• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.2
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• pp.191-213
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• 2004

The trend of "Blockbuster Exhibitions" over the past decade has led to the unfortunate reality that museums, losing sight of their role as an Academic organization, are becoming increasingly influenced by the corporate world. In my dissertation entitled "The Commercialization of Blockbuster Exhibitions in Museums," I explore the modern tendency toward Blockbuster exhibitions in art museums and the negative impact of those exhibitions on the art world. Museums of the modern day have expanded their territory from the traditional venue of public education to the hybrid cultural space. This mission, evident in the museum's attempt to satisfy audiences with the offering of diverse activities, has changed the concept of the museum, giving priority to the desire for financial gain. From the viewpoint of this new museology, the museum considers Blockbuster exhibitions as the safest method to increase ticket sales. As a program that openly reveals the commercialism of the museum, I explore the Blockbuster show and its strategies as a means of exposing the influence of the corporate world on art. A key component to the Blockbuster exhibition is the "hype" that is created to attract an audience. This devotion to increased publicity distracts from what should be the goal of public education, as the primary focus leans towards the desire for a large number of visitors. Consequently, this unavoidably standardized exhibition is presented to the public in a manner that deprives the audience of a unique experience. With large crowds and increased ticket prices, it is difficult to form a genuine appreciation of the artwork. In addition to the profit gained by increased ticket prices and the commercial sales of "souvenirs" from the museum gift shop, Blockbuster shows are used as a means to attract the attention of corporate sponsors. As explained in my dissertation, the importance that the museum places on corporate sponsorship as a capital resource is evident, however the degree to which the museum allows itself to he influenced by the desire for capital gain poses a threat to its function as an academic organization. Circumstances in American museum history, in particular, have influenced the transition from academic resource to corporation within museology. In keeping with the nation's tendency towards capitalism, art museums in the United States were initially established and developed by individual capitalists who applied principals of corporate operation to museum management. As a result, in modern days, We witness the influence of enterprise on museum programs, while corporate management may be able to guarantee immediate fiscal benefits, however, it is unable insure the future of the museum. In Slim, my dissertation discusses the mechanism of the commercialized "Blockbuster Exhibition" and the impact that it has on the future of the museum as an industry. This research provides an opportunity to reconsider the role of the museum as an academic institution, particularly in regard to the need to decrease the capitalization of exhibitions and refocus their influence on the art world as an educational resource.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.2
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• pp.169-190
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• 2004

The purpose of this article is to delve into the problems of originality of the artwork by examining issues of reproduction within the contemporary art market. In contemporary arts, especially in terms of art production and consumption, we can't overlook society and its economic structure and its connection with of capitalism. As the purity of art creation has turned into an exchange value, art, especially an object as artwork, has fallen into the status of production in an economic marketing system. Walter Benjamin mainly referred to that point in his thesis Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit, which originated the sociology of plastic arts. This thesis, published in 1936, traced how the artistic functions of photograph and movie had been changed through the social development. His main concerns were movie and photograph but what I am concentrating from his point of view, is that even in the field of plastic arts, the manufacture of reproduction has been practiced as a primary method within the social and political contexts and development. Though I am referring to this in the main body of this article, reproduction in contemporary art strongly needs a new definition since it has been spread all over like a newest virus, not only by collector's personal taste or hut also by commercial circulations of these reproductions to the public. This relates to Benjamin's argument about the value of an exhibition at a museum(Ausstellungswert). Since the function of an artwork has been one of cultural industry, the manufacturing of reproduction raises unexpected problems, such as, the originality of the artwork, the value of an exhibition at a museum, its achievement as documentary and as a territory of art criticism. In this point of view, I want to inquire into the value and criteria of an exhibition in contemporary art through the review of the definitions and the intrinsic attributes of reproduction. Somehow in a broad sense, the reproduction is a product coming