KOREA

     Traces of Korean history date back over half a million years ago. Koreans developed a unique alphabet in 1443 called Hangeul. Korea's 5,000-year-old history boasts a rich and distinct culture. Korea is proud of its artistic achievements in music, dance, handcrafts, paintings, and other art genres. Today, public interest in films has been increasing as Korean movies are earning recognition at various international festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, and Venice.

    

     The Korean people very incline the latest styles. It is more than just clothing and hair styles

that are in style one year and out of date the next. It is whole way of living.Korean has various

traditional celebrating in holidays. In South Korea, education is highly regarded and very

competitive. And the marriagebetween a man and woman represents the joining of two families,

rather than the joining of two individuals. in Korea, we have four seasons. The weather is beautiful.

Spring begins in March. It's warm and pleasant. Many flowers come up in this season. Summer

comes after spring. In summer it's hot. Sometimes it rains a lot.  We go to the beach and swim in

the sea. In fall it is clear and cool. The leaves turn red and yellow.  There are a lot of different

fruits. Winter is the last season of the year. It is cold and windy in winter.  We have a lot of

snow.We go skating and skiing in winter. 



My Painting

I make art about color. I study color to learn about life and delight. Color theory is often used in my work in portraying growth and change. Color is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans. I tried to pictorial structure, spatial tensions and color relationships.

My earlier works made references to recomposition of the masterpiece. Bird with geometric shape from the Gustav Klimt, and Lover emphasize recomposition. My portrait is my most recent painting. I am working towards a time base abstract painting that changes and evolves as realistic figures. My goal is to make art that is delight, pleasure, and self-sustaining. Painting is my choice because it is a mode of expression, and forms are numerous.

POST MODERN

     I believe I fit in the post-modern category. My major was Industrial Design in Korea. At the time, I was using computer, and some technology machines. Now I am studying Painting here.

     Modern art was based on rejecting tradition and breaking rules. Each new movement found some rule to break. In the late 1970s or early 1980, the impulses and drives that caused modern art seemed spent. About 1990s, the development of art, there are no rules left to break. Today the public accepts most Modern art. I am so organized person. I organized every day and night my home. If I painted some painting, my professor said to me “Your painting is too tense”. Now I am enjoy abstract painting. I can use any materials with my painting. I can do anything in my painting class. Next semester, I tried to break rule such as postmodernism artists.

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Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent van Gogh

15 April 1452, and 30 March 1853, were very important days of the art history. Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent Van Gogh have become known as one of the art world’s most tragic figures. They were famous in their own lifetime and have remained famous ever since. However, they lived in different periods, had different painting styles, and different personalities. Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent Van Gogh seemed totally opposite.
One obvious difference is in the historical backgrounds. Leonardo da Vinci was born in Florence in 1452. Florence in the 15th century was outstanding in almost every cultural field. At the time, Florence was not dominated by any particular social group. In general, learning in Florence was essentially practical. Boys were educated for a specific career in schools and universities. At the time, there were dramatic changes in the arts of the early Renaissance in Florence. There were growth of humanism and the revival of classical antiquity. Artists believed they had rediscovered the principles of classical art and architecture. Painting was rather different because no classical paintings existed. Painters strove a realistic image of the world. They were men of powerful personality, high intelligence and self-confidence. However, Leonardo rejected the decorative, formal style of late Gothic. He found confirmation of their fundamental desire to portray the human figure and the physical universe with the realism, wherease Vincent was born in Netherland in 1853. His father was a protestant pastor. At the time, Western Europe in the 19 century changed everying. The art of painting dramatically changed, of course.
Other areas of difference between Leonardo and Vincent were their painting styles. Leonardo lived in a high Renaissance period. The High Renaissance was the culmination of the artistic developments of the early renaissance and one of the great explosions of creative genius in history. It is notable for three of the greatest artists in history: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael Sanzio, and Leonardo da Vinci. Also active at this time were such masters as Giorgione, Titian, and Giovanni Bellini. By about the 1520s, High Renaissance art had become exaggerated into the style known as mannerism. However, Vincent was a post- impressionist.
Post-Impressionism is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of artists who were influenced by impressionism, but took their art in other directions. There is no single well-defined style of Post-Impressionism, but in general it is less idyllic and more emotionally charged than Impressionist work. The classic Post-Impressionists were Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, Henri Rousseau and Toulouse Lautrec, and Vincent Van Gogh was also generally included among the Post-Impressionists
Leonardo was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist. Also, he studied the human body and its anatomy in depth. The versatility and creative power of Leonardo mark him as a supreme example of Renaissance genius. He depicted in his drawings, with scientific precision and consummate artistry, subjects ranging from flying machines to caricatures; he also executed intricate anatomical studies of people, animals, and plants. The richness and originality of intellect expressed in his notebooks reveal one of the greatest minds of all time. He could be considered the greatest humanist of all the times. Vincent was a sensitive and artistic person. He has closed a friendship with his brother Theo. He always had financial problems. He had help from his younger brother, Theo. He suffered from mental illness since childhood. A famous about Vincent is that anecdote he became mad, and he cut off one of his ears. At times, he lived with Paul Gauguin in Ales the Netherlands after the accident, Paul left Vincent. During his lifetime, he had an intensity and passion about painting. However, his mental illness recovered only temporarily. He painted again because he controlled his mental problem. During his last days, he painted a plethora of great paintings. Vincent shot himself on July 27, 1890. It took two days for him to die, at the age of only thirty-seven years old.
In spite of these differences, these two apparently contributed to several artists in similar fashion. Both painters have famous paintings. Art scholars and historians have suggested that Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa” and Van Gogh’s “sunflower” series are amongst the most recognized works of the artists and the primary reason for their international success. The “Mona Lisa” was produced in Florence between 1503 and 1507 by Leonardo. It is certainly the most famous painting in the world. As a journalist describes, “Mona Lisa is the one truly universal megastar of art.” Also, the most renewed “sunflower” paintings are produced in Arles between 1888 and 1889 by Vincent. Nowadays, “Mona Lisa” is exhibited in the Museum of Louvre in Paris, and the “sunflowers” series are displayed in permanent in exhibits Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
A final similarity is that both Van Gogh and Leonardo have affected other artists. They were intelligent, articulate men. Leonardo’s “Last Supper” (1495-97) and “Mona Lisa” (1503-06) are among the most widely popular and influential paintings of the Renaissance. His notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of his time. Although Vincent was little recognized in his life time, his style appears strongly influenced by impressionism-a strong sense of natural light merging the colors together and blurring edges. When he worked the brushstrokes were heavy, leaving the canvases encrusted with a richly tactile layer of paint, the edges of shadows and objects blurred, the viewer an instinct impression of looking at scene in full sunlight. His work can also be brightly and sharply defined in bold primary colors. In this letter style, he used fine, unbroken lines, and thinner paints. Both styles widly influenced impressionism. He did not embark upon a career as an artist until 1880. Initially he only worked with somber colors, until an encounter in Paris with Impressionism and Neo-impressionism, whose brighter colors and style of painting he developed into a uniquely recognizable style, which was fully developed during time spent at Arles, France.
Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent Van Gogh were different, yet alike. Although the two famous painters differ in many areas such as period, painting styles, and personalities, they have influenced other artists. They had passion about painting. They have been famous painters ever since.

