Media Blog

This is a media blog, and I will show my inspirations and ideas of my theme “Body Politic and the Politics of the Body” on this page throughout this semester. 

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Week One

My theme is “Body Politic/Politics of the Body.” As body politic’s definition is a metaphor for an organized, united group of citizens, I thought about different countries when I chose this topic. I took a photo of diverse types of money which represent various countries. I photographed the second photo at the portrait exhibition at the Whitney Museum. This art pieces title is an “Installation view of Human Interest” is and photographed by Ron Amstutz. Regarding my theme body politic, I considered national consciousness and social amelioration as advantages of it. Many people have sacrificed and endeavored for their countries and individuals, and as a result, they were able to develop their society. Such an individual effort is essential for unity. This picture reminds me of the phrase “Unity in Diversity.” There are rabbits in the third and fourth photos. Although they look cute, I took these pictures to express disadvantages of the body politic and the politics of the body. Despite a desire to make a better world, there are still various types of prejudices, stereotypes, and discriminations in the world. Some people still have a bias against different skin colors, and also many times people cannot speak against it. Two colors of rabbits of the third photo convey unfairness from differences, and the rabbits “X” on their mouth represent the people who cannot express their opinions. The sixth and the seventh photos signify the diversity of groups of individuals. In contrast, the fifth picture, I retouched the image using photoshop to show unity. It also connotes conflict between different ethnicity. The last picture symbolizes variation and uniformity such as with the burka. It was not intention to focus on unity and individuality. However, I unconsciously took pictures of groups of things as my first week of this project. I am excited about combining this controversial topic and fashion and expecting to learn to make my statement with fashion throughout this project even though I am not in a bully pulpit yet.

 

 

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Week Two

I tried to narrow down the focus of the theme. One idea came up in my mind. When there is crisis such as a war, everyone struggles with the crisis. Sometimes women face terrible situations like being comfort women.  They were beautiful and vulnerable. I took the first and second photos because of that feeling. The third one is a traditional dress of Korea. It also reminded me of the women in the past.

 

 

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Week Three

By the People

I saw this beautiful and thoughtful construction in the Cooper Hewitt Museum. Its name is Cross-Border Community Station. This building was designed by Cross-Border Initiative, the University of California-San Diego and the collaborator was Alter Terra. Since the building is supposed to be an interactive place,  it made me think the communication between different perspectives from different groups of people. Because some people consider their positions or profits more strongly than other people, there are many conflicts between them. My theme is Body Politic and the Politics of the Body, and I narrow down my theme to sexual slaves in Korea during World War II. Needless to say, people desire to be free and happy. However, it is difficult during wars. Why do people suffer so much during wars? Of course, it is because of cruelty. But is not that cruelty the consequence of ignored communication? The Cross-Border Community Station showed people’s hope for better communication.

Cross-Border Community Station Webpage

 

 

Scraps

The silk cocoon collection in this exhibition was useful to my project. There were various art pieces inspired by Asian style. Many of the pieces were made by Asian artists. Since the background of my theme is Korea, my artifact will be influenced by an Asian style. I enjoyed seeing the texture of the oriental fabric and the garments at the exhibition. However, when I saw this silk cocoon crate, I was deep in thought. It looked like a place in which the comfort women would be. The comfort women lived in small and shabby spaces like the cocoon crate. Their human rights were neglected, and they became pieces of nothing like the cocoons and suffered because of Japanese soldiers.
The other two illustrations are related to the silk cocoons. I found them at the Cooper Hewitt Museum website with my code which I was provided from the museum. The thread was made of the silk cocoons.

Mabushi (Silk Cocoon Crate)

 

 

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Week Four

 

 

I went to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and I got inspiration from the artworks. The video was made by a Chinese artist, Sun Xun in 2016. I took a part of the video that made me think of my theme “Body Politic and the Politics of the Body” and my topic “Sexual slaves.” The third and fourth photos are the name of the video. The original video was much longer than I took. While watching the video, I felt it expressed a tumultuous period like the late 1800s to the middle of 1900s, which was a hard time in history. I would like to talk about the period 1939 to 1945 in my project when many Korean women struggled as people who belong to the small and weak nation. In the video, everything is changeable and unstable. I do not know the feeling of living in crisis. However, I was able to imagine the disorderly mood while I was watching the video. The Chinese characters on the fourth image mean the same as the third one. Tales of our time… What could we say about the stories of that period? We need to think about it. We cannot let them stay in the past. Because even if people do not know exactly what the truth is, the stories have never stopped. The second image represents the continuity of the stories. As the statement on the brochure of the exhibition says “Explore concepts such as boundaries, territory, migration, and place in this contemporary film series,”(1) I would like to explore the issues of Body Politic(s) from the past until now throughout my project.

