Nam June Paik
Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?
Nam June Paik, was an avant-garde musician and video artist born in South Korean in 1932 and is known as the father of video art (StateoftheArtsNJ 2019). He studied music composition and art history in Japan and Germany in the 1950’s. In the late 50’s and early 60’s Paik was predominantly a composer and performance artist but in 1963 he became the inventor of a new art form, an engagement of television and video as an instrument (Guggenheim n.d.). He adapted audio synthesisers to co-invent the world’s first video synthesiser (Weinberg 2014). Using black and white cameras they devised a colour encoder that afforded artists the ability to create images and pictures electronically.
Paik moved to the U.S. in 1964 and was instrumental in igniting a new artistic movement amongst an emerging generation looking for new and interesting ways of expression and distribution (Guggenheim n.d.). His installations continued to be ground breaking and subversive throughout the decades and despite having a stroke in 1996 worked up until shortly before his death in 2006.
Nam June Paik was a visionary well ahead of his time, he accurately predicted several advancements in technology such as the Internet, a global media network and even smart phones with video conferencing capabilities and saw technology as a devise to connect the world and share art regardless of cultural differences (Tate Modern 2019).
What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)
The title of video piece I have chosen to do my analysis on is “TV Buddha”
With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?
This particular installation was produced in Sydney 1976 however TV Buddha has had various incarnations throughout the decades and displayed in numerous galleries.
How was the photo or video authored?
This piece was constructed with an old wooden Maitreya, (Buddha of the future) facing a round late 1960’s model rear projection television. There is a tripod mounted camera behind the television pointed at the Buddha on display (Art Gallery NSW n.d). This creates a closed loop where the Buddha is perpetually looking at a past tense image of himself blurring the distinction between object and subject. Furthermore, it creates a juxtaposition between the historical and the modern (The Art Story n.d).
How was the photo or video published and distributed?
The exhibit was initially created and displayed in Sydney 1976 and was the featured in the following exhibitions:
- From Christo and Jeanne-Claude to Jeff Koons: John Kaldor art projects and collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, 12 Dec 1995–17 Mar 1996
- Journey to now: John Kaldor art projects and collection, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 18 Apr 2003–06 Jul 2003
- Nam June Paik, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 10 Jan 2004–08 Feb 2004
- 40 years: Kaldor Public Art Projects, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 02 Oct 2009–14 Feb 2010
- Conversations through the Asian collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Oct 2014–13 Mar 2016
Refernces:
Art Gallery NSW n.d, TV Buddha: Nam June Paik, viewed 14th April 2020, https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/342.2011.a-f/
Guggenheim Museum n.d, Artists, Nam June Paik, Guggenheim Collection Online, viewed 14th April 2020, https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/nam-june-paik
StateoftheArtsNJ 2019, Nam June Paik’s PBS (1963-2000), YouTube, 1st October, StateoftheArtsNJ, viewed 14th April 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueHNZbQRsMs
Tate Modern 2019, 5 Times Artist Nam June Paik Predicted the Future, YouTube, 20th December, Tate Modern, London, viewed 14th April 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMUJB5aFvdo
The Art Story n.d, Nam June Paik: Artworks, viewed 14th April 2020, https://www.theartstory.org/artist/paik-nam-june/artworks/
Weinberg, H 2014, Nam June Paik & TV Lab: License to Create (Preview), Vimeo, Howard Weinberg, viewed 14th April 2020, https://vimeo.com/116094187