Frida Kahlo

     Today, Frida Kahlo is the best known Mexican artist. I studied a drawing and painting in my country. I want to be a painter like Frida. I don’t forget when for the first time I saw Frida’s painting. Of course, it was a book. Several years ago, when I went to a bookstore, some painter’s book captivated my mind. The painter was Frida Kahlo. Her bold eyebrows were very intenseness to me. After I have been become her fan.

    
      In July 6, 1907 she was born in Coyoacan, just outside Mexico City. Her father was German. He made his daughter name, Frida, which means peace in German word. Her parents probably thought her life would develop much as the lives of other girls of that time. However, her life was not favorable. When she was six years old, she was stricken with polio. The painful disease caused her to be isolated for nine months and left her with one leg shorter and thinner than the other. Also, at age eighteen she was in a trolley car accident that was followed by ineffective orthopedic treatments and thirty-two operations over the course of her life. A young woman, becoming a painter was not a part of Frida's career goals. Her goal in life was to become a doctor but a tragic accident at age 18 changed the course of her life forever.
     Some artists look to nature or society for their inspiration, but Frida Kahlo looked inward. After her crippling accident, Frida depicted her pain in haunting, dreamlike self-portraits. Most of her 200 paintings explore her vision of herself. Many of her paintings are self-portrait; in them she often included the parrots, monkey, and other pets whose company gave her so much pleasure. Despite their bold, bright colors, however, the paintings clearly express the pain behind them. When I saw Frida’s self-portrait, I ask myself, how can she draw her self-portrait? If I draw my self-portrait, how does it express to me? At that time, I tried several times; it was very hard to me.

    
     She seemed to enjoy shocking people. She did this was to go about wearing men’s clothes. When I saw her pictures, she always wore long skirt, and decorated an ornament on hair. Sometimes she showed herself as eccentric to us. Chronic physical suffering caused by her illness and the accident led to a preoccupation with her severely damaged body. In spite of her pain, her art reveals her feelings.
     Her life was an unconventional as her art. She married with the artist Diego Rivera August 21, 1929. He was an international leftist and surrealist leader. When I saw Frida and Diego's wedding pictures, I was chuckling. This husband and wife were not harmonized to external features. Diego was 42 years old, tall and 300 pounds; Frida was 22, and just 98 pounds. He was twice her age. At the time, Frida's mother did not approve of the union and did not attend the wedding ceremony. She said that Diego was too old, too fat and worse yet he was a Communist and an atheist. She said “the marriage between an elephant and a dove.” However, the marriage was a short. They were many separations, a divorce, and later a remarriage. They both had strong personalities and each found the other exasperating to live with. Nevertheless, their love was strong and deep; Rivera appears frequently in her painting. However, they were divorce in 1940. After divorce, she painted self-portrait with cropped hair, a decoration of independence from his infidelities. She sits staring back at us after putting on an oversized man’s suit and snipping at her hair. The work also shows the artist turning herself into a man, an image that hints at her bisexuality, but she remarried Rivera the next year.
     Frida Kahlo was dramatic with a bohemian personality that enriched her distinctive painting style. Since her death in 1954, her international reputation has greatly increased. Frida died in July 13 1954, in the same room of the bright blue house in which she was born. She left her work as her legacy, to be sure. But equally inspirational is her life story and the fact that by transforming pain into brilliant art Frida Kahlo triumphed over misfortune. Despite all of the physical and emotional pain in Frida's life, she was an outgoing person. Finally, Frida has become the heroine of the Mexican avant-garde and the subject of several books and a movie.

