ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

The contemporary imperative to comprehend the relationship between humans and things — specifically, an ontologically horizontal relationship — is intensifying dramatically in conjunction with the crisis of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene discourse posits that a critical understanding of how planetary inhabitants interact through interdependent relationships is essential to addressing the catastrophic atmosphere of the present as well as the future that looms over humanity. Emerging at the height of consumer capitalism, Mono-ha advocates for an avant-garde mode of artistic innovation. Mono-ha artists maintain a critical consciousness regarding the task of overcoming modernist aesthetics, alongside the sociopolitical reality of overcoming modernity in Japan. Specifically within the realm of art, Mono-ha seeks to demonstrate a new mode of expression by liberating things from anthropocentric relationships through specific artistic interventions. To this end, the aesthetics of Mono-ha are premised on viewing the relationship between humans and things as fundamentally equal within a reciprocal perspective. By devising unique methods to express this, Mono-ha establishes the concept of mono in contemporary art — not as mere matter or objects, but as things existing in correlation with humans. Furthermore, Ufan Lee systematically conceptualizes the perspective of Mono-ha and the aesthetic significance of mono, drawing upon phenomenology and modern Japanese philosophy. He proposes a relational aesthetics between humans and things based on key concepts such as ‘mono (thing, もの),’ ‘gitgeori (act, 仕草),’ ‘encounter,’ and ‘place.’ Ultimately, Mono-ha can be understood as a pivotal historical moment for the aesthetics of things. As such, an aesthetics of things presents possibilities for new artistic expression within the horizon of human-nonhuman relationships in the era of the Anthropocene.

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