The painting of the first photo was “Composition No.1: Lozenge with Four Lines” by Piet Mondrian, and it prompted me to think in different perspectives. In the stories, all the stories, everyone has different views. There were four various points of view of four different countries – the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Korea- in our sad history. The fifth sculpture also had four different perspectives as in its title, “Mobile with Four Spots.” Alexander Calder made it in 1941. The last painting was “Composition 8” by Vasily Kandinsky. I attracted by this picture because it seemed to me representative of the eccentric time and the demands of equilibrium for that time.

 

 

(1) The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation. Tales of Our Story. New York, NY: Bo Wang, 2017. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

 

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Week Five

 

I took the video above at a gallery in Brooklyn, and the exhibition name was “The Silence of the unsaid.” The video was recorded by Freya Powell, who was my professor in Time class in last semester. The video is about a missile that was launched by the U.S. Army, and it lost control and crashed in a Mexican desert.(1)

I was inspired by the title, the color of the land, and the accident of the missile. Looking at the land in the video, I felt dryness, sadness, and frustration. I felt the land was a passive victim. The land resembles women who underwent great toil, like the military sexual slaves in wars. Or it resembles people who lost their territory and rely on drugs like Native Indians.

I also took pictures of a bridge which implies the meaning of connecting two places. The Korean and Japanese governments, and the Native Indians and the Americans have not had strong bridges. That is so sad.

The sight of a woman’s back made me thought of the silent women who were comfort women during the war, but they cannot reveal the fact because of many reasons or do not want talk about it even though that was not their fault.

The images of the words were photographed in the exhibition as well. I liked the arrangement, and a few of them touched my mind regarding my theme. Many former comfort women died. Only few people remain. I hope the cruel history does not vanish like smoke. People should remember it.

 

(1) Powell, Freya. “Upcoming exhibitions.” E-mail message to the author. February 16, 2017.

 

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Week Six

For my image of week six, I attempted to express my theme throughout my drawing. I drew this a drawing workshop on Friday. The model in the workshop was moving quickly to show active poses. I used ink and tried to catch her motion. One moment she laid down on the platform and fold her hands on her back. It seemed uncomfortable and made me think the feeling of oppression.

However, I didn’t expect to use the nude drawing for my topic “Military Sexual Slavery,” because since it is a sensitive issue, it could deviate from my purpose and could be shown an erotic mood. Many years ago, I saw an artist in Korea tried to convey this issue but the artist and the model were denounced by public outcry due to the artist used a woman body as a media. The artist might have wanted to connote sadness, fury, or indignity; however, he failed.

Now, I need to decide which media I will use. We discussed the potential outcomes in class. My final work can be everything: clothing, accessories, make-up, photoshoot, short film, illustration, magazine, and website. What could I do? Which can be the best media for my controversial topic?  I think my drawing for the image of week six doesn’t seem to be erotic, but could I use a human’s body image for my topic?  There are girl statues which symbolize the girls who were drafted into the military by force during the Japanese occupation. These statues are a hot potato for the Japan government and they have tried to tear down all statues. Many Korean college students fight against the Japanese government.

My topic makes me feel furious. Research is too difficult. It is hard to read the comfort women related data and watch video data because it was horrible Japan’s wartime atrocities and the grandmothers’ lives were destroyed by that.

I might be too far from my image of this week. Just I’d like to say I want to express the truth without misunderstanding like the artist in Korea, and I want to show more than the girl statues.

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Week Seven

Some Saturdays, there are repair works on the subway. I was going to the fabric store in midtown. There were lights for the work, and I could see and took a video of the atmosphere in the tunnel under the city.

I have watched several documentaries of the Military Sexual Slavery issue, and I have felt heavy at my heart. I remember Lauren said the process of research could be an exciting discovery at the beginning of the semester. Same meaning but a different nuance; the “research” and the “discovery.” I agreed with her, and I thought it was new and positive perspective. I am discovering that my topic, however, unfortunately, is full of sadness and anguish rather than excitement in my discovery. I feel I am in the dark tunnel with this ongoing problem when I see them and hear their stories. In the interviews, the former comfort women could not conceal the deep resentment they felt at the ways they had been treated when they were 11, 12, 14, or 16 years old. I can’t imagine how deep their fury is. What can compensate for the loss of their lives? They have lived the darkness, but the assailants have never admitted and apologized to them. And the country they lived in has never acknowledged their suffering and their innocence. Even though it happened a long time ago and most of the survivors have passed away, this is the big issue for now. As the phrase “People who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it again,” we should remember our sad history. Otherwise, there will not be an end of the tunnel.

 

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Week Eight

Long from now, if you should seek me,

I would tell you I have forgotten.