The Homosexuality

Can you think about gay and lesbian couples? When I first came to America, I saw a car bumper sticker slogan that said, “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” At that time, I thought, “What does that mean?” But now, I know its meaning. The slogan takes one position in the contemporary debate about homosexuality. Homosexuality, the sexual attraction to a person of the same sex, one is sexual orientation. The others are bisexuality-attraction to both sexes-and heterosexuality-attraction to the opposite sex. Homosexual men are often referred to as “gay” and homosexual women as “lesbian.” The subject of homosexuality has often been surrounded by controversy. Dr. Satinover mentions that like all complex behavioral and mental states, homosexuality is...neither exclusively biological nor exclusively psychological, but results from an as-yet-difficult-to-quantitate mixture of genetic factors, intrauterine influences...postnatal environment (such as parent, sibling and cultural behavior), and a complex series of repeatedly reinforced choices ccurring at critical phases of development (Satinover).” Kinsey report mentions homosexuality was stated that “10% of the males are more or less exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55.” There are several problems here. Homosexuality brings about a social dysfunction, marriage problems, and AIDS.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

     Have you seen the pictures of the mushroom shape’s atomic bombing? Have you heard about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks during World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States of America under U.S. President? As many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki may have died from the bombings by the end of 1945. Korea is the only divided country in the world. When I watched news, I often heard about nuclear weapons in North Korea. At the times, I was very worried about my country, and family.

      Today, I would like to show you why the use of nuclear weapons cannot be justified. North Korea is an aggressive, totalitarian regime whose goal is to conquer South Korea. Because North Korea cannot succeed in a conventional war against U.S. supported South Korean forces, North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il intends to use nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.   

     North Korea has become the world's ninth nuclear power. In October 2002 North Korea admitted to U.S. officials that it had a secret uranium enrichment program. North Korea then decided to restart its plutonium reactor and reprocessing plant and resume construction of two larger reactors.
     North Korea selling arms abroad is no revelation. At least half a dozen countries including Pakistan, Libya and Syria are known to have purchased missiles from the rogue regime. But analysts and hard-liners in the U.S. are increasingly concerned that a desperate North Korea is spreading more than conventional arms.

     That any world leader who uses any type of nuclear device as a weapon be charged with a crime against humanity and be brought to justice before the World Court. The United States must not agree to give North Korea any security guarantees or withdraw its forces in South Korea because Kim Jong-Il would then attack South Korea and attempt to establish a pro-North Korean regime there. The United States, Japan, and South Korea must work together to disarm and reform North Korea.

Self-portrait

     I took painting and drawing class last for five semesters. I focus at Drawing and Painting. I was always using oil paint. I take Mixed Media class in this semester. I looked forward to this class when I register last summer. I am an international student. I transferred at University of Texas at Dallas this semester. I do not have friend and everything not familiar to me. This is my self portrait with address my personalities and situations.

                          Self-Portrait 23.5inch by 23.5inch Mixed media on wood.

     This is my portrait. This is my first Mixed Media work, so I wanted to try variety materials. This project have to had with using letters. I expressed my whimsical, colorful style in a variety of media including wood, acrylic paint, magazine, carving, stone, and colorful vinyls. My work’s face has two colors. One is yellow-orange and the other is black. I am sometimes happy and sometimes sad. Living in abroad is hard, sometimes I feel really lonely, but I have new experiences and learning other cultures. So I made two different colors on her face such as two different feelings. I want to express my two personalities and my situations. I put on large letter ‘go’ on the top of right side. It means I can go anywhere. No afraid!
I miss my family and friend, so I used stone with acrylic paint and I wrote their names. Her hair has three different colors and it reach to the upside because it means people has past, present, and future. There are important to me, so I made her hair reached upside.
    
     This work made earlier this fall semester, so I wanted to express, I can do anything. I want to say to me. “Yuni, Being Brave!” I really like colors, so I make art about color. I study color to learn about life and delight. Color theory is often used in my work in portraying growth and change. Color is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans. I tried to do pictorial structure, spatial tensions and color relationships.
I had really enjoyed time with using new medium on my mixed media self-portrait also I enjoyed expressions and personalities into my work.

Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon

     This critique is analyzing a visual work of art, which is a painting titled Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon. The work was created by Pablo Picasso, who is from Spain. It was painted in 1939. There are five women included in the painting. The artist put in grape, water melon, and apples. The five women are nude figures. The artist uses different tints of pale orange and blue. Three women are looking straight ahead. One woman is looking the right side, and another woman is looking the left side. They did not wear a smile. Picasso uses line to divide his painting into random geometric and angular areas. He uses line to draw in his figures. Picasso uses a heavy black outline to define important areas. The mural is divided into organic and geometric shapes. Picasso gives some three-dimensionality to his figures through simple shades and values of the color gray. The mural appears Balanced because the images and shapes span the entire surface. The use of values of gray and the uniquely drawn figures give this piece a sense of visual harmony. The mural definitely appears to be unified. The composition of the painting shows a lot of unity because of the repeated use of the colors. The dominant analogous color scheme of red, yellow and orange ties the painting together. Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon has become the single most discussed image in modern art. Its simplified forms and restricted color were adopted by many cubists, as they reduced their palettes in order to concentrate on spatial exploration. A result of personal conflicts on the part of the artist, combined with his ambition to be recognized as the leader of the avant-garde, the painting deliberately breaks with the traditions of western illusionist art. The painter denies both classical proportions and the organic integrity and continuity of the human body. Avignon in the title refers to a street in Barcelona’s red-light district. Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon is aggressive and harsh, like the world of the prostitutes who inhabit it. Forms are simplified and angular, and colors are restricted to blues, pinks, and terracotta. Picasso breaks his subjects into angular wedges which convey a sense of three-dimensionality. We do not know whether the forms protrude out or recess in. In rejecting a single viewpoint, Picasso presents “reality” not as a mirror image of what we see in the world, but as images that have been reinterpreted within the terms of new principles. Understanding thus depends on knowing rather than seeing.

Corporal Punishment in School

On November 14, 2005, in Korea, a high school teacher hit tardy students 100 to 200 times, sending one of them to the hospital, because a male student was five minutes late to school. This soon came to be known all over the Internet. Then the teacher’s behavior was criticized by many people and corporal punishment became a very hot debate. Corporal punishment is nowadays a controversial issue. Since we have started the schooling system, every parent and teacher is struggling to teach children in a better way. Although some people believe that corporal punishment is necessary to control the rowdy students, I believe that it is not appropriate for the students even though that is part of the educational system.
First of all, corporal punishment in school makes some students feel aggressive toward parents, teachers, and fellow students. In general, children regard corporal punishment as a form of teacher aggression that makes them feel helpless. Therefore, students may get frustrated if corporal punishment is used frequently. Furthermore, it increases disruptive behavior that can become more aggressive. This leads to school violence and bullying of fellow students.
Secondly, corporal punishment causes inflicted student mental problems. Teachers often resort to various forms of physical punishment when a student exhibits one or more of the above activities because corporal punishment is thought to have the following effect: It is the simplest and easiest method to control difficult students. However, corporal punishment can result in a mental problem. For example, when I was a girl, I was in a class in which the teacher got angry at a boy who kept talking after she told him to be quiet. The teacher then hit the boy in front of all of us. My classmates and I were shocked. Even after fifteen years, I still remember that. Students lose interest in serious learning because it creates a deep seed of animosity in the relationship humiliating for the person. It may become a serious nightmare later with the students who have suffered corporal punishment even once in their life. The victims of severe cases of corporal punishment are left with permanent emotional scars.
Finally, corporal punishment is a type of violence. The use of corporal punishment only sends the wrong message to the students, telling that violence can be justified in the classroom and in society in general. It results in antisocial behavior later in life because it teaches children that adult’s codone violence as a solution to problems. Children who are spanked learn that it is acceptable for a stronger person to use violence against a weaker person. One must bear in mind that violence begets violence itself. Recent studies show that those who are violence to their family members have some traumatic experience about harsh physical punishment from their own parents. These people have a tendency to use hitting and shouting as a way to solve problems.
Some who support corporal punishment say it is necessary to keep discipline inside school. To achieve this goal, reasonable punishment is necessary because those young children are never always good children. However, corporal punishment has only a temporary effect, and violence cannot be justified under any circumstances.
In the conclusion, corporal punishment must be prohibited. Corporal punishment in Korea has been so normal in school that every student does not complain or resist it. However, teachers should not use corporal punishment because it is ineffective in disciplining students and may have long-term negative effects on students. Moreover, teachers should not forget that love and understanding must be part of any kind discipline. Teachers should use effective and more humane alternatives. I hope corporal punishment will disappear forever from our school.

Endless sculpture

Last Sunday, I visited in Madi museum. At the time, it displayed “The Suspended Art of Salvador Presta”. Madi museum is a unique small art museum and gallery. The abstract art has strong design and is very colorful. It is unique and quite interesting. A curator explained some paintings to me. Salvador Presta studied art and began his career in Buenos Aires. His first abstract work was very close to traditional European constructivism as defined by the Dutch De Stijl movement, Soviet realism and the works of Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo. Salvador Presta is represented in museums throughout the world including the Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Museum of Modern Art in Busto Arsizio, Italy, Mondriaanhuis Museum in Amersfoort, Holland and Museum Madi in Budapest, Hungry. A large exhibit of his mobiles was a part of the MADI exhibition at Madrid's Reina Sophia in 1997. While viewing the many paintings, the first one that caught my eye was a stainless steel round bar, beginning at the ground and rising upwards, creates its support, and after moving through leaning and crooked or curved lines, it returns to its own base. Through many similar movements, it creats a private vital space consisting of a spherical virtual volume. In its way, the round bar creates a series of small aluminum cubes of different sizes and shades with long duration in the presence of chemical-physical attact. The cubes are assembled linearly around the bar, in different positions, and gradients, in order to create centers of visual aggregation.

