SYS
Authorial Style Study 2026
This course was designed for third-year students in the Department of Visual Communication Design at Hongik University and runs for 15 weeks, from March 6 to June 12, 2026. In this course, “author” is understood broadly as a creator who originates a work or idea and imbues it with a distinctive perspective and intention.
We are independent individuals, growing not alone, but through sharing with and supporting one another.
Pioneer
In this course, students analyze and reinterpret the worldview of a pioneering author from their own perspective. By exploring their own values alongside the author’s methods of expression, students reconstruct the pioneer’s worldview through their own style and ultimately create an original work.
Re-creation = Original
Starting from ME
The course begins by asking: What kind of beauty am I drawn to?
Students first make visible, one by one, the things they have habitually observed, thought about, and been interested in. By doing so, they learn to look at their own world from a new perspective and share what they discover with one another. Then, by choosing an author who resonates with them, the real adventure begins.
Workshops & Assignments
Through Mapping Workshops, Drawing Workshops, and Museum Fieldwork, students explore different ways of observing, interpreting, and reconstructing information from the world around them, while developing their own authorial identity. After some workshops, students share brief reflections on the class, feedback on their peers’ work, or themes they are currently exploring through an online discussion board. Through these activities, we stay connected while also making space for individual exploration and focused work.
Final Project
Each student selects one pioneering author* and reconstructs that author’s worldview or body of work through their own authorial style, ultimately creating an original work. Students present their completed works in Week 15 and hold a public exhibition in Week 16, organizing the process and outcomes of their activities into a portfolio. The form of the work and the format of the exhibition are open.
* Pioneering author: An author whose works have continued to receive critical recognition over time—someone who can be considered a pioneer, master, or classic figure. Contemporary or currently trendy artists are not included.
Course Schedule
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A. Weeks 02–05: Project Development
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B. Weeks 06–09: Exploration of Expression
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C. Weeks 10–15: Focused Production & Exhibition Preparation
A. Weeks 02–05: Project Development
Week 2 | Drawing Workshop | Getting to Know One Another
In the first class, students explore various forms of drawing, including blindfold drawing, meditation drawing, self-introduction drawing, and group free drawing.
The semester begins with drawing lines intuitively and unconsciously. Students give titles to the chaotic lines created through their own bodies, and also give titles to their classmates’ drawings. Using ink, students make a quick drawing about their feelings toward adventure and add three keywords.
After the two-hour workshop, students complete a short assignment reflecting on what they experienced. They can also view one another’s assignments.
Week 3 | Sharing My Areas of Interest Workshop 01
Students collect writings, black-and-white drawings, photographs, and color drawings related to “Beauty as I See It” and create their own maps.
During class, students look at one another’s maps, give titles as gifts to each other’s drawings, and give related drawings as gifts to each other’s writings. They then divide into groups and spend time talking with one another.
Week 4 | Sharing My Areas of Interest Workshop 02
The same workshop is conducted once again, but this time the exploration of “beauty” is divided into several categories so that students can examine the subject with greater precision and depth. Students are also encouraged to experiment with various methods of expression while drawing.
After the workshop, students reflect on what they have explored, describe their ideas about beauty through keywords, and share their thoughts on one another’s maps. This allows them to see their own work from different perspectives.
Week 5 | My Theme, My Author Workshop
During the three-week workshop period, students explore themselves while also researching a pioneering author of their choice. Until this point, they have freely explored their own perspectives. From Week 5 onward, they are encouraged to approach their ideas in a new way so that they can be understood and shared with others.
They carefully select their words, reference images, and own drawings to objectively present how their chosen author connects with their own values as an author.
Based on the three mapping workshops, students submit an assignment presenting their own theme as an author.
B. Weeks 06–09: Exploration of Expression
Week 6–7 | Museum Walk & Drawing Workshop | Studying Damien Hirst
Over two weeks, the entire class studies one artist, Damien Hirst. In Week 6, students visit a museum and observe his works through photography and drawing. They then complete assignments describing the artist through several keywords and discussing selected works from both the perspective of the artist and that of the viewer.
In Week 7, students reinterpret Damien Hirst’s works through their own methods of expression or those of the author they are currently studying.
