• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
• /
• no.6
• /
• pp.77-99
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study is to show that the reason behind the ambivalent characteristic displayed in Niki de Saint Phalle's works is in her trauma and how such characteristic can be extracted from her works. During her creative years, Saint Phalle worked on various materials from different genres such as assemblages, shooting paintings, a series on Bride and Monster, 'Nana', 'Tarot Garden'and public sculptures. One commonality found among her various works is the ambivalent characteristic that contains contrasting elements simultaneously. Saint Phalle suffered a terrible psychological damage inflicted by her parents during her childhood. Specifically, she was sexually assaulted by her father and emotionally neglected by her mother, the trauma that affected her for the rest of her life. As a result, she came to develop extreme love- hate relationships with her parents and this became the main reason for the ambivalent characteristic displayed in her works. The love-hate relationship Saint Phalle developed can be identified through various researches done on the subject of the affect of sexual assault. It is common for incest victims to develop ambivalent feelings towards the perpetrator and Saint Phalle was no exception. Dissociation disorder and a snake well explain the trauma from her father. It is a generally accepted belief in the field of psychology that dissociation disorder commonly occurs to children who experience incest. And dissociation disorder is similar to the characteristic of ambivalence in the sense that a single entity contains more than two contrasting elements at the same time. In addition, the amputated doll objects used in her assemblages coincide with the expression of body detachment of people with dissociation disorder. These facts clearly indicate that the trauma from her father is showing through in her works. A snake is a subject matter that reflects the ambivalent tendency of Saint Phalle that resulted from her trauma. She remembers her father's rape as an image of a snake which is related to a phallic symbol in mythology or art reflecting her trauma. Moreover, she displays a similar pattern of ambivalent emotion like love and hate or fear towards a snake and her father. This is also confirmed by her portrayal of a snake as a monster or reversely as a creature with fundamental vitality in her works. The lack of affection from her mother can be explained by her mother's maternal deprivation. It appears that Saint Phalle's mother possessed all the causes for maternal deprivation such as maternal separation, personality disorder and inappropriate attitude towards child rearing. Especially, a study that shows mother's negative attitude towards child breeding tends to increase dissociation experience of children is another important evidence that supports Saint Phalle's dissociation tendency. These traces of Saint Phalle's trauma are clearly revealed in her assemblages and shooting paintings. The violent objects in her assemblages such as a hammer, razor, nail represent the rage and defensiveness towards her father. The objects such as fragments of broken plates of feminine patterns, pots and mirrors that her mother used symbolize the affection towards her mother. On the other hand, the destructed objects can be interpreted as her hate and resentment towards her mother. Shooting paintings contain her extreme fury and hate. Things such as acts of shooting and the image associated with blood after shooting are blunt expressions of her bursts of emotions. I have tried to define and classify the ambivalent characteristics shown in her assemblages and shooting paintings as hate, rage, violence, calm, love and pleasure according to the frame of Thanatos and Eros. Out of the six, hate, rage, violence and clam are associated with Thanatos while love and pleasure are associated with Eros and they correspondingly form an ambivalent structure. These ambivalent characteristics can be found in her assemblages and shooting paintings. The objects in her assemblages such as a razor, saw, hammer imply hate, rage, violence and the silence felt throughout her works represent calmness. And, as mentioned, the feminine objects can be seen as symbolizing love. In shooting paintings, hate, rage, violence can be found in the use of force and in the traces of watercolor after shooting, and a sense of pleasure in her feelings of catharsis after her shooting. Moreover, a shielded calmness can be found on the plywood all covered with plaster before the shooting. This study looked into the ambivalent characteristic of Saint Phalle's works by examining her trauma to find its correlation, and a meaning of this study can be found from the fact that it refocused the origin of Saint Phalle who is generally known as a feminist artist. Additionally, a meaning of the study can be found also from the fact that it examined the ambivalent characteristics of her works through a frame of Thanatos and Eros.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
• /
• v.25 no.B
• /
• pp.107-114
• /
• 2005

Digital media was realized by two-dimensional design backup. But, digital medium decides form of architecture, and act as a design tool that can expand area of thinking. With such social change, investigate for digital architecture. And, wish to analyze design process of digital architecture and search the characteristics. Through comparison of digital and analogue, clear up that the digital world had complex and ambivalent attribute. Define digital design process as "Digital continuum" with characteristic of digital architecture and divided in 3-steps of concept - development - representation. Analyzed digital design process of Frank O, Ghery, Peter Eisenman and Greg Lynn on th assumption division. As a result, design concept is starting from three-dimensional thinking instead of existent two-dimensional thinking. And because general work of process was gone by digital media, "mass costomization" was possible. Also, it gave architect new role. Differ with former days, select various variables, should tuning and cording, and emphasize role as coordinator who must select the result. Digital is summoning very radical and epoch-making change in architecture. At center of these change, digital design process asks architect complex thinking and creative concept.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.153-166
• /
• 2021

In this study, the artistic background and formative nature of representative 19th century realist artists Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier were analyzed and applied in a fashion context. By displaying representational desires (necessary adhesions of man and society) in their work, they became characteristic matrixes of critical realism and to perceive critical realism. The purpose of the study was to apply the characteristics of critical realism to the contemporary fashion collections of Alexander McQueen. Research was conducted to analyze the characteristics that appear in the field of fashion and to review methods of expression and internal aesthetics displayed through various aspects of fashion design. Characteristics of critical realism were analyzed by researching the formativeness and periodical background of the paintings of Courbet and Daumier. Based on these characteristics, analysis was conducted to identify critical realism in the fashion collections of Alexander McQueen. Data and scope included fashion information sites, internet photo data, and video material. Critical realist characteristics were categorized into five types as follows: 'The proper borrowing of extremely realistic subjects signifies', 'satirical reconstruction and narrative composition', 'antipathetic distortions and abject representations', 'critical reproductions based on technology', and 'the maximization of ambivalent sexuality'. It was concluded that the characteristics of critical realism (recognized by the common formation of Courbet and Daumier) also appeared in Alexander McQueen's fashion collection but were inherited in a form that transcended pictorial expression due to the overall difference in use of visual arts.