Dallas Museum of Art

My major is drawing and painting. Also I want to study art history, so I often visit some gallery and museum. I visited Thursday with my friend. My professor said many museums have special event at Thursday night. Dallas museum can enjoy a glass of wine in the Atrium Cafe and hear live jazz every Thursday. It was free. On Thursdays night the museum is open until 9:00 p.m. and general admission is free after 5:00 p.m. If someone wants to see current special exhibit, Tickets are $18 or less and include general admission to the Dallas museum of art. I shown my student ID card to employee, she discounted my ticket. I paid only fourteen dollars. If someone wants to general admission, they paid only ten dollars. Student discounts five dollars a general admission. Dallas museum of art Established in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art features an outstanding collection of more than 23,000 works of art from around the world, from ancient to modern times. When I went to level 2; European painting and sculpture, I saw the Greek sculpture and vase. When I saw that, I feel different from last visiting. My humanity teem project was Greek sculpture. At the time, I bought books, and researched internet about Greek sculptures. While I was seeing a work Greek of art, I thought teacher’s saying and research paper. When I saw the black figure vase, the main scene on this vase shows the birth of Athena, the warlike goddess of wisdom, from the head of her father, Zeus. Athena the patron deity of Athens, was thought to be parthenogenesis, virgin-born, the offspring of the king of Olympian gods alone the reverse of the vase shows the heavenly twins castor and poleax. This vase archaic style, figure representation remained two-dimensional until the middle of the sixth century B.C.E. It made by clay and slip. I told about arts of Greek to my friend. I really enjoyed Greek Arts.

A trip to Museum

On a recent visit to the meadow museum on the southern Methodist university campus. While viewing the many paintings, the first one that caught my eye was “The Circus”. Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramist. In Spanish, the word “miró” means “he saw.” What an appropriate name for an artist! Joan Miró was born April 20, 1893, in Barcelona, Spain, but he spent much of his youth on the family farm at Montroig. Beginning in 1921, he lived in Paris, but he frequently returned to visit Spain. Historians tell us that when he went to Paris, he took a handful of dried grass from the farm at Montroig as a reminder of one of his favorite places. While living in Paris he was a friend of Pablo Picasso and was influenced by the major art movements of the time, Fauvism, Cubism, Dadaism, and Surrealism, but his unique style of painting makes categorization of his work difficult. Miró painted this work to raise his spirits at a time when he was depressed about the Spanish Civil War. The cheerful shapes and colors of The Circus communicate the joy and excitement of being at a circus. The texture of the board on which Miró made the painting can also remind us of that experience. This painting is in Miró’s unique and imaginative style, though his work is sometimes associated with Dada or Surrealism. The Circus is painted on a board that is not a traditional material used in art works. Sometimes artists use unusual materials to produce their works, and Miró has used a common building material for this piece. The material is called Celotex and was often used as an insulation material in buildings. Celotex was made of compressed sugar cane fibers sometimes with a binder of sizing or varnish. Energy bursts in the wiry line that is so characteristic of Miro. This line faulty energizes the principal image of seal and ball, the soft-edged color splotches float like changing spotlights to complete the snow-like evocation.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Have you seen the pictures of the mushroom shape’s atomic bombing? Have you heard about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks during World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States of America under U.S. President? As many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki may have died from the bombings by the end of 1945. Korea is the only divided country in the world. When I watched news, I often heard about nuclear weapons in North Korea. At the times, I was very worried about my country, and family. North Korea is an aggressive, totalitarian regime whose goal is to conquer South Korea. Because North Korea cannot succeed in a conventional war against U.S. supported South Korean forces, North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il intends to use nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. North Korea has become the world's ninth nuclear power. In October 2002 North Korea admitted to U.S. officials that it had a secret uranium enrichment program. North Korea then decided to restart its plutonium reactor and reprocessing plant and resume construction of two larger reactors. North Korea selling arms abroad is no revelation. At least half a dozen countries including Pakistan, Libya and Syria are known to have purchased missiles from the rogue regime. But analysts and hard-liners in the U.S. are increasingly concerned that a desperate North Korea is spreading more than conventional arms. That any world leader who uses any type of nuclear device as a weapon be charged with a crime against humanity and be brought to justice before the World Court. The United States must not agree to give North Korea any security guarantees or withdraw its forces in South Korea because Kim Jong-Il would then attack South Korea and attempt to establish a pro-North Korean regime there. The United States, Japan, and South Korea must work together to disarm and reform North Korea.