Project Proposal Draft | Walking Alongside Me and My Author PDF
During the two weeks of studying Damien Hirst, students also develop and submit a draft of their own project proposal. To encourage students to conduct research and experiments independently, I designed a framework for the proposal draft. All students use the same format as they begin developing their projects in earnest.
I carefully designed the framework to help students develop their projects in diverse ways, without feeling excessive pressure or becoming focused on finding a single “correct” answer.
Common Format for the Project Proposal Draft
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A. 15 Questions and Answers : Write questions and answers about the author from the following three different perspectives.
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a. 5 questions: Why do I ___ the author?
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b. 5 questions: Why did the author ___?
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c. 5 questions: Why do people ___ the author?
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B. Walking Alongside Me and the Author : Describe how I will reinterpret the author and develop my own work.
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C. 3 Experiments, 3 Failures, 3 Successes : Choose one work by the author and experiment with it through your own approach.
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D. Who Am I, Where Did I Come From, and Where Am I Going? : Introduce myself as a person.
Week 8 | Trust Fieldwork
As Week 8 coincides with the busy midterm period and the project presentations in Week 9, we take the class outdoors for a light workshop. Students work in pairs and walk around different parts of campus. One student wears a blindfold while the other guides and supports their partner, allowing them to experience different ways of perceiving their surroundings. Using their own bodies, students explore the textures of various forms of information and recall their sensory memories through simple drawing and writing.
Week 9 | Project Proposal Presentations
Students give project proposal presentations using PPT. From Week 10 onward, students will work in groups to exchange feedback. After listening to their classmates’ presentations, each student selects three classmates they would like to work with and submits their choices to the instructor.
I then form the groups by considering both the content of the project proposals and the students’ preferences.
Presentation Content
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The author I am studying
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How I interpret the author and develop their own work — Theme / Expression / Medium / Exhibition Method
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Production Schedule
C. Weeks 10–15: Focused Production & Exhibition Preparation
Week 10–11 | Group Talks, Individual Meetings & Authorial Style Drawing Game
After the Week 9 project proposal presentations, students are divided into groups to talk freely about one another’s work. Group talks and individual meetings with me continue for two weeks. To keep the group talks from becoming repetitive, Week 11 includes a simple drawing game that encourages students to communicate in a more relaxed atmosphere.
Week 12 | Work-in-Progress Critique (Midterm Evaluation)
Students exhibit and present the works they are currently developing in class. Holding the midterm evaluation as an exhibition allows students to preview how their completed works might be perceived by viewers and makes it easier to share thoughts on one another’s work.
Week 13 | Feedback Festival
Immediately after the midterm evaluation, students take part in a “Feedback Festival,” handwriting their impressions of one another’s work. As they prepare for the Week 16 public exhibition, the feedback focuses not on the concept or process, but on the impressions and feelings of a viewer encountering the finished work.
Feedback Topics
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Overall Impression, Feeling & Vibe
Things that are difficult to put into words but can be sensed intuitively. -
Something I noticed that you may not have noticed yourself
“I really liked this part. What if you made it stand out a little more?” -
Questions or Things I Don’t Yet Understand
“What does this mean?”
“Why does it work this way?”
Week 14 | Creating a Drawing Map of Our Campus
As the final works will be presented in Week 15, Week 14 takes students away from the pressure of completing their work and into the campus for a drawing session. Students freely draw people, man-made objects, and natural elements around Hongik University’s Seoul Campus, then return to the classroom and arrange their drawings on the wall to create a single map. This gives them a chance to see their surroundings from a new perspective and share their drawings with one another.
Week 15 | Final Work Presentation
As the public exhibition installation begins the day after the Week 15 class, the final class focuses on brief presentations of the completed works. Students actively participate by bringing their works to class and sharing them directly with me and their classmates.
Week 16 | Public Exhibition of Completed Works
After 15 weeks of classes, a public exhibition of the students’ works is held in Week 16 in the 7th-floor corridor of Hongmun Hall at Hongik University’s Seoul Campus. The exhibition team is divided into five roles: Exhibition Leader, Art Director, Spatial Design, Equipment, and Administration & Accounting. Students take the initiative in managing the exhibition from beginning to end.
