Religiosity, Spirituality, Material Culture in Korea: Devotional Objects and Contemporary Variations (Day Two)

Religiosity and spirituality may be intangible in concept and principle, but these ideas are manifest in materiality. This two-day symposium expands the scope of Korean art history to objects outside the traditional category of “fine art” and moves beyond aesthetic analysis to consider sensorial engagement, ritual function, the transformative reception of materiality, techniques of production, and histories of consumption. Participants will discuss both institutionalized and unorthodox objects and practices from Buddhism, Daoism, Shamanism, and Christianity over a wide chronological range of themes from ancient worship objects to fandom in contemporary popular culture.

Co-organized by Heeryoon Shin (Bard College) and Kyunghee Pyun (Fashion Institute of Technology).

Schedule:

Welcome (9:45–10 am)

Session 3. The Consumption and Waste of Devotion (10–11:30 am)

Neon Crosses of Korean Churches: Marketing and Religiosity in Contemporary Design Kyunghee Pyun, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York

Ritual Rice and the Hungry Nation: Shamanic Excess during the Great Depression Merose Hwang, Hiram College

Pseudo-religious Consumption of Gifts and Merchandise in K-Pop Fandom Marc De Jong, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York

Session 4. Modern Remakings of the Vernacular (12–1:30 pm)

Modern Graphic Identity in the Material Culture of Nation-State Soohyun Mok, Seoul National University

Modernist Exorcism: Redesigning the Folkloric Motifs for the 1988 Summer Olympics Seungyeon Gabrielle Jung, University of California, Irvine

Conceptually Material Condition of Korean Experimental Art Jung-Ah Woo, POSTECH