Good Morning, Mr Orwell! (1984)

Networked Media 2019 Week 6

Who is the practitioner and when were they practicing?

Deemed as the “father of video art,” Nam June Paik is a Korean American who reinvented the possibilities of video into an art form that aimed to spread global connectivity. Born in 1932, he began his works when he was 20 in 1952 and worked up to his final years till he passed away on January 26th, 2006 in Miami, United States.

What is the title of the video you have chosen to analyze?

I have decided to analyze Paik’s incredible television installation, “Good Morning, Mr. Orwell!” (1984), which is his response to George Orwell’s novel, 1984, which illustrates a pessimistic, dystopian world where television watches and controls its viewers. In contrast, Paik saw hope in the future of technology and sought to utilize video technology and his video art to connect people on a global scale.

With the video you are examining, when was it produced?

“Good Morning, Mr. Orwell!” was aired on Sunday, January 1, 1984.

How was the video authored?

The broadcast was a combination of live and taped segments, that was coordinated by Paik and hosted by George Plimpton, with the help of Executive Producer Carol Brandenburg, Producer Samuel J. Paul, and director Emile Ardolino. The one-hour long broadcast showcased many avant-garde artists, such as the musician John Cage, poetry by Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky, as well as some live footage of Paris and New York. Furthermore, using the Paik-Abe Video Synthesizer, that was created by Paik in collaboration with the television technician and specialist Shuya Abe, they were able to manipulate and alter the existing video images live that played true to the auteurship of Paik’s quirky style.

Due to its experimental nature, there were many technical difficulties causing glitches and delays throughout the broadcast in different countries which put some performers on the spot to improvise. Instead of seeing this as an unfortunate event, Paik celebrated these flaws and considered them apart of the “live-ness” of the broadcast.

How was the video published and distributed?

At first, I found it quite difficult to distinguish between the publishing and distributing of this particular piece of work because of its innovative digital sharing at a global scale. From what I understand of relating publishing vs. distribution to the music industry, publishing is what an artist puts out into the world, and distribution is the next step that takes the artist’s publication and shares it to other markets and viewers. Thus, bringing this concept to Paik’s “Good Morning, Mr. Orwell!” program, as the show was broadcasted in collaboration between New York’s station WNET/THIRTEEN and F.R. 3 in Paris and was transmitted at the same time to televisions in France, Germany, Korea, the Netherlands, and the United States reaching over 25 million viewers, the simultaneity of the broadcast is what makes me consider it as its first publication. Therefore, anytime after this broadcast that happened on the 1st of January, 1984, the program will have to be distributed to other spaces to be viewed. I could not find the exact method of how the program was delivered to different parties, but I have found information that the program has been edited into a 30-minute version that was displayed in many exhibitions including In Memoriam: Nam June Paik at the Museum of Modern Art.

References:

Marshall, C. (2016). Good Morning, Mr. Orwell: Nam June Paik’s Avant-Garde New Year’s Celebration with Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Peter Gabriel & More. [online] Open Culture. Available at: http://www.openculture.com/2016/09/good-morning-mr-orwell.html

The Art Story. (n.d.). Nam June Paik Artworks & Famous Art. [online] Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/artist-paik-nam-june-artworks.htm#pnt_4 

Thomas, B. (2015). “Good Morning, Mr Orwell!”: Nam June Paik’s rebuttal to Orwell’s dystopian vision. [online] Nightflight.com. Available at: http://nightflight.com/revisiting-good-morning-mr-orwell-nam-june-paiks-rebuttal-to-orwells-dystopian-vision-on-the-first-day-of-1984/