ART THERAPY FOR HARMONIZING DESIRE AND LIFE IN KOREAN SOCIETY

Authors

  • Soo-Jin Lee Konkuk University
  • Seok Kim Konkuk University

Keywords:

Anxiety, Art Therapy, Artistic Act, Intersubjectivity, Jouissance, Mental Disorders, Original Life, Self-Desire

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to diagnose and find solutions through art, based on a psychoanalytic perspective, seeing the increasing misery of Koreans as a signal to the frustration of desire and social incongruity. However, mental disorders have a double effect. Especially, anxiety has its fair share of negative repercussions such as fear, powerlessness, and sadness; it also enables inner inspection and acts as a signal of existence that can re-establish desire.  Through a case study, this paper argues that art therapy can not only help individuals to understand their existence, but also restore intersubjective relationships and go toward sustainable society. This is because art is ultimately an act of practice aiming at the gaze, an indicator of existence. In the end, the central goal of humanity and social development should be to make them coexist in an ethical horizon through the restoration of the “original life.”

Author Biographies

Soo-Jin Lee , Konkuk University

Dr Soo-Jin Lee is an outpatient professor of Humanities Counseling and Therapy at Konkuk University. She also practices as an analyst and as a professional art therapist, and serves as an Editor-In-Chief of the Korean Society for Contemporary Psychoanalysis.

Seok Kim, Konkuk University

Seok Kim is an associate professor of Philosophy at Konkuk University. His chosen field of study is modern French Philosophy and psychoanalysis. He is currently the vice president of the Korean Society of Contemporary Psychoanalysis.

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Published

2021-03-31

How to Cite

Lee , S.-J. ., & Kim, S. . (2021). ART THERAPY FOR HARMONIZING DESIRE AND LIFE IN KOREAN SOCIETY. Journal of Dharma, 46(1), 25–42. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/jd/article/view/3464