Seoul Home / L.A. Home

“Star far away from other stars / Migratory bird far away from the nest.
I am far away from my home / You are far away from me

Home and memory / Home and love
Home and lonely / Home and nostalgia
Home and poem / Home and my family, and family

I can never forget my home / Even while I am sleeping” (Lee).

Dreamworlds

MTV launched in New York City August 1, 1981. It is an American network that plays music video. MTV has large impact on pop culture and the music industry throughout the world. Almost every singer makes a music video when they debut show. Last month I watched a band make a music video. I was even an extra for their video. They were friend’s of a friend. They are so new. I did not have any information for them. This band knew they needed a music video for their publicity works. The music videos main goal is to promote the sale of music recordings.
Dreamworlds III is the documentary film by Director Sut Jhally. This film narrator tells about a woman in the contemporary music video, and incites viewers to think about modern sexuality and people’s attitudes towards sexuality. In Dreamworlds III, the music video is integrates a lot of sexual femininity and masculinity images. It is not only American culture but also many other countries that have become sexist. In South Korea it would be controversial to have teenager girls with too reveling clothing performe on the stages in music video’s. Even if she is 16 years old. This controversy continues in South Korea as sexuality in music video becomes more frequent and more intense. In the past three decades, most music video focuses on sexual and violent content. How sexuality is indicated and used by artists defines their images and attracts audiences of especially young females. The female musician’s fashion styles and body image depicted define standards in Korea and the United States. The aspects of the music video express body dimension such as race, sex, nature, and technology. Male musicians change gender roles by blurring of gender appearance, while female musicians reflected sexuality which intensified the gender norms. In aspects of race, musicians pursue racial blending of appearances. In the nature and technology dimension, Korean music videos often times focus on natural imagery, but American music video show a lot of technology images. And the body combined with the technology and nature implies a post human image of the future.
The media contributes more to the constructing of personal identities than any other medium in present modern society. Music videos offer an intricate experience of sounds, joined with visual images in a variety of media. In particular, female sexual femininity image of fashion in music videos help convey contexts effectively and function as a medium of immediate communication by visual effect.
Have we considered the sociocultural effects of music video? Gender identity depicted in fashion can be of great importance. Gender identity in socio-cultural categories is classified as masculinity, femininity, and the third sex. First, Masculinity is group into a stereotyped masculinity, sexual masculinity, and metro sexual masculinity in the music video. Second, femininity in music videos are grouped into stereotyped femininity, sexual femininity and contra sexual femininity. Third, the third sex in music video fashion is categorized into transvestism, the masculinization of feminity, and feminization of the masculine. This phenomenon is presented into music videos through females in male attire and males in female attire. Gender identity represented in the fashion of music videos were demonstrated, and the importance of the relationship between these representations of identity through fashion and socio-cultural environment was reconfirmed. For example, Madonna’s music videos express identity. She is the most famous female singer in the world. Madonna has reconstructed fluid identities through the variations of body, images, costumes, and attitude. Her homosexuality is to be seen as a fetish by drag queens and lesbians, which deconstructs the dichotomy of normality/perversion and opens a possibility of women becoming the subjectivity of sexual desires.
Dreamworlds, it is literary “Dream world” meaning not a reality in life. The director wants the viewer to see women’s bodies in music videos because, it purposes an important advertising tools. However this music video has so much influence on the real world and real people which go beyond advertising. This film makes observation about the music video’s advertisements. The sexual female characters in music videos increase the productivity of the music. The music video short in length, usually only three or four minutes, wants to make the viewer pay attention, so it stimulates femininity and masculinity. Therefore, these music videos are forms of advertising. It is extremely sexual images with storytelling, for selling merchandise. The women’s body is an important advertising tool; however music videos use them to awfully influence our society.

Culture Jamming - Smartphone

     Narrator says, “First is the beginning. First kicks open the door. The possibilities follow. First resets everything. First moves us forward fast. We all want first. First isn't later, it’s now. What will you do first with EVO. The first 4G phone”. This sprint commercial shows old technology evolving into new technology. A stone hit the next level of technology. It set off a chain reaction in human history. Sprint wants to say to people, EVO 4G will be revolutionary such as rockets, bells, and internets are. It is Sprint’s EVO 4G commercial broadcasted on television and online now.

