• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.153-162
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• 2004

Influenced by Constructivism Art, Constructivism theatre projected the future with the help of participating artists and the development of new technologies. Therefore, this thesis studied the stage costumes in the plays of Meyerhold who represented Constructivism Play and showed its characteristics. The stage costumes in Meyerhold's plays followed the rules of Constructivism Play and showed several unique characteristics, such as the Bio-mechanic as a characteristic in his plays, functionality that facilitated the movement based on Taylorism, simple shapes, and easy cutting. Constructive artists saw the stage of constructive plays as a laboratory where they can display their designs, directly portraying future life forms through stage costumes and props. Stage costumes were no more a supporting tool that had described the play. Following the new concept of stage costumes, working costumes and stage costumes came to be regarded as the same. In turn, this led to new models and special costumes such as sportswear or specialized garments. Constructivism artists foresaw the future through the plays, with their fundamental basis for stage costumes shown in the later works of ordinary costumes.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.95-106
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• 2014

Meyerhold's 'Biomechanics', which germinated from a critical point of view towards naturalism theatre, is a primary acting method that attempted to approach to acting in a material way, along with Stanislavski's 'System'. However, not only for a reason of the political background that all study on Meyerhold were forbidden in Russia but also for a reason of universalization of Stanislavski's 'System' through the world mutated into American acting method, it is a fact that Meyerhold's 'Biomechanics' is not actively utilized in a field of actor training at the present day. Especially, in case of actor training in Korea, 'Biomechanics' is also misunderstood as a method only focused on an actor's physical approach. Therefore, a purpose of this study is to explore usefulness of 'Biomechanics' in order to practically apply it to the actor training through correct understanding.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.52
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• pp.271-317
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• 2014

This essay studied the acting theories of Diderot, Delsarte, Meyerhold, and Artaud to know the historical formation of 'sign acting' and its theoretical and aesthetic appropriateness. The sign acting so far discussed shows the repetitive patterns of idea as follows. The sign acting (1) emphasizes the physical expression such as gesture and movement, (2) assumes that the physical expression functions as a sign evoking special emotion and thought, (3) thus recommends the imitation of the outer sign, (4) uses a tableau for the effective reception of outer sign, (5) aims for the spectator oriented aesthetics as it stresses the result of outer sign rather than the creative process of a role, (6) assumes that the emotional reaction or the intellectual understanding springs from the physical experience, (7) thus emphasizes the physical language rather than speech, (8) can attain the appropriateness of physical language by the recent theories of cognitive science. Besides having such commonness, the sign acting also reveals the individual differences. For instance, the intended sign for Diderot and Delsarte was the sign of emotion, for Meyerhold the stylized sign of circus and acrobatics, and for Artaud the spiritual sign. If Diderot and Meyerhold demands the cool consciousness for the correct sign acting, Artaud's sign acting tends to pursue the state of trance. And if Diderot, Delsarte, and Meyerhold think the sign acting on the level of sensory appeal, Artaud insists that the sign acting should dismantle the spectator's sense. As such the discussion of sign acting shows both recurrent ideas and new visions, forming an unity out of diversity. Perhaps the sign acting is a matter of practice before we consider it as a theory. It is not only supposed to have been existed practically since ancient theatre, but also used by actors consciously and unconsciously in expressing certain emotion and thought. We need to study the sign acting more academically, considering its long history and aesthetic potentials. In fact the sign acting has been an essential element of acting, in spite of bad reputation judging it as a banal and worn-out style. It is true that the sign acting, in the worst case, could produce a stereotypical expression. It was this aspect of sign acting that caused a fierce negative reaction of the realists who sought the natural expression based upon psychological truth. Of course the sign acting has a serious problem when it stays banal and artificial. But we need to see this issue from a different perspective. What is the natural expression of emotion? How is it free from the learned way of expression? In some respect, we use, in reality, a learned expression of emotion that could be accepted socially. For instance, when we attend a funeral, we use the outer sign of mourning gestures learned socially. If a semiotic expression pervades various aspects of our life, the acting, being the representation of life, seems not to be free from codified expression. The sign acting could be used consciously and unconsciously in all kinds of acting.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.89-101
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• 2014

The 'Biomechanics', which was devised to systematically train actor's material and medium, is evaluated as the first approach to an acting method in earnest with Stanislavsky's 'System'. Especially, due to the psycho-physical features of 'Biomechanics' that helps an actor to master a mechanism of human being such as stimulus, impulse and reaction, it was valued as an alternative for a naturalistic acting method that was excessively focused on the actor's emotional expression. However, the 'Biomechanics' is not utilized with activity in a field of actor training in Korea compared with Stanislavsky's 'The Method of Physical Action' which has a similar starting point as the psycho-physical feature. It is because of a political reason that a study for Meyerhold was officially forbidden in Russia until the mid-twentieth century. It is also because of a limit that incorporeal features of the 'Biomechanics' could not but be explained only by publications, especially translation. In this sense, as part of seeking for a new alternative of acting methods in Korea, this study will explore a possibility of applying the 'Biomechanics' to the actual actor training field through correct understanding of it.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.53
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• pp.31-56
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• 2014