out of representation or copy (replica) of an original art work or an model. Therefore, the problems it presents differ from the Simulacre, which is an image without an original one. In terms of the Meanings of reproduction, we can distinguish it as reproductions, copies, and productions. These types of reproductions are not the original artworks reflected by the creative intention of the artists. For example, a publishing company reproduced some of lithographs of Salvador Dali in the 1960s. They are commercial copies in the form of representation or reproduction with no artistic and creative intention of the artist. However, In despite of this theoretical basis, reproductions of the famous artists are still displayed without any verification for of the public's quest for the artworks. Moreover, many commercial companies that are planning to exhibit art works of the world-famous artists only for their profits keep trying to speak ill of and judging by the law the honest art critics' articles which discuss the true values of exhibition. If freedom of expression is one of the ideals of democracy, even the judgment of the originality of the artworks should be freely expressed.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.42-53
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• 2023

This paper explores the recent development of environmental aesthetics and critically examines the main agendas, claims, issues, and implications of everyday aesthetics, which is emerging as an important branch of environmental aesthetics. Environmental aesthetics began in the context of cultural change and environmentalism in the 1960s and expanded in the second half of the 20th century with a solid theoretical foundation. At the beginning of the 21st century, it entered a process of diversification of objects and subjects. Having reached academic maturity, environmental aesthetics has expanded into theoretical territory considering the urban environment and the human environment, providing practical coordinates as a discourse for planning and designing urban environments and landscapes. The most notable achievement of environmental aesthetics since the mid-2000s is the establishment of 'everyday aesthetics'. Yuriko Saito, who is leading the research on everyday aesthetics, expanded the objects and scope of aesthetic theory to everyday objects, events, activities, and environments. She excavates the microscopic and sensory aspects of everyday life, which have been overlooked by conventional art-centered aesthetics, through the lens of aesthetics. She reinterprets various layers of phenomena in contemporary urban landscapes and analyzes how the 'power of the aesthetic' hidden in everyday life profoundly affects the quality of life and the state of the world. Saito examines the appreciation of the distinctive characteristics and ambiance inherent in everyday objects and environments and proposes a 'moral-aesthetic judgment' to alert citizens to the environmental, social, and political consequences of everyday aesthetic appreciation and response. This paper identifies the issues and implications of everyday aesthetics as first, the expansion of aesthetics and the ambiguous everyday, second, the moral-aesthetic judgment and the aesthetics of care, and third, urban regeneration landscapes and aesthetic literacy. In particular, the moral virtues of everyday aesthetics that Saito proposes, such as care, thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and respect, provide a critical reference for the practice of contemporary urban regeneration landscapes. The 'aesthetic literacy' is a key concept demonstrating why an environmental aesthetics perspective is necessary to interpret everyday urban environments and landscapes.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.37-87
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• 1997

As a results of researches on the cultivation processes and settlement developments on the Mangyoung river valley as a whole could be have four 'Space-Time Continuity' through a [Origin-Destination] theory model. On a initial phases of cultivation, the cultivation process has been begun at mountain slopes and tributory plains in upper part of river-basin from Koryo Dynasty to early Chosun Dynasty. At first, indigenous peasants burned forests on the mountain slopes for making 'dryfield' for a cereal crops. Following population increase more stable food supply is necessary facets of life inducing a change production method into a 'wetfield' in tributory plains matching the population increase. First sedentary agriculture maybe initiated at this mountain slopes and tributory plains on upper part of river basin through a burning cultivation methods. Mountain slopes and tributory plains are become a Origin area in cultivation processes. It expanded from up to down through the valleys with 'a bits of land' fashion in a steady pace like a terraced fields expanded with bit by bit of land to downward. They expanded their land to the middle part of river basin in mid period of Chosun Dynasty with dike construction techniques on the river bank. Lower part of river cultivated with embankment building techniques in 1920s and then naturally expanded to the tidal marshes on the estuaries and river inlets of coastal areas. 