ‘신세대’와 ‘동시대성’에 대해서 겉으로 드러나는 현상의 사후적 기술을 넘어서는 분석은 그리 많지 않았고, ‘뮤지엄’과 ‘신세대’ 사이에 존...
abstract:This article analyzes the various practices of the WAWA Project as a case study of commu... more abstract:This article analyzes the various practices of the WAWA Project as a case study of community-based art after the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011 (“3.11”). Organized by Masato Nakamura (b. 1963), the Tokyo-based artist, college professor, and director of an artist collective commandN, the WAWA Project is an ongoing project that initiates, mobilizes, promotes, and connects local residents and civic groups in disaster-stricken areas for their regeneration efforts. In the current discourse of contemporary art, the WAWA Project can be discussed within the framework of relational aesthetics, in the sense that the works of art function as a platform through which the individuals are engaged collectively with particular experiences and social circumstances so as to create a communal unity. This conceptualization of relational aesthetics becomes theoretically impoverished and politically suspect when combined with Japan’s changed sociopolitical environment in the wake of 3.11. When the state exploits the rhetoric of communal solidarity, it seriously undermines democracy, threatens autonomous individuals, and blocks egalitarian social structure instead of furthering it. I argue that the dynamic, creative, and contestatory networks and initiatives that WAWA Project has promoted, which are distinct from the more formalized community associations and artistic projects, will allow us to articulate alternative ways of challenging conventional conceptions of community and social order.
With our focus on twenty-first-century art history, we asked John Clark, Professor of Asian Art H... more With our focus on twenty-first-century art history, we asked John Clark, Professor of Asian Art History, University of Sydney, to convene an email Q-and-A on the topic of world art history. The possibility of such a history has been thrown up in the wake of the seeming decline of the Euro-American art history that dominated twentieth-century thinking about art. For an overview of the world-art-history idea, readers are referred to James Elkins's book Is ART HISTORY GLOBAL? Clark invited four respondents: Parul Dave Mukherjee, Professor of the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Omuka Toshiharu, Professor and Vice-Provost of the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, Tokyo; Patrick Flores, Professor of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines, Quezon City; and Woo Jung-ah of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea.
Informel is an art movement characterized by non-geometrical abstraction and expressive gestures.... more Informel is an art movement characterized by non-geometrical abstraction and expressive gestures. Emerging in the mid-1950s, Informel is generally considered the first radical artistic experiment in postwar Korea, not only because it abandoned representational art in favor of complete abstraction, but also because it initiated a collective rebellion against the government-sponsored National Art Exhibition (gukjeon) system. As the French term suggests, Informel is closely related to its European counterpart and American Expressionism, which were popular in the 1940s and 1950s.
Using Koki Tanaka's collaborative project as an example, this paper studies the anticipated ... more Using Koki Tanaka's collaborative project as an example, this paper studies the anticipated roles of participatory art in a community, which has become an elusive issue in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. At the 55th Venice Biennale of 2013, the Japan Pavilion presented a solo exhibition of Koki Tanaka titled Abstract Speaking: Sharing Uncertainty and Collective Acts. The exhibition consisted of videos and photographs of collective performances in which the participants collaborated on common tasks, often revealing subtle tensions. The artist's objective was to uncover the vulnerabilities of a community – even the Japanese society that has been known for its unity and solidarity – in the face of abrupt changes in social context after a disaster like the 2011 Great Earthquake. This paper argues that this very awareness of the uncertainty of a community would be a critical step toward alternative types of community.22kc
Since the 2010s, art historians and critics have paid great attention to the 1990s as the origina... more Since the 2010s, art historians and critics have paid great attention to the 1990s as the original moment of Korean contemporary art. By the late 1980s, the Korean art community was split between two opposing factions: monochrome paintings (Dansaekhwa) and ‘People’s Art’ (Minjung misul), pure art and politically engaging practices, the institutionally established and the anti-institutional. However, at the beginning of the 1990s, such dichotomy disappeared with the end of the Cold War, the advent of postmodernism, and the emergence of the new generation. It is generally agreed that the advent of the new generation artists led to the long-awaited globalization and contemporaneity of Korean art. Among the thriving artist groups of the late 1980s, in particular, the group Museum, which was organized in 1987 by the young artists in their twenties from Hongik University, such as Nak-beom Koh, Kyeong-ae Noh, Hye-kyeong Myeong, Bul Lee, Seung Jeong, Jeong-hwa Choi, and Seong-min Hong, has ...
