• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.119-130
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• 2018

In the late 1950s, departing from their unquestioning following of Soviet architecture, North Koreans attempted to discover the specificities of traditional Korean architecture and apply them to their contemporary monuments. This paper examines the ways in which North Korean architects developed their unique version of Socialist realism in the making of Pyongyang Grand Theater. The traditional elements in harmony with North Korea's political ideology-an early form of Juche ideology-and modern building technologies were to be viewed as contemporary elements, and not as a simple revival of the past. This study applies Socialist realism's compositional principle "national in form and socialist in content" to Pyongyang Grand Theater and examines specifically what "socialist content" and "national form" were and how the two were combined in the construction of Pyongyang Grand Theater. By situating the building in the context of localization of Socialist realism which is universal art principle of the communist world, this study contributes to the deeper and wider understanding of North Korea's Modern Joseon Architecture.

• 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.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.115-126
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• 2019

Construction of the Pyongyang Railroad Station began in 1907 as an important foothold for the Japanese colonization of the Korean Peninsula and the further invasion of Manchuria. As Pyongyang gradually grew in size and political significance, the Pyongyang Station came to have two responsibilities: Fulfill its functional role and serve as a monument to the growing dignity of the city. This study argues that the Pyongyang Station, newly rebuilt in 1958, was the first building to solve the demands for both functional expansion and the pursuit of monumentality. Stylistically, the original single-story wooden building became a three-story classical masonry building. The stylistic change symbolizes the political shift by which the building was reconstructed. The simple wooden building built by the Japanese, representing Pyongyang's status as a colonial provincial town, was transformed into an imposing gateway for the capital city of a newly born socialist state. Socialist Realism, correctly described by its slogan "socialist in content and national in form," harmoniously blended classical architecture, socialist symbols, and Korean local motifs. This study is significant in that it illustrates the historical changes and continuity of the Pyongyang Station from 1907, when it was first built, through the "liberated space" to the postwar reconstruction period of the 1950s.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.6
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• pp.27-50
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• 2008

This thesis examines contemporary Chinese painting after the Cultural Revolution(1966~76), focusing upon so-called "Chinese Pop art", which I termed as "Socialist Pop art". I considered the art of this period within the broader context of social changes especially after the Tienanmen incident of 1989. After the Cultural Revolution during which idolization of Chairman Mao was at its peak, one of the major changes in communist China was that an anti-Mao wave was generated in almost every social class. For example, novels that revealed the hardships during the Cultural Revolution were published. Posters that openly criticized the Maoism were also produced and displayed on the walls, and demand for democracy spurred widespread activist movements among young generations. These broad social changes were also reflected in art. A variety of art movements were introduced from the West to China, and after a period of experimentation with the new imported styles, artists began to apply the new artistic idiom to their works in order to visualize their own social and political realities they lived in. It was a shift from earlier Socialist Realism to a new expression either directly or indirectly, "Socialist Pop", an amalgam of Socialist Realism and Pop art tradition. After the 1989 crackdown of Tienanmen Square protest, when communist government quelled with brutal measures the students, workers, and ordinary people who rose for democracy, greater urge to protest the Deng Xiaoping regime emerged. This time coincided with the gradual emergence of art using Pop art vocabulary to satirize the social reality, the Socialist Pop art, along with many other art forms all with avant-garde spirit. One of the most frequent subjects of Chinese Pop art was visual images of Chairman Mao and his Cultural Revolution, and new China that was saturated with capitalism, which tainted the Chinese way of life with a Western way of consumerism and commercialism. The reason for the popularity of Mao's image was spurred by the "Mao Craze" in the early 1990's. People suddenly began to fall in a kind of nostalgia for the past, and once again, Mao Zedong was idolized as an entity who can heal the problems of modern China who had been marching towards their ultimate destination, the economic development. But this time Chairman Mao was no more an idol but just a popular, commercial product. He is no more an object of worship of almost religious nature but he has become an iconography symbolizing the complex nature of present Chinese society. During this process of depicting the social reality, Chinese artists are making the authority and sanctity of Maoism ineffective. Dealing with this new trend of contemporary Chinese art in view of "Socialist Pop art" two manners of re-creating Pop art can be illustrated: one that incorporates the propaganda posters of the Cultural Revolution; the other borrows from Chinese traditional popular imagery or mass media, such as photos taken during Mao era. What is worth mentioning is that these posters and photos of the Cultural Revolution can be identified as 'popular' media, as they were directed to educate the popular mass, thus combination of this ingenuous pop media with Western Pop art can be fully justified as a genre unique to China. Through this genre, we can discover a new chapter of the Chinese contemporary painting and its society, as their Pop art can be considered as self-portraits true to their present appearances.

• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.39
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• pp.221-235
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• 2013

Through the comparative analysisand inductive research on main creation styles of Chinese, American and Japanese animation films, a conclusion can be given out, which means that the animation film style of each country can hardly be formed without their own traditional painting art, aesthetics habits and ways of thinking. It is these characteristics that form their unique animation film style. America emphasizes realism art, development and utilization of new technology, Japan pays sepcial attention totraditional painting art and comic stories. In business aspect, they bring about different business models relying on the experience of satisfying the diverse needs of domestic and global entertainment markets. When it comes to the content field, they carry forward universal values and meet the individualistic heroismso that a variety of business animation films and art animation films find their ways into the global market and acquire great popularity among audiences from all over the world. Through the comparasion of American and Japanese animation films, a new view to analyze the animation films of China is created. Animation creation is largely based on the need of socialist ideology from 50s to 80s. Even though the purposes of animation film creations returned to satisfying the diverse requirements of commercial markets and audiences, the consequences, such as the break gap of creations and talents, the lack of diverse creative styles and commercial market operation mechanism, sitll affect China's animation films today. Japan found thier position from the American model and became successful. Nowadays, China need find our own creative style and position from American model and Japanese model. And the systematic reformings that are detailed in the government managements, industry standards, internationalized talents cultivation and accumulation are the essential point.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.103-111
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• 2020

This article selected a feature film (1993) of Ken Loach who is widely known as 'Socialist Realism Film' director and attempted to explore the thesis of everyday (life) and alienation in daily space. To this end, major theories related to everyday life, dailiness, social space, daily space, alienation, and especially Henri Lefevre's discussions were used as the theoretical background and research methodology. According to the results, director Ken Loach presents the possibility of transformation of everyday life by criticizing the ills of capitalism that occur in public social spaces such as vacant lots and parking lots in and private daily spaces such as homes. It also emphasizes the reality that the alienation of the working class, which has no choice but to be exposed 'stone rain', is taken for granted and the paradox that the alienation from such reality can be achieved in everyday life. These research findings can be said to mean that the social space of everyday life is the basis for changing the dailiness of everyday life.

• 중국학논총
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• no.58
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• pp.91-119
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• 2018

As for the various pathological phenomena of the society which is getting worse without any improvement, the film paints the phenomenon nakedly with the cold and cynical gaze on the basis of realism. These attempts originated in the Chinese art world, and they cynically sketched a Chinese society that lost hope after 6·4. The cynicism of the art world contains meanings such as instruction, meanness, passion, indifference, and mockery. In particular, the distrust of the social system after 6·4 and the collapse of the Soviet and Eastern European socialist nations gave the Chinese people a skeptical view of socialism. This situation of the times has a cynical viewpoint to face as it is instead of prudent criticism. This cynical view was embraced by filmmakers who were not silent on The pathological phenomenon of society, and they were directed to films. is a film about the love, separation, suicide, frustration and reconciliation of youth in the era of identity confusion after 6·4. The characters in the film did not mention a single word about the state power that made them do it. based on the characteristics of women in northeast China and the murder that occurred around a woman with a beauty that was not like a laundry employee. Centered around the unresolved slice murder case, expressed human moral ambiguity that does not distinguish good fortune from human instinct for struggle for survival, and portrayed the scenery of a very cold northeast small city. But it does not show any criticism of the crime. Based on the true story of the 2000s, the portrays the uncomfortable aspects of China that established Chinese socialism. A film composed of four short episodes conveys the destiny set by God.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.4
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• pp.77-104
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• 2006

