Book Section
Soyoon Ryu
‘The Only Art Form that Works’
Reflections on Collectivity from South Korea [2023]
Soyoon Ryu examines collectivism in South Korea, tracing its shifting vocabularies and feminist articulations through the Rice Brewing Sisters Club. Reflecting on care, sustenance, and embodied collaboration, she argues that collective practices operate as both art and social survival strategy, redefining efficacy, authorship, and community within Korean contemporary art.
Keywords: collectivity; South Korea; jipdan; donging; hyeophoe; yeonguhoe; sogeureup; artist collaboration
| Title |
‘The Only Art Form that Works’
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| Subtitle |
Reflections on Collectivity from South Korea [2023]
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| Author(s) |
Soyoon Ryu
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| Identifier | |
| Description |
Soyoon Ryu examines collectivism in South Korea, tracing its shifting vocabularies and feminist articulations through the Rice Brewing Sisters Club. Reflecting on care, sustenance, and embodied collaboration, she argues that collective practices operate as both art and social survival strategy, redefining efficacy, authorship, and community within Korean contemporary art.
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| Is Part Of | |
| Place |
Berlin
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| Publisher |
ICI Berlin Press
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| Date |
October 28, 2025
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| Subject |
collectivity
South Korea
jipdan
donging
hyeophoe
yeonguhoe
sogeureup
artist collaboration
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| Rights |
© by the author(s)
Except for images or otherwise noted, this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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| Language |
en-GB
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| page start |
89
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| page end |
95
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| Source |
Thinking Collectives / Collective Thinking, ed. by Eva Bentcheva, Annie Jael Kwan, and Ming Tiampo, Worlding Public Cultures (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2025), pp. 89–95
|
References
- Kim Mi-kyung, and Oh Sangghil, ‘Jigeum, dasi — Hanguk hyeondaemisul’ui hyeonjanggwa bipyeong’ [‘Now, Again — The Hyeonjang and Critique of Korean Contemporary Art’], Wolgan Misool (November 2000), pp. 88–131
- Oh Sangghil, ed. Hangukyeondaemisul dasi ilggi — 80nyeondae sogeurup undongui bipyeongjeok jaejomyeong [Re-reading Korean Contemporary Art — The Critical Re-examination of Small Group Movements in the 1980s] (Cheongeumsa, 2000)
- Stimson, Blake, and Gregory Sholette, eds, Collectivism After Modernism: The Art of Social Imagination after 1945 (The University of Minnesota Press, 2014)
- Yang Jungae, ‘80nyeondae Hyeonjang-jihyang Minjungmisul’ui jaeguseong: 1985nyeon Hangugmisul, 20dae’ui himjeon sageon’e eolkin misuldongin Dureong’ui hwaldongeul jungsimeuro’ [‘Restructuring hyeonjang-Orientated Minjung Art of the 80s: The Case of Dureong in the Korean Art in 1985, Power of the Twenties Exhibition’] (Korea Democracy Foundation, 2018)
Cite as:
Soyoon Ryu, ‘“The Only Art Form that Works”: Reflections on Collectivity from South Korea [2023]’, in Thinking Collectives / Collective Thinking, ed. by Eva Bentcheva, Annie Jael Kwan, and Ming Tiampo, Worlding Public Cultures (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2025), pp. 89-95 <https://doi.org/10.37050/wpc-co-01_07>