If you should blame me in your heart,

I would say, “Missing you so I have forgotten.”

And if you should still reprove me,

“I couldn’t believe you, so I have forgotten.”

Unable to forget you today, or yesterday,

but long from now “I have forgotten.”

-Kim Sowel-

 

This poem was written by one of the greatest poets, Kim Sowel. He lived during same period with the comfort women. He knew how horrible the war was because his father was killed by Japanese people during the colonial era. I’ve read the book, “Ianfu–The Comfort Women of the Japanese Imperial Army of the Pacific War,” by David Andrew Schmidt. I read the poem in the book. That’s beautiful and also sad. It let me think about the forgotten people. According to the book, Schmidt said, “Estimates of the number of women and girls range between 100,000 and 200,000, of which approximately 80 percent were Korean.”(1)  The Korean government reckons approximately 400 women and girls came back to Korea after the war. Around 40 former comfort women remain now. I am afraid they will die before revealing the truth. I am feeling sorry for the grandmothers who are living in shadow and darkness, full of pain.

I photographed the first one because it seemed to be the people who are suffering. In the photo, they are disappearing literally like the grandmothers who used to be in the comfort stations. The right photo was taken on the cold and snowy day. The vulnerable water drops reminded me of the survivors. The photo is upside down because one of the victims said that she felt the sky was the ground and the ground was the sky, because she fainted when she was raped, tortured, and exposed to others’ deaths.

 

• Sources

(1) Schmidt, David A. c2000. Ianfu, the comfort women of the Japanese imperial army of the Pacific War : Broken silence. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press.

Photo #1: figured by Naji Chalhoub

 

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Week Nine

I photographed roses for my media blog this week. Today, I touched-up the image with Photoshop and Indesign in class. I took the roses because they were beautiful, and I was a little excited about the less cold weather, a little of the sense of spring; it is still cold, though. There are always flowers in flower stores, but I tend to notice them when I feel spring. I don’t know why there is no connection between the weather and flowers being available in the stores. However, I chose the picture of roses as my image for week nine because of its double-sidedness: weakness and strength, petals and thorns.

During the spring break, I read the explanation of my theme “Body Politic/Politics of the Body” in the syllabus again, because now it is the midterm in the semester, I needed to check of I am on the right track. Body politic has double-meaning like the rose; unity and diversity. Actually, in the text, it said “Unity in diversity.” I liked the phrase when I read the explanation, and it was one of the reasons that I chose this theme. But, what about “Diversity in unity?” Or if the diversity can be interpreted as individuality, then what about “Unity for individuality?” I am not talking about individual’s’ taste. I am talking about one’s rights. Solidarity is important for society, and I think it must have been one of the most significant requirements especially from the 19th century to the early 20th century due to wars and colonization. Though people should have their rights protected their rights as an individual, people were forced to sacrifice themselves for their countries.

Sometimes people were destroyed cruelly. As the Chinese proverb says, “A Thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom,” roses protect themselves much better than people can. If individuals are not protected, then unity wouldn’t exist. From the phrase “Unity in diversity,” now I want to say, “No unity without diversity.”

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Week Ten

 

The first photo was one of the commercial images of Gucci in F/W 2017.  As I focused on unity and diversity last week, this picture was taken to show the idea from the direction in the syllabus that human body can be broken down anatomically, and this idea can reflect unity and individuality. I took this image because of that idea, and it grabbed my attention with its aesthetic of the composition and the color.

I must have taken the second photo because of the film “Who Is Perfect.” I watched the video in class, and I came to know particular mannequins for people with disabilities. Some people were making the unique mannequins carefully in the video. The idea was wonderful. Although there was not a special mannequin in the second photo and I’ve never seen special mannequins in our school, there were mannequins of various types of bodies in the photo. Why don’t we have unique mannequins in our school? As Parsons is one of the prominent fashion schools, I think there should be mannequins for people who have disabilities.

The two photos on the right were taken at the Guggenheim Museum to show the color palette of my work. The composition of the monochromatic color of walls and the vivid red color of the mobile attracted me. I also think that museums could be politicized as a body. Especially, we can see our history, society, and the mainstream at museums. People can see unity and individuality at the same time at museums.

 

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Week Eleven

Korean people decided to impeach the 18^th president a couple of weeks ago. She did many bad things for four years. After her impeachment, the Korean people have to vote for the next president earlier. It has been rowdy in Korea recently. However, last week there was the other big news, which was Trump and Xi Jinping met and discussed North Korea. There is a very sensitive and complicate diplomatic relation problem and South Korea is deeply related to the countries: America, China, and of course North Korea.

South Korea does not have enough power to speak up to those countries and we do not even have our president now. We are just carefully watching what is going on. That’s too bad.