    
     All my friends really want a smart phone. A heavy wind of smart phone is everywhere. It is all over the world. When I surf the internet, articles of the smartphone are everywhere. People want to know which one is good, or they write about private experiences. Some people said, “I am an iphone user, this is good and I want to share my experiences with other people”, and they explain details about using the smartphone.
      A smartphone’s definition is “a mobile phone that offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary basic feature phone (Wikipedia)”. Smartphones, such as Apple's iPhone is the most well known smartphone until now, and other mobile phones with computer-like capabilities, are rapidly becoming not only commonplace on college campuses but also everywhere. When I watched television, I see many mobile phone commercials; especially the smart phone.
     I am from South Korea. Last summer vacation I went back to South Korea. I met my friends, they were using smartphones. Many of my friends were waiting for the iphone 4. It was offered in June in the United States, but South Korea could not decide which month to offer the iphone. So many people made a reservation for the iphone at the time. Also, when I bought my smartphone, I waited over one month in the United States. Smartphone had many commercials in South Korea. In the commercials the actors are the most famous and trendy movie stars or singers. So when we are watching smartphone commercials, we can be known for the most famous stars of the year in South Korea.
     Do you think why the smartphones is so rapidly popular? All my friends have a smartphone in the United States and also in South Korea. My country developed the IT industries that make smartphones, like Samsung and LG. The smartphone provides a lot of uses from the internet. There are students using their smartphones for their homework and research papers. I am an art student. I am taking a painting class. I have to show my professor some images. I did not bring my heavy lap top. I have just a smartphone. During art, students are usually working on their works; they are listening to music in class. However, we have no more MP3 players, or ipods. Smartphones are used in the classroom primarily for music. I can download music from the internet on my smartphone.
     I am an international student. Almost every international Korean student brings some electronic device in their school. It looks like a little lap top. It is an electronic dictionary. Students who English as a second language usually bring it to not only school but also everywhere. I usually bring my electronic dictionary even when I meet American friends. While I am talking with my American friend, I am sometimes confused and do not understand what they are saying. I find some words and word pronunciations in my dictionary. Now I have a smartphone. When I meet American friends, I am not bringing electronic dictionary anymore. When I drive to unfamiliar places in Dallas, sometimes get lost road. When I first drove in Dallas, many places looked so similar. If I looked for some building and it near Mac Donald’s, Best Buy, and Wall Mart in every place, my feelings were every place looked the same. I did not have a GPS. I felt uneasy, and nervous. But now I have a comfortable feeling while I am driving, and more familiar American roads, and a smartphone has a capacity of GPS. I used the Wi-Fi internet, but it often times is disconnected. I have to pay my bill payment, but my bank is so far from my apartment. I pay my bills by my smartphone. I check my email while waiting in line at the coffee the shop. I read while sitting on the couch without a paper book.
     Since the dawn of the smartphone I multitask. Some scientists said the human mind multitasking capabilities are not simply working. That means people while watching some TV program, cannot read email. Because people are trying so hard to listen to two conversations at the same time. Scientists say the human brain is lacking when they suddenly switch between tasks. Since each time you rapidly switch, you break your focus. When you’re attention is divided, your works suffers. When I had free time, I could not put down my smartphone. Many people have those kinds of experiences. We all know that it is tough to put down your smartphone like me. Sometimes even for just a few minutes. When I go to sleep in bed, I usually read some articles, web surf, or go to my Korean Facebook by my smartphone. I think to myself, I have to sleep, I have to wake up early, but I still keep going and going. My smartphone might be more like an addiction. When you are using a smartphone each notification, ring or buzz, your brain squirts out dopamine. “It is a natural dopamine, a natural neurotransmitter released by your brain which activates your pleasure receptors. The substances in drugs that make us feel good work by the very same mechanism (never.com).” The scientists conjecture, when you are using smartphones, you get a tiny shot of dopamine. If you do not get it, you are anxious, and enervate. That is why often times you use and check your phone are. Your brain gets addicted to dopamine. If you’re behaviors like that, you are addicted to your smartphone.
     Have you heard of “The Three Day Effect”? “It is a phenomenon observed by some neuroscientists who purposely sequestered themselves from digital media for a week, which meant no cell phones, no Internet and no TV (serendip.brynmawr.edu).” Some people about three days after no interfacing with computers, smartphones, video games, or some other kinds of technology, can feel more relaxed. They did not feel an anxious, and enervate, they can sleep better. My major was industrial design in Korea. I spent most of the time with a computer. I had such a headache; I did not want to use my computer anymore, so I changed majors in the United States. Now, I study drawing and painting. Some scientists state that being disconnected from technology even helps you are more creative.
     The indication that smartphone in other studies state that you have to be stressed at all times with continual updates, ringing and notifications. You might be receiving a lot of email that would demand some your attention. So you are checking your smartphone again and again. However, you do not know when you will receive your next email, Facebook or twitter. The stress brings some hormones into your body, such as cortisol. It is an important hormone in the body, It’s Higher and more prolonged level of cortisol in the bloodstream have been shown to have negative effects, such as: Decreased bone density, Decrease in muscle tissue, and Higher blood pressure. “It is the most potent glucocorticoid produced by the human adrenal. It is synthesized from cholesterol and its production is stimulated by pituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone which is regulated by corticotropin releasing factor (aeron.com).” It affects to human body. A lot of stress hormones, such as cortisol, can affect your long term memory. This means if you use your phone a lot, your brain’s memory abilities less you cannot remember.
     There are many negative effects of smartphone. Despite many people wanting smart phone. Not just young people but also old people all over the world. It has become trendy for all ages and classes to have the latest technology. It's convenient; they can use internet without a big computer everywhere. People want to get good stuff, such as a nice car, good clothes, and expensive houses. When someone has a trendy new smartphone, it feels like you are wearing designer clothes. Smartphones are going to change history, such as computer or internet did.