If we define theatre as an infinite tower piled up by smoke, the strata of the organic composition of an actor's/actress' body-mind-spirit, may not only be complicatedly worked out, but it seems to belong to a non-scientific realm. However and at the same time, it is also true that the audience is eager to witness a certain kind of specific vitality from the actor/actress on stage. Of course the vitality is hard to be prescribed. Simply we call it a texture of energy, nuance of existence, or much simpler, an actor's/actress' 'aura'. That is, the existential nuance of the actor/actress. The nuance, which is surging from the actor's/actress' authentic presence, ultimately comes out of, not the circumstantial interpretation of the production but the power of its integration. We can find from the works of Meyerhold, Grotowsky and Barba the theatrical fact that the actor's aura can be obtained by a kind of artificiality rather than innate characteristics of existence. These directors commonly regard theatre as the actor's/actress' theatre. Respectively choosing his own specific methods of expression, they unexpectedly meet in a same spot in which actor's/actress' theatre can be realized by the rediscovery of the actor's/actress's body-form. In other words, their approaching methods to theatre look alike, at least in that abandoning reserving any natural, unconscious, economic body-form of an actor/actress, they rather try to discover a certain kind of 'technical' body-form. The form which is totally non/un-conscious, unfamiliar and non-economical. Their research process explores an ideal body-form, and this thesis focuses on this point. For this work, I bring the notion of 'liminality' that connotes the praxis for essential presence of the actor/actress as well as the incubating time and space nacessary for his/her rebirth. And for developing this work, I ask: Could not the actor's/actress' consciousness and the spatiotemporal dimensions (s)he meets, be possibly defined as the core of liminality, only in case that (s)he requires them in the process of, either exploring the unfamiliar body or familiarising with the unfamiliar body-form? As I mentioned above, the three frontiers' theatrical journey is similar in part. For example, three all start from the actor's/actress' consciousness and then go through the body enlarged with it. Then they continue their journey, but different from one another. Meyerhold still uses the conscious body. But now he transforms it into a kind of mobilized sculptures. In comparison with Meyerhold's use of the consciousness, Grotowsky puts his emphasis on an autonomous body which, if necessary, cast away even the innate consciousness. Likewise, to Barba, theatre always starts from the actor/actress who has already taken off all kinds of conventions. (Conventions should be re-designed!) The actor/actress therefore recreates him/herself as his/her body-mind wears a new, unfamiliar, readjusted form and vitality. And then this restructured body-mind may unceasingly aim at exploring its vitalized 'positive organism', that is the waves of self-centering energy, an existential nuance, and an authentic (or maybe behavioral) expressiveness. Now it seems clear that the liminal process for the frontiers' theatrical journey could be equalized as a profound process of self-penetration, self-transformation, and self-realization. This thesis explores the mystic realm of liminality.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.40
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• pp.345-400
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• 2010

Konstantin S. Stanislawski(1863-1938) is one of the great acting-teachers and directors. Especially his 'System' influences this day like his period so many actors and directors in the world. In Korea, Stanislawski was introduced at first in 1920's by Kim, Woojin, dramatist. After that time, his system was influenced fast everyone in the korean drama world. As a result, so many translations of his books and researches of his system are done until nowadays, but it is not perfect for the correct understanding of Stanislawski and his system. It seems to be several causes in this misunderstanding. And the purpose of this thesis is at first to observe historically the results of researches and translations on Stanislawski and his system in Korea and then to bring it in order according to characteristics. In this thesis are the process of reception observed dividing 4 periods. The first period is from the beginning to the liberation in 1945. The second is to 1980's and the next is to the year 2000. And the final period is from that time to the present time. As a result are several characteristics found as followings: 1) translations of Stanislawski's first book like other books, for example, Building a Character and Creating a Role, an Actor Prepares, are fast all secondhand translations, that means, man translated it not from russian direct but japanese or english. It caused man to misusing of terms and then misunderstanding on the system. 2) the researches on Stanislawski in are fast all concentrated on the book, an Actor Prepares, so this leads man to regard it as his whole acting system. On the other hand, thesisses which deal with his last and final acting technique, "the Method of the physical Action" are relatively not so much. As though man knows the last, man used to think that the system is developed systematically from the psychological technique to the physical action or the method of the physical action is only the way to understand of stanislawski's acting method. The psychological method and the physical are not the divided, different acting technique, but pairs which are applied to different objects, that is, the actor himself and the role in texts. 3) the political aspects are not considered especially under the situation of Stalin's social realism. This lack of the political context having relation with the system acts as a obstacle upon understanding the correct, whole his system. But so many thesises on this theme in other countries are so vivacious. For example, man can find subjects like "Stanislawski and Meyerhold", "means of Stanislawski's method for theatres in the social context". There are also many interesting Questions related to the physical action. That is, is the physical action the final acting technique or the materialistic dialectical device to survive under the Stalin's rule? Is there some interrelations between stanislawski's physical action and Meyerhold's biomechanics? In conclusion, the researches on Stanislwski and his system are not enough to understand correctly and overcome the system. We have to start the research again at least from the direct translation his books written russian in order to apply it in a new times.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.57-74
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• 2015