The propaganda paintings in oil colors or in forms of posters made from 1949 to 1966 have gone through some changes experiencing the influence of the Soviet Union Art and discussion of nationalization, while putting political messages of the time in the picture planes. The propaganda paintings which have been through this process became an effective means of encouraging the illiterate people in political ideologies, production, and learning. Alike other propaganda paintings in different mediums, the ones which were painted in oil colors and in the form of posters have been produced fundamentally based on Mao Zedong's intensification of the literary art on the talks on literature at Yenan. Yet, the oil paintings and posters were greatly influenced by the socialist realism and propaganda paintings of the Soviet Union, compared to other propaganda paintings in different mediums. Accordingly, they were preponderantly dealt in the discussions of nationalization of the late '50s. To devide in periods, the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949 as a diverging point, the propaganda paintings made before and after 1949 have differences in subject matters and styles. In the former period, propaganda paintings focused on the political lines of the Communists and enlightenment of the people, but in the latter period, the period of Cultural Revolution, the most important theme was worshiping Mao Zedong. This was caused by reflection of the social atmosphere, and it is shown that the propaganda painters had reacted sensitively to the alteration of politics and the society. On the side of formalities, the oil paintings and posters made before the Cultural Revolution were under a state of unfolding several discussions including nationalization while accepting the Soviet Union styles and contents, and the paintings made afterwards show more of unique characteristics of China. In 1956, the discussion about nationalization which had effected the whole world of art, had strongly influenced the propaganda paintings in oil colors more than anything. There were two major changes in the process of making propaganda paintings in oil colors. One was to portray lives of the Chinese people truthfully, and the other was to absorb the Chinese traditional styles of expression. After this period, the oil painters usually kept these rules in creating their works, and as a result, the subject matters, characters, and backgrounds have been greatly Sinicized. For techniques came the flat colored surface of the new year prints and the traditional Chinese technique of outlining were used for expressing human figures. While the propaganda paintings in oil colors achieved high quality and depth, the posters had a very direct representation of subject matters and the techniques were unskilled compared to the oil paintings. However, after the establishment of People's Republic of China, the posters were used more than any other mediums for propagation of national policy and participation of the political movements, because it was highly effective in delivering the policies and political lines clearly to the Chinese people who were mostly illiterate. The poster painters borrowed techniques and styles from the Soviet Union through books and exhibitions on Soviet Union posters, and this relation of influences constantly appears in the posters made at the time. In this way, like the oil paintings, the posters which have been made with a direct influence of the Soviet Union had developed a new, sinicised process during the course of nationalization. The propaganda paintings in oil colors or in forms of posters, which had undergone the discussion of nationalization, had put roots deep down in the lives of the Chinese people, and this had become another foundation for the amplification of influences of political propaganda paintings in the following period of Cultural Revolution.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.39
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• pp.69-96
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• 2019

North Korea has conserved operas in a selective manner. The subject matters of operas recorded in the history of North Korea can be divided into classical tales, translated foreign works, Korean War and war against Japan. Operas that adapted folk classics of the 1950s are considered valuable materials to verify the changes of genres posterior to division of regime between North and South Korea. The officially confirmed works include "Kumgangsan Palseonnyeo (Gyeonwoo Jiknyeo)," "Chunhyangjeon." "Kongjwi Patjwi (Kotsin)," "Ondal," and "Geumnaneui Dal." These works had gone through recreation in terms of realistic situation setting, abolition of class difference, adjustment of social rank and punishment of evil while the base lies in the original folk classics. People emphasized in adapted folk operas are described as those who are hard-working souls without giving importance of difference of social rank, content with the currently living space, devoted to their parents and full of patriotic spirit, and members of community who participate in organized fights against unfair exploitation. This was the fruit of encouragement of work creation supporting union between labor and individual life, destruction of old things and fight promoting this destruction. Folk operas of South and North Korea posterior to Korean War have similarities in that both deal with a love story transcending social ranks and the concomitant conflicts and they focus on the audience who enjoy the operas. Nonetheless, they are different in that this love in North Korea became a tool of educating people wished by the regime, while it became an object of securing the audience by adding the tragic element to love in South Korea. North Korean operas of the initial stage are characterized by playwriting method emphasizing difficult life and compensation of common people, realistic stage expression, accentuation of melody and agreement between notes and lyrics. This was efforts designed to continuously lead senses concentrated from the theater to everyday life of people. In effect, this is in line with the playwriting method of revolutionary operas. Adapted folk operas were subject matters ideal for easily approaching the audience and leaving them good memories at the same time. To realize socialist realism, they went through an experiment of reviewing "people" through the classic folk operas. The possibility of continuation of a work was determined by thorough evaluation after carrying out an experiment in terms of subject matters, theme, music and operation plans from the moment of which the work was on the stage. The sign consisted in the possibility of visit of "Kim Il-sung" to appreciate the work and presentation of directionality. By proposing the clear directionality of which hard-working people who deny social status system can be duly compensated, it encouraged the audience who saw the opera to voluntarily put this in practice. Thus, operas established the directionality through selective processes for creating public communion even before revolutionary operas.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.97
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• pp.87-104
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• 2020