Ghost in the Shell

     What does it mean to be human? Movies, novels, comic books all deal with this issue. What does the movie say about these questions? Ghost in the Shell is very popular in South Korea. There are comic books and movies. It was the first movie of the series, released in theaters in 1995. Ghost in the Shell is a futuristic police thriller. The main character is Motoko Kusanagi who is a member of the covert operations section of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission or Section Nine. She is a cyborg. Donna Haraway said, “a cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction” (A Cyborg Manifesto).

     Ghost in the Shell expresses the impossibility of defining what it means to be human, and that it is far too complex for a clear answer. The setting of Ghost in the Shell is the year 2029. The vast electronic networks have connected the world. It pervades into every person’s life. Section Nine members fight technology-related crime. In 2029, people are able to increase their bodies with cybernetic replacement parts. Some people like Motoko Kusanagi have almost fully replaced their human bodies, leaving only their brain. She is a cyborg which is not the same as a robot. Her body still communicates with her brain. She has a ghost. She keeps her ghost in her brain, and she still has personality and individuality. Japanese culture is so patriarchical compared to other Asian cultures. Mamoru Oshii, the director of Ghost in the Shell made the Kusanagi figure a woman. In many action movies, even Hollywood movies, women often help the male man character. Kusanagi thoroughly excludes Batou’s assistance; she has the absolute power of a main character without being a male character.

    

      Ghost in the Shell provides the best examination of the question of humanity. When I took a philosophy class in South Korea, I asked myself where I am from and where I am going. I asked some philosophy questions myself. This movie thinks like these questions. Ghost in the Shell tells about what it means to be human, and what it means to be alive. Is Motoko really still human? Even she does not know the answer. I watched television program ‘Survivor’. One young woman did not have one leg. She replaced it with a fake leg. She could run fast, and she could do anything. She is a human without doubt. How about Motoko Kusanagi? She doubts her ghost being real; she thinks she has already died and her ghost is a fake. How would she be able to differentiate a fake ghost from a real one? This is the dilemma, she finds herself facing. When she doubts herself, the Puppet Master is looking for Kusanagi; it is hacking human minds, and stealing their memories. The Puppet Master is a sentient program. Memories are the most important part of being human, so can we call the Puppet Master human too? This movie gives viewers many questions.

     Ghost in the Shell provides an interesting vision of the future. Technology is developed more and more. It will bring brightness or darkness to the future. We do not know. Many movies or novels show the darkness of the future. People are more isolated with developed technology. I watched the cityscape in this movie, and it looks like grungy. People in the city in 2019 look devastated. Some scenes are close up on the mannequins in the shop window, and as people pass the window, I cannot recognize, which of them are the real people. The director wants to show the viewer the nihilism in a developed technological future. It fills them with the most impressive technological horrors.

    
     Motoko Kusanagi said, “There are countless ingredients that make up the human body and mind, like all the components that make up me as an individual with my own personality. Sure I have a face and voice to distinguish myself from others, but my thoughts and memories are unique only to me, and I carry a sense of my own destiny.” Ghost in the Shell asks what the boundary is between human and AI.

smartphone

                                                        Smart phone
     “I-phone is everything? Your thoughts control it! Neural interface revolution” This is the statements made to sell the I-phone on an internet commercial. All my friends really want a smart phone. A heavy wind of smart phone is everywhere. It is all over the world. When I watched television, I see many mobile phone commercials; especially the smart phone. A Smartphone’s definition is “a mobile phone that offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary basic 'feature phone.”(Wikipedia) Why are smart phones so popular? My entire friends have a smart phone in the United States and also in Korea. I am from South Korea. My country developed the IT industries that make smart phones, like a Samsung and LG. In my country people are so trendy. Especially young people, who really must keep up with current trends. For example, if short skirts are in fashion, everyone wears mini skirt, and if long skirts are popular, every girl wants maxi skirts next year. Trends pass quickly and extremely.
     When I first came to the United States few years ago, many people did not have the smart phones that were so popular in Korea. However, a few years later, many of my American friends now have a smart phone. I asked about my American friend, why American like that? He told me “Americans were just slower to adopt the new technology”. Smart phones now lead the cell phone market. Many people choose smart phone for their way of life. Why did smart phone become popular so rapidly? Smart phone has operating system, software, web access, QWERTY keyboard, and messaging. How are cell phones different from smart phones? The most important aspect of the smart phones is that they have a mobile operating system. Giving people the internet on the go. It can power your life at work or home. Many of us depend on the internet that we cannot image life without internet.
     The first smart phone was designed by IBM in 1992. It was called Simon. After 18 years, it has becomes popular all around the world. I talk with my mother every day by internet phone and I can see my sister by cam on the computer. I live in the United States, but sometimes I feel like still live in Seoul. I bought 4G smart phone in July. Now I can see my family pictures on my phone after a few seconds. My sister just sent me a picture to my smart phone from Korea. Young people want to have the newest cool phone. Some people wait over 10 hours in outside Apple store, because they want to have the I-phone on the first day it comes out. Many people want a smart phone. Not just young people but also old people. It has become trendy all ages and class to have the latest technology. It's convenient; they can use internet without a big computer. When someone has a trendy new smart phone, it feels like you are wearing designer clothes.