Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practising?
Nam June Paik is a South Korean born artist. Born in 1932 Paik began his artistic journey as a musician but in 1962 joint the Fluxus movement where he shifted towards the manipulation of video rather than audio. Know for his experimentation with video and technology, Paik is often dubbed the “father of video art” (The Art Story, n.d). Paik practised all the way up to 2005 with is last piece Chinese Memory before passing away in 2006.
What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)
Paik’s work I have chosen to analyse it titled ‘Megatron/Matrix’ and video of it can be seen here. It is a roughly 3,372 square metre video instillation with custom electronic, sound, and visuals.
With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?
This piece of art by Paik was first displayed in 1995, it could be assumed that the large scale work was produced in the years before.
How was the photo or video authored?
Megatron/Matrix is comprised of 215 cathode ray tubes Korean televisions that work to make up a larger picture. The magetron portion of the work features a 10 by 15 stacking of CRT TV’s that work together to produce a sort of cohesive animation. While matrix features a set of four individual groupings of 4 by 4 TV’s to produce a spiralling like effect, with one lone TV in the centre. The individual TV’s set out in such a way that each TV’s individual image seamlessly flows onto a near by TV, defining the boundaries of the individual TV to create a sense of a larger picture. Video shown on the TV’s ranges from solid colours, imagery of the Seoul Olympic, folk rituals, modern dancers, and slightly nude women. Accompanying the visuals were unrelated soundbites and samples that played on a loop.
Through the tinkering Paik is known to have done, it can be assumed Megatron/Matrix started out as an experiment to create a larger image out of smaller TV. Which eventually turned into another one of his artworks. Paik customised all the electronics to produce his desired technical effect, and also produced customised audio and visual material for the piece.
How was the photo or video published?
The means in which Megatron/Matrix is published is highly important to the work as a whole. The arrangement and synchronisation of all 215 televisions plays a vital role in establishing the larger image being created, without the accuracy that Paik achieved the effect produced by the 215 TV would not be the same.
How was the photo or video distributed?
Originally being shown in 1995 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington the piece was displayed until 1998 when it needed to be taken down for maintenance. The lifespan of many of Paik pieces is limited to their technology, more precisely the ability for CRT displays to run for prolonged periods of time with heat and chemical stress working to deteriorate the technology.
Megatron/Matrix is only able to be physically seen when a exhibition is being run, currently the piece is not being shown anywhere and was last on display in 2006 again at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The piece cannot be reproduced and reprinted like a photograph would be, nor has the piece been reproduced.
References:
Anderson, J 2013, ‘Nam June Paik: Preserving the Human Televisions’, Art in America, 5 February 2013, viewed 7 April 2020, <https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/nam-june-paik-smithsonian-59238/>.
Smithsonian American Art Museum n.d, Megatron/Matrix, Smithsonian American Art Museum, viewed 7 April 2020, <https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/megatronmatrix-36486>.
The Art Story n.d, Nam June Paik, The Art Story, viewed 7 April 2020, <https://www.theartstory.org/artist/paik-nam-june/#nav> .