Myogilsang on Diamond Mountain, signed and dated (2000) by Seon-u Yeong (1946-2009), is the first work by a North Korean artist to enter the collection of the National Museum of Korea (fig. 1a). The donor acquired the painting directly from the artist in Pyeongyang in 2006. In consequence, there are no issues with the painting's authenticity.This painting is the largest among all existing Korean paintings, whether contemporary or from the Joseon Dynasty, to depict this iconography (see chart 1. A Chronological List of Korean Myogilsang Paintings.) It is ink and color on paper, measures 130.2 × 56.2 centimeters, and is in a hanging scroll format. Since this essay is intended as a brief introduction of the painting and not in-depth research into it, I will simply examine the following four areas: 1. Seon-u Yeong's background; 2. The location and the traditional appellation of the rock-cut image known as Myogilsang; 3. The iconography of the image; and 4) A comparative analysis of Seon-u Yeong's painting in light of other paintings on the same theme. Finally, I will present two more of his works to broaden the understanding of Seon-u Yeong as a painter. 1. Seon-u Yeong: According to the donor, who met Seon-u at his workshop in the Cheollima Jejakso (Flying Horse Workshop) three years before the artist's death, he was an individual of few words but displayed a firm commitment to art. His preference for subjects such as Korean landscapes rather than motifs of socialist realism such as revolutionary leaders is demonstrated by the fact that, relative to his North Korean contemporaries, he seems to have produced more paintings of the former. In recent years, Seon-u Yeong has been well publicized in Korea through three special exhibitions (2012 through 2019). He graduated from Pyeongyang College of Fine Arts in 1969 and joined the Central Fine Arts Production Workshop focusing on oil painting. In 1973 he entered the Joseon Painting Production Workshop and began creating traditional Korean paintings in ink and color. His paintings are characterized by intense colors and fine details. The fact that his mother was an accomplished embroidery specialist may have influenced on Seon-u's choice to use intense colors in his paintings. By 1992, he had become a painter representing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with several titles such as Artist of Merit, People's Artist, and more. About 60 of his paintings have been designated as National Treasures of the DPRK. 2. The Myogilsang rock-cut image is located in the Manpok-dong Valley in the inner Geumgangsan Mountain area. It is a high-relief image about 15 meters tall cut into a niche under 40 meters of a rock cliff. It is the largest of all the rock-cut images of the Goryeo period. This image is often known as "Mahayeon Myogilsang," Mahayeon (Mahayana) being the name of a small temple deep in the Manpokdong Valley (See fig. 3a & 3b). On the right side of the image, there is an intaglio inscription of three Chinese characters by the famous scholar-official and calligrapher Yun Sa-guk (1728-1709) reading "妙吉祥"myogilsang (fig. 4a, 4b). 3. The iconography: "Myogilsang" is another name for the Bhodhisattva Mañjuśrī. The Chinese pronunciation of Myogilsang is "miaojixiang," which is similar in pronunciation to Mañjuśrī. Therefore, we can suggest a 妙吉祥 ↔ Mañjuśrī formula for the translation and transliteration of the term. Even though the image was given a traditional name, the mudra presented by the two hands in the image calls for a closer examination. They show the making of a circle by joining the thumb with the ring finger (fig. 6). If the left land pointed downward, this mudra would conventionally be considered "lower class: lower life," one of the nine mudras of the Amitabha. However, in this image the left hand is placed across its abdomen at an almost 90-degree angle to the right hand (fig. 6). This can be interpreted as a combination of the "fear not" and the "preaching" mudras (see note 10, D. Saunders). I was also advised by the noted Buddhist art specialist Professor Kim Jeong-heui (of Won'gwang University) to presume that this is the "preaching" mudra. Therefore, I have tentatively concluded that this Myogilsang is an image of the Shakyamuni offering the preaching mudra. There is no such combination of hand gestures in any other Goryeo-period images. The closest I could identify is the Beopjusa Rock-cut Buddha (fig. 7) from around the same time. 4. Comparative analysis: As seen in , except for the two contemporary paintings, all others on this chart are in ink or ink and light color. Also, none of them included the fact that the image is under a 40-meter cliff. In addition, the Joseon-period paintings all depicted the rock-cut image as if it were a human figure, using soft brushstrokes and rounded forms. None of these paintings accurately rendered the mudra from the image as did Seon-u. Only his painting depicts the natural setting of the image under the cliff along with a realistic rendering of the image. However, by painting the tall cliff in dark green and by eliminating elements on either side of the rock-cut image, the artist was able to create an almost surreal atmosphere surrounding the image. Herein lies the uniqueness of Seon-u Yeong's version. The left side of Seon-u's 2007 work Mount Geumgang (fig. 8) lives up to his reputation as a painter who depicts forms (rocks in this case) in minute detail, but in the right half of the composition it also shows his skill at presenting a sense of space. In contrast, Wave (fig. 9), a work completed one year before his death, displays his faithfulness to the traditions of ink painting. Even based on only three paintings by Seon-u Yeong, it seems possible to assess his versatility in both traditional ink and color mediums.