'Pioneer fringes' are consolidated at there in modern times. Changes in landscapes are appeared it's own characters with each periods of time. Followings are results of study through the Mangyoung river valley as a whole. (1) Mountain slopes and tributory plains on the upper part of river are cultivated 'dryfields' by indigenous peasants with Burning cultivation methods at first and developed sedentary settlements at the edges of mountain slopes and on the river terrace near the fields. They formed a kind of 'periphery-located cluster type' of settlement. This type of settlement are become a prominant type in upper part of river basin. 'Dryfields' has been changed into a 'wetfields' at the narrow tributory plains by increasing population pressure in later time. These wetfields are supplied water by Weir and Ponds Irrigation System(제언수리방법). Streams on the tributory plains has been attracted wetfields besides of it and formed a [water+land] complex on it. 'Wetfields' are expanded from up to downward with a terraced land pattern(adder like pattern, 붕전) according to the gradient of valley. These periphery located settlements are formed a intimate ecological linkage with several sets of surroundings. Inner villages are expanded to Outer villages according to the expansion of arable lands into downward. (2) Mountain slopes and tributory plains expanded its territory to the alluvial deposited plains on the middle part of river valley with a urgent need of new land by population increase. This part of alluvial plains are cultivated mainly in mid period of Chosun Dynasty. Irrigation methods are changed into a Dike Construction Irrigation method(천방수리방법) for the control of floods. It has a trend to change the subjectives of cultivation from community-oriented one who constructed Bochang along tributories making rice paddies to local government authorities who could be gather large sums of capitals, techniques and labours for the big dike construction affairs. Settlements are advanced in the midst of plains avoiding friction of distances and formed a 'Centrallocated cluster type' of settlements. There occured a hierarchical structures of settlements in ranks and sizes according merits of water supply and transportation convenience at the broad plains. Big towns are developed at there. It strengthened a more prominant [water+land] complex along the canals. Ecological linkages between settlements and surroundings are shaded out into a tiny one in this area. (3) It is very necessary to get a modern technology of flood control at the rivers that have a large volume of water and broad width. The alluvial plains are remained in a wilderness phase until a technical level reached a large artificial levee construction ability that could protect the arable land from flood. Until that time on most of alluvial land at the lower part of river are remained a wilderness of overgrown with reeds in lacks of techniques to build a large-scale artificial levee along the riverbank. Cultivation processes are progressed in a large scale one by Japanese agricultural companies with [River Rennovation Project] of central government in 1920s. Large scale artificial levees are constructed along the riverbank. Subjectives of cultivation are changed from Korean peasants to Japanese agricultural companies and Korean peasants fell down as a tenant in a colonial situation of that time in Korea. They could not have any voices in planning of spatial structure and decreased their role in planning. Newly cultivated lands are reflected company's intensions, objectives and perspectives for achieving their goals for the sake of colonial power. Newly cultivated lands are planned into a regular Rectangular Block settings of rice paddies and implanted a large scale Bureaucratic-oriented Irrigation System on the cultivated plains. Every settlements are located in the midst of rice paddies with a Central located Cluster type of settlements. [water+land] complex along the canal system are more strengthened. Cultivated space has a characters of [I-IT] landscapes. (4) Artificial levees are connected into a coastal emnankment for a reclamation of broad tidal marshes on the estuaries and inlets of rivers in the colonial times. Subjectives of reclamation are enlarged into a big agricultural companies that could be acted a role as a big cultivator. After that time on most of reclamation project of tidal marshes are controlled by these agricultural companies formed by mostly Japanese capitalists. Reclaimed lands on the estuaries and river inlets are under hands of agricultural companies and all the spatial structures are formed by their intensions, objectives and perspectives. They constructed a Unit Farming Area for the sake of companies. Spatial structures are planned in a regular one with broad arable land for the rice production of rectangular blocks, regular canal systems and tank reservoir for the irrigation water supply into reclaimed lands. There developed a 'Central-located linear type' of settlements in midst of reclaimed land. These settlements are settled in a detail program upon this newly reclaimed land at once with a master plan and they have planned patterns in their distribution, building materials, location, and form. Ecological linkage between Newly settled settlemrnts and its surroundings are lost its colours and became a more artificial one by human-centred environment. [I-IT] landscapes are become more prominant. This region is a destination area of [Origin-Destination] theory model and formed a 'Pioneer Fringe'. It is a kind of pioneer front that could advance or retreat discontinously by physical conditions and socio-cultural conditions of that region.