Blood, Sweat, and Tears: BTS, Bruegel, and the Baroque

Abstract

In her chapter, “Blood, Sweat, and Tears: BTS, Bruegel, and the Baroque,” Marci Kwon reads the music video for “Blood, Sweat & Tears” through the lens of European art history, examining how the canon of Renaissance and Baroque art provide a visual language to invoke the band members’ exploration of art and life. The chapter unfolds with a significant visual component that connects the visual elements—costuming, sets, lighting–of the music video with various reference works from the canon. The chapter asks about what works of art say about an artist and vice versa. She argues that as artists themselves, BTS turns to aesthetic histories to reflect on the categories of the real or authentic that are often brought to bear upon the group.