Ironically, Trump resists North Korea’s having nuclear weapons to maintain peace, but he launched a missile to Syria. Two chiefs of different groups have a conversation at the table on one side of the earth, meanwhile, the other side of the earth is bombed.

The child in the picture is one of the Syrian refugees. I combined the photo of a boy and the photo of New York City which is “New Yorker” on it. Different groups of people have totally different situations. People who live in a safe place like NYC cannot imagine how much harsh living in a dangerous place like Syria. Should I think I am okay because I am a safer place? Should I think I am lucky because I do not have to wear the hijab or burka? The word “Body Politic” makes me think deeply. Why do some people hate other people because of differences? Why are there so many terrible incidents in the world?

 

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Week Twelve

I have tried to photograph different types or styles of people on the streets since last seminar class. We did an in class assignment; we went out and took photos of various people in order to find conflict or contradiction. I was inspired by this activity and started to take people to express the meaning of my theme, “Body Politic.” I wanted to see a diversity of individuals on the streets. Luckily I am living in New York City, the so-called “Melting pot,” in which you can find so many people from diverse countries. The exercise throughout last week was interesting. Usually, I do not consider others’ appearances or atmosphere; however, after my decision to take photos of people outside, I could have considerations or assumptions for other people. Everyone is different. Although I thought that I would collage the different people, I chose one photo which I took on the High Line. A gentleman who wore a classic suit—even though the shoes were casual—and playing a cello which was beautiful. His serious attitude, the sunlight on his face, and the beautiful sounds attracted me indeed. Although I had taken many photos for the collage, I wanted to focus on the musician’s photo. But what can be a relation between this image—music, lighting, street artists, a cello—and my theme? I thought playing the music or listening to the music, in other words, seeking beauty is the instinct of human beings. I researched something from that point, and I learned about “Inalienable rights.” I’ve thought about the basis of people, their rights, and history throughout my project. My society grandmothers, the former military sexual slaves of Japan, lost their basic rights from unfair situations. Why could they not find their inalienable rights? Let’s forget about the war stuff a little bit. How about after the war? Everyone seeks all kinds of rights. They speak up not only for inalienable rights but also education, sexuality, etc. In my opinion, inalienable rights are the instinct of humankind. If there is someone whose inalienable rights aren’t protected, then that person’s humanity would be neglected.

Lee Soon-duk, who was a formal sexual slave and passed away April 4, 2017, was called Camellia grandmother because of her strong spirit. But I think she wanted to have beautiful adolescence like a flower. I am sure she wanted to be beautiful like camellia when she was 15 years old. However, she couldn’t find the sense of beauty like the musician on the High Line. She couldn’t find her rights, the inalienable rights.

 

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Week Thirteen

I visited the FIT library as a field trip in the studio class and saw many fabulous images of fashion history. They were so exclusive and worthy. I got many inspirations from the books and documentation which were beautiful and historical, not only for my project, but also all the work I will do in my future fashion career.

Although everything I saw in the FIT’s special library was great, I chose the pochoir (French for stencil) images of the early 1900s in France as my blog content. Because I was fascinated by the delightful images, and the various moods and appearances in the images which have a connection with the politics of the body, which is my theme. And the stencils were the only things that the librarian did not allow us to touch ourselves. So, I asked about the art pieces and the background information of them to the librarian, who had substantial knowledge about fashion history. The fashion plates were gathered by several artists at the time, and my favorite were George Barbier’s works. The images above are all Barbier’s. Those were made for an exclusive market at that time, therefore, it was expensive pochoir printing. The interesting information of the unique hand pochoir technique is that it is an “endangered” skill these days. There is only one school in France that teaches this method, and only one person in the United States who can do it. How valuable they are!

I could see many women who were wearing proper outfits in specific situations in the pochoir images. This point reminded me of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Michelle Obama, the recent first lady in the United States (or Ivanka Trump), and the former president in Korea who has tenacity to wear her hair in a chignon. Because the people in the images simply wear suitable dresses but also they seemed to be politicized. Jacqueline Kennedy was considered a successful first lady with her gorgeous fashion sense. Michelle Obama shows her values with her modest her outfits. When people search Melania and Ivanka Trump on the Internet, their clothing will be just below to their name. It means people consider what they wear. Park Geun-hye used her hair style for politics. Her mother—who had always had a hair-up style—was assassinated, and Park Geun-hye did same hair style as her mother to make people feel compassion, and it was effective.

Appearance is very important because it is a different kind of communication. Garments must be powerful to make one’s appearance, so I think clothing can be a statement and an opinion. Adults should be responsible for what they wear. Also garments show the period that they belong to. So that we can learn the society, community, and history with their clothing. Since we can learn from them, the people in the stencils are not only beautiful but also praiseworthy.

 

 

 

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