The practitioner of the artwork

The practitioner is Nam June Paik who was a Korean American artist. He was born in Soul in 1932 and died in 2006. He was practicing from 1963 until his death. Nam June Paik worked with different kinds of media and is considered to be the founder of video art.

The title of the artwork

“Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii” in 1995.

How the artwork was authored

The artwork was constructed of 336 televisions, 50 DVD players, 3,750 feet of cable, and 575 feet of multicolored neon tubing. The piece is roughly forty feet long and fifteen feet high. Different kinds of media are placed into an overall for design of a map of the United States where colored neon lights outline the map. The states are defined and linked by the neon lights and within each American state there are screen display video clips that echoes the given state’s popular traditions and beliefs. The piece is a representation of how he viewed the United States and how the highway represents the ability and freedom for Americans to see the country.

How the artwork was published and distributed

The Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii was originally produced for the German Pavillion at the 1993 Venice Biennale. Since 2002, the piece has been permanently displayed at the Lincoln Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum where only visitors of the museum can have a look on the artwork.

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References:

Tina Rivers Ryan, Nam June Paik, Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii,Khanacademy, viewed April 9th 2019, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/global-contemporary/a/paik-electronic-superhighway

Public Delivery, The Legendary Electronic Superhighway – Nam June Paik, Publicdelivery, viewed April 9th 2019, https://publicdelivery.org/nam-june-paik-electronic-superhighway/