2010년을 전후로 한국 미술계에서는 ‘동시대 미술’의 기원으로서 1990년대에 일어난 다층적인 변화에 주목하고 있다. 1990년대가 본격적으로 역사의 틀 안으로 진입하면서,... more 2010년을 전후로 한국 미술계에서는 ‘동시대 미술’의 기원으로서 1990년대에 일어난 다층적인 변화에 주목하고 있다. 1990년대가 본격적으로 역사의 틀 안으로 진입하면서, 한국 미술은 1990년대에 이르러 비로소 ‘세계화’를 달성하고, 국제적인 ‘동시대성’을 획득했으며, 그 밑바탕에는 ‘신세대’의 등장이 있다고 서술된다. 1980년대 이래로 모더니즘과 리얼리즘 (혹은 민중미술), 순수와 참여, 제도권과 비제도권, 정치와 비정치 등으로 양분되어 대치상태에 있던 한국 미술계는 1990년대에 들어서며 냉전종식을 비롯한 역사적 변화, 새로운 사회 현상이자 문화 이론으로서 포스트모더니즘의 도래, ‘신세대 미술’의 탄생과 함께 전환기를 맞이했다는 것이다. 그중 특히 1987년, 고낙범, 노경애, 명혜경, 이불, 정승, 최정화, 홍성민 등 당시 홍익대 미대 출신의 젊은 20대 작가 일곱 명이 결성했던 그룹 ‘뮤지엄’은 ‘신세대’를 대표하는 집단으로서 짧은 활동 기간에도 불구하고 1990년 이후 한국 현대 미술의 이론과 실천을 주도했던 ‘신세대 미술 그룹’의 효시로 반론의 여지없이 인정받고 있다. 일련의 논쟁을 통해 정리된 ‘신세대’란 대체로 설치, 영상, 복합매체 등을 자유롭게 활용하고, 제도적 권위와 정치 이데올로기에 대해 냉소적이거나 무관심하며, 대중문화와 상품미학, 도시적 삶의 일상성을 주제로 삼아, 통속적이거나 키치적 감수성을 드러내고, 일회적 프로젝트를 선호하며, 쾌락적이고 유희적인 창작태도를 지닌 작가들로 요약된다. 이와 같은 신세대가 출현하게 된 사회, 문화적 배경으로는 포스트모더니즘이 언급되었다. 따라서 신세대는 전지구적 현상의 일부로서 포스트모던화한 사회의 전형적 인간형으로 부상했으며, 이러한 신세대의 존재는 역설적으로 한국이 마침내 ‘세계화’ 및 ‘동시대성’을 성취했음을 증명해주었던 것이다. 그러나 지금까지 ‘신세대’와 ‘동시대성’에 대해서 겉으로 드러나는 현상의 사후적 기술을 넘어서는 분석은 그리 많지 않았고, ‘뮤지엄’과 ‘신세대’ 사이에 존...
abstract:This article analyzes the various practices of the WAWA Project as a case study of commu... more abstract:This article analyzes the various practices of the WAWA Project as a case study of community-based art after the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011 (“3.11”). Organized by Masato Nakamura (b. 1963), the Tokyo-based artist, college professor, and director of an artist collective commandN, the WAWA Project is an ongoing project that initiates, mobilizes, promotes, and connects local residents and civic groups in disaster-stricken areas for their regeneration efforts. In the current discourse of contemporary art, the WAWA Project can be discussed within the framework of relational aesthetics, in the sense that the works of art function as a platform through which the individuals are engaged collectively with particular experiences and social circumstances so as to create a communal unity. This conceptualization of relational aesthetics becomes theoretically impoverished and politically suspect when combined with Japan’s changed sociopolitical environment in the wake of 3.11. When the state exploits the rhetoric of communal solidarity, it seriously undermines democracy, threatens autonomous individuals, and blocks egalitarian social structure instead of furthering it. I argue that the dynamic, creative, and contestatory networks and initiatives that WAWA Project has promoted, which are distinct from the more formalized community associations and artistic projects, will allow us to articulate alternative ways of challenging conventional conceptions of community and social order.
With our focus on twenty-first-century art history, we asked John Clark, Professor of Asian Art H... more With our focus on twenty-first-century art history, we asked John Clark, Professor of Asian Art History, University of Sydney, to convene an email Q-and-A on the topic of world art history. The possibility of such a history has been thrown up in the wake of the seeming decline of the Euro-American art history that dominated twentieth-century thinking about art. For an overview of the world-art-history idea, readers are referred to James Elkins's book Is ART HISTORY GLOBAL? Clark invited four respondents: Parul Dave Mukherjee, Professor of the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Omuka Toshiharu, Professor and Vice-Provost of the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, Tokyo; Patrick Flores, Professor of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines, Quezon City; and Woo Jung-ah of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea.
Informel is an art movement characterized by non-geometrical abstraction and expressive gestures.... more Informel is an art movement characterized by non-geometrical abstraction and expressive gestures. Emerging in the mid-1950s, Informel is generally considered the first radical artistic experiment in postwar Korea, not only because it abandoned representational art in favor of complete abstraction, but also because it initiated a collective rebellion against the government-sponsored National Art Exhibition (gukjeon) system. As the French term suggests, Informel is closely related to its European counterpart and American Expressionism, which were popular in the 1940s and 1950s.
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