This paper will concentrates on martialarts acting system. I will sugest a kind of actor's training system for the safe method of action acting. In this study I solve the following problems. First, what is main factors to interfere with performer to act and how do they get rid of factors. Second, what is very economic and effective challenge to develope the new acting system for action acting performers. For this discussion I studied four parts. The first, I gives purpose and direction of the safe for martialarts actor. The second, I traces the development of contemporary idea of acting such as Stanislavsky and Meyerhold. The third I introduces Korean martialarts training system. The last I conclude which refer to effective action acting by result of training 'Korean traditional martialarts acting system'.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.45
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• pp.177-195
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• 2016

This article analyzes Sergei Eisenstein's acting theory, which is famous for his Russian montage. According to the existing discussions, he avoids the psychological realism through the concept of cut acting. It is a method like montage from the viewpoint that the practice of the cut action is segmented into shots. While Vsevolod Pudovkin, who asserts a connection montage, is looking for performance to portray a gradual change of emotion adopted by Konstantin Stanislavsky's psychological realism, Eisenstein prefers the acting of Vsevolod Meyerhold's masks in the same manner as the collision montage. This article traces the viewpoints on acting and actor that Eisenstein posed throughout his montage theory. It focuses on Film Sense(1942) and Film Form(1949), which are a collection of articles written by Eisenstein. As a result of examining the domestic and foreign literatures centering on Korean and English, it is hard to find the discussions on the analysis of Eisenstein's acting theory. Almost all of them are concentrated in his montage, among which the mention of acting is extremely limited. The cut acting, the typage, the inner techniques and processes of actor that express and induce the living emotions, and the acting of the integrating into diversity as one of the inner language are useful concepts in the creation and case analysis of contemporary films. Especially, his acting theory can be applied in the creation process of cartoons, webtoons, and animations which can meet the most decisive and impressive montage technique of Eisenstein. It is also possible to find many related cases for the analysis. This is why I look back on Eisenstein's film acting theory, and the results of the discussion will be a sufficient foundation for the derivation of related research.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.32
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• pp.549-594
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• 2016

This research focuses on 'dramaturgical' performance among all the acts of a director who constructs an artistic structure. This is, specifically, the dramaturgical acts that a director comes to perform in the process of dramatizing a novel. This paper aims to suggest a new kind of approach for productive interaction between drama theory and practice, not only by documenting the process of creation but also by moulding theoretical basis on acts of a director. As you all know, creative acts in practice so far have rarely been considered as subject and purpose of academic study. Even some lucky plays and directors had to settle for fragmentary review. That's mainly because Korean theatrical circles confine the way of recording the whole process of drama in practice only to a piecemeal review of performance. As a result, there have been very few cases of observing comtemporary plays under the historical background of drama. In this regard, this paper desires to raise a question, 'is productive interaction between drama theory and creative practice possible?' and to find the answer. If what is described in this paper can have worth beyond a mere record of creative acts, it may establish theoretical grounds on interpreting the play stage of this era by reading, in the contexts of drama history, a director's dramaturgical performing acts to dramatize a novel. The researcher of this paper, as a director of a theater troupe like a human and artistic community, adapted "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoevsky into four plays. They are , , , , and completed in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2014, respectively as an independent theatric work having no connections to each other in story. Not only because the four plays share the same novel as its origin but also because an identical system is applied to dramatization of the novel, it gives an opportunity to focus on and perceive the role of the director. During the process of dramatiztion, the director, the researcher of this paper, carried all the duties, such as selecting a text, approaching the text theoretically and academically, adapting it for drama, picking out appropriate episodes. This paper defines all these acts as dramaturgical performing acts. In this sense, this paper can also be seen as a documentary of 'acts' performed during the process of dramatization.