The Absence of ‘Truth’ and Solving the Maze: One Perspective on Postmodernism in Korea

Abstract

In this article, the author argues that the Korean art movements of the 1990s sustained their subversive potential as avant-garde impulses because they were not commercialized, unlike those in the Western world. In particular, the author critically supports such young artists’ groups as Golden Apple and Museum, in which the now globally renowned artists, Choi Jeong-hwa and Lee Bul, participated as inaugural members. The prevalent sense of defeatism, lewdness, and irrationality that resided in the works of these younger generation artists, the author argues, innately resisted interpretation, and this became the crucial elements in appraising Korean postmodernism.

Keywords:

• Korea
• contemporary art
• postmodernism
• postmodernist theory
• Fredric Jameson
• Minjung art
• minimalism
• Suh Sung-rok
• Kim Hyeong-tae
• Choi Jeong-hwa
• Meta-Vox
• Nanjido
• TARA
• Logos and Pathos
• Réalité Seoul

Notes

1 Jeong Jeong-ho and Kang Nae-hee, “Introduction,” in Theories of Postmodernism (Seoul: Teo, 1990), 14-15.

2 For the terms and names specific to Korean art such as ‘tal modernism,’ ‘Minjung art,’ and ‘Golden Apple’ the present translation has followed The Multilingual Dictionary of Korean Art Terms.

3 Art Quarterly (Gyegan Misul) (summer, 1988).

4 “Our Position,” Nanjido: Debut Exhibition (Seoul: Kwanhoon Gallery, 1985).

5 For a discussion on Golden Apple, see the author’s articles, “Hamburger and Firebomb,” SPACE (Gongan) (July 1990) and “Aesthetics of Denial,” SPACE (November 1990).

6 Golden Apple, “Preface,” Golden Apple: The Second Exhibition (Seoul: Total Gallery, 1990).

7 Yoon Dong-cheon, “Introduction,” Sunday Seoul (Seoul: Sonamu Gallery, 1990)

8 “Declaration,” Sunday Seoul.

9 Editor’s note: This is what the author, a renowned typography designer, published in the catalogue, perhaps echoing Hugo Ball’s Dadaist poetry.

10 Manifesto for 0.1. Century 5.

11 Lee Yong-baek (Golden Apple), This is what I think.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jin Seop Yun

Translated from Korean by Jeong-Yon Ha and Jieho Choi

Originally published as “‘眞理’의 부재와 미로찾기: 한국의 포스트모더니즘을 바라보는 하나의 시각,” in Misulpyongdan: Korean Art Critics Review 19 (1990), 7-12.