This new theory of art is based on the Divine Principle. The most important foundational concepts to be utilized are:
(1) God’s purpose of creation and His creativity,
(2) joy and creation in resemblance, and
(3) give and receive action.
First, let me explain God’s purpose of creation and His creativity. The purpose for which God created the universe was to actualize joy through love. In other words, God created the universe as His object of joy. This means that God is a great artist and the universe is His work of art. To explain more concretely, God created human beings to be His object partners of joy and He created all things to be the object partners of joy for human beings.
For human beings, God’s purpose of creation refers to the purpose for their being created: their purpose for the whole and their purpose for the individual. Their purpose for the whole is to give joy to the whole (namely, humankind, nation, tribe, and so on) whereas their purpose for the individual is to obtain joy for themselves from other individuals and the whole. God gave desire to human beings so that they could fulfill their purpose for being created. Accordingly, human beings always have a desire to obtain joy while they are pleasing God and the whole. Artistic activity is derived from God’s creation of the universe. The activity of creation starts with the purpose for the whole, that is, it starts with an intention to please others. The activity of appreciation, on the other hand, starts with the purpose for the individual, that is, it starts with the intention of obtaining joy for oneself.
God’s creativity is His ability to form the two-stage structure of creation, namely the inner developmental four position foundation and the outer developmental four position foundation within the Original Image. Forming the inner developmental four position foundation means to form Logos (plan); and forming the outer developmental four position foundation means creating all things by using Hyungsang (material) in accordance with Logos. This process of creation by God is manifested as the two-stage structure of creation in human artistic activities. First, a plan is made; and second, a work of art is made by substantializing the plan through the use of materials.
Next, I will explain joy and creation in resemblance. God created human beings and all things as His object partners of joy. The joy of the subject is obtained through receiving the stimulation coming from an object whose Sungsang and Hyungsang resemble those of the subject. 1 Accordingly, God created human beings in such a way that they resemble in image the dual characteristics of God, and created all things in such a way that they resemble Him symbolically. 2 Applied to the theory of art, this means that an artist produces a work of art in resemblance to his or her own Sungsang and Hyungsang in order to obtain joy. Also, it means that an appreciator feels joy when sensing his or her own Sungsang and Hyungsang in and through a work of art.
Finally, I will explain give and receive action. In God, Sungsang and Hyungsang engage in give and receive action in a relationship of subject and object, and either form a union or produce a multiplied being. 3 To produce a multiplied being means to create a new being. When this give and receive action within God’s Original Image is applied to the theory of art, it follows that the artistic activity of creation is performed through the give and receive action between the subject (the artist) and the object (materials), and that the appreciation of artistic work is performed through the give and receive action between the subject (the appreciator) and the object (art work). Accordingly, in both artistic creation and appreciation there are certain requisites for both subject and object to possess, since value (truth, goodness, and beauty) is determined by the correlative relationship between a subject and an object, as explained in Axiology.