Do you feel art is only difficult? There is a blog, Moon So-Young's Secret Library on Art Gallery. There are lots of articles which make it easier for people to approach art in the blog. The blog's owner is the Korea JoongAng Daily Culture Desk Chief, who writes articles about society through culture and art. The reporters of the Chungbuk Times met the journalist Moon So-young, who says seeing the world through art is a pleasure of life.

To become a journalist
  To be honest, I didn’t want to be a journalist originally. I majored in economics in Seoul. My parents wanted me to keep studying economics and go abroad for a doctorate, but I had no desire to do that because I didn’t have any passion in it. Accordingly, my grades were not good. I don’t regret that I studied economics though. Economics was helpful for me to see the world rationally. I sent in some applications to graduate schools, which are in America, but I wasn’t accepted at all. ‘Should I apply next year again?’ I thought. At that time, JoongAng Ilbo’s English internet service, which I worked in by doing translations, changed into a newspaper, the JoongAng Daily. They proposed that I work as a journalist, so I settled down there.

Life as a journalist
  There are two types of journalists. The first are journalists who are good at writing. The second are journalists who are good at collecting data. People say articles are written by foot. Writing skills are important, but running around as a willing horse while collecting data is the most important ability. While there are logical journalists who are good at analyzing and writing good sentences, there are also brave journalists who find unexpected news items and catch very new things which other people couldn’t catch. Actually, when someone covers a case going through fire and water, she can take some hard knocks. Journalists should bear that risk. Frankly speaking, I’m the good writer type. I think the really excellent thing as a journalist is running around and being brave. If someone can do both things well, she is the best journalist.
  However, if a press release is announced, some journalists write articles by copying the data entirely. That shouldn’t be done. While the press media is jumbled up these days, journalists who are doing that have increased. That is not a virtue of a journalist. Also, the thing journalists should be aware of is writing after having made a conclusion already. Honestly, many journalists do that kind of work. If a journalist is completely depraved and takes a bribe, needless to say that is definitely corrupt, but it is extremely dangerous to write an article fitting into a conclusion which is made before writing. When journalists explore an issue, making conclusions in advance should be avoided, and keeping an objective attitude is important.

Blog, my whole new world
  When I was young, I became naturally intimate with pictures because of my parents. Art is part of my life because I've been surrounded by collections and my parents’ books about paintings. The reason why I became a journalist in the economics department was for my major, economics, but, I actually really loved art. And one day, I thought that my life was in vain when I was doing my job. I said to myself, 'Do you really want to do this job?' Then, I decided to make a blog explaining the pictures that I liked the most.
  I don't have any degree in art, so now I'm studying art in graduate school in Hongik University because I felt the necessity of having a degree in art for doing my job. The reason why I know a lot about art without a degree is because I like it, so I read a lot of books in the art field. The reason I kept working on my blog when I was a busy journalist in economics was because I loved to do that. I do really love and enjoy blogging.
  At first, I was delighted by finding the stories in the paintings, like paintings motivated by myths and the Bible. For example, Salome was a very famous theme for many painters. However, although the story of Salome is all the same, Salome appeared differently by painters, trends, eras and cultural aspects. Salome first appeared as a very modest figure in the Renaissance Era, but after the 19th century, the decadent beauty at the end of the century, it was combined with orientalism, so Salome appeared as a gaudy woman dancing a belly dance. If you follow the paintings as they changed by era, you can find the social aspects bumper to bumper in those time, and I was fascinated with this situation.
  Actually, now I have also become interested in contemporary art over the past 3 years not just paintings. One of the general prejudices is that art is completely separated from society, but art and society have a very close connection, so reading the social aspects through visual art is a pleasure of my life.

Don't be a coward in front of art
  First of all, I think seeing art clearly is the best thing. You can't see it by your own prejudice. Conceptual Art <上>,<中>,<下> are three of my articles. There is <Magenta Scroll>, a work by artist Choi Sun, in Conceptual Art <中>. It's just an enormous red scroll, but the scroll is densely written with red numbers that represent the quantity of dead pigs. At first, I thought, ‘Ah, it's too difficult to understand', but, after listening to the purpose of this work, I realized the physical quantity of how many pigs had died from the foot-and-mouth disease. Then, I understood why the artist expressed himself that way. Modern art needs explanation. In the past, the paintings only needed background knowledge, but when you meet modern conceptual art, you must listen to what the artist wants to say through their work. Therefore, it is the primary process to listen to the explanations at first without prejudice when you appreciate the work. But I really do think that you don't have to remain silent in front of art. You don't have to give an indulgence only because it is art. It is important to appreciate a work with an open mind. But if you can't feel anything by that, it means nothing. When you can't understand and feel nothing after the explanation, you don't have to think 'Ah, I think I'm foolish.' It's the fault of the artist. That means the work itself has no persuasion.
  On the other hand, <Magenta Scroll> shows the problem of foot-and-mouth disease in Korea. Therefore, its purpose is perfectly understandable for Korean spectators. However, we might not be able to understand the work of a foreign artist because we are not natives of their land. In this situation, it's not the fault of the artist or the spectators because the spectators don't know about the foreign artist’s background life. It’s the same with literature. If it doesn't make you feel anything when you read classical literature reflected by great French culture, it is just nothing. It is same with art. There is a limitation behind that.

Where I'm going
  My goal is to have an insight into this society based on visual arts. My role model is Lee Eor-yung. He was a literature critic. As he commented and criticized that society is based on literature, I want to be like him. I want to comment that society is based on visual arts, so I want to have an insight not only by looking into the present but also the future. It is my way to communicate with the public using my blog and my books.
 

By Kyeong So-hyeon ㅣsh34@cbnu.ac.kr

By Park Ji-su ㅣ js34@cbnu.ac.kr