Nam June Paik - Inventor of Video Art - Report Example

Many artists in the past and in the present are not able to give credit to their works. This is because majority of them were using the means of expression which were available to them at the period. Because of this, Nam June stood out to be different among artist in his time and in the past. He perfected art and came up with better which artists have used to date to perfect how they express themselves in art. Nowadays, he is credited as being the father of modern day video art. Although the first motion pictures might have been made by Thomas Edison, he cannot be credited for having made first artistic motion expression through this media. Nam June Paik was a Korean born on July20, 1932 in a city known as Seoul located in the south of Korea. He was a brought a in a family with five siblings and was the last among his siblings. While growing up, he trained on how to play the piano especially the classical kind. During the Korean war of 1950, their family was forced to flee from Korea to Hong Kong but finally settled in Japan. He went to the University of Tokyo from where he graduated (www.paikstudios.com1). Gifted with an open mind, Nam relocated to Germany after his studies to study music under the tutelage of Thrasybuloyus Georgiades. In the course of his studies at Munich University, he was endowed with the privileged of meeting and interacting with other composers like John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He also met conceptual artists Joseph Beuys and Wolf Vostell from whom he derived his inspiration to work in the electronic art field. He met the experimental composer Cage during an International Summer Course for New Music in 1958. During his experimental phase , Nam June Paik started showing great interest in avant-garde music. While he was in Germany taking his university education, he started work as a musician and doing performance all over the place. The composers such as Karlheinz had profound contribution to Paik’s choice of a career. Under the tutelage of John Cage, Paik found the confidence to incorporate different styles into his music. These involve including aspects of silence and chance into some of his works. It was not long before Paik started getting invites to perform at various avant-garde concerts. Some of his more famous works was the piece Stockhausen’s Originale and Hommage à John Cage. These were his own personal creations, the latter being a tribute to his mentor John Cage. Besides being credited his achievements in the video art world, he also envisioned the internet generation we see today. A good example of one his works’ that depicts this is his ‘electronic superhighway’. “Figure 1, Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Nam June Paik, 1995, 49-channel closed circuit video installation, neon, steel and electronic components, approx. 15 x 40 x 4 ft., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2002.23” In Germany, Paik joined a neo-dada art movement, also known as fluxus. This move was inspired by his mentor John Cage and his use of noises and sounds in his daily creations. Fluxus is an art movement that involved a group of artists, musicians and poets who were bent on changing the world of art through the use sounds, materials and events. They performed many experiments in regard to art and antiart as well as music and antimusic. Their experiments stretched as far as poetry. Fluxus gained its popularity as anti-commercial under the leadership of George Maciunas. They hosted several shows and exhibitions in Paris, London, Amsterdam and New York. The big names associated with this movement include Yoko Ono and Joseph Beuys (britannica.com2). In 1963, Paik got his first big break when he hosted his own exhibition Exposition of Music- Electronic Television. This was perhaps the first time the world saw the level of experimentation Paik put in his work. This exhibition included his first works with television that he had been developing in secret. It is after this exhibition that he first declared his desire to delve wholly into the field of visual arts. In his words, “I did not consider myself a illustration performer. But I recognize there was impressive to be done in television and nobody else was doing it,” so I said “Why not create it my job?” subsequently, his chief interest became influencing cathode ray monitors as art. A good example is the work Zen for TV. This display comprised of 13 television sets that were spread all over a room. These screens showed different images, some showed white noise, others showed images that were distorted by placing a magnet on top the TV while others were turned off. This show was symbolic in that it showed the public that video could exist outside the television sets. Paik’s aim was to show the people that the images broadcasted in the TVs could not be owned by any one person as they were then. The doors for experiment with this kind of visual art were opened and more people joined. So when the first video recording device arrived in America, Paik was among the first people to own and use one. The day he got the recorder coincided with the Pope’s visit to his state. This gave him an opportunity to record the visit which he later showed to group of people. This was the birth of this kind of visual art. Thereafter, he made flags out of television sets, decorated gardens with them among others. At one point, he made a lady’s bra out of two monitors. He became a celebrity during these periods and on January 1, 1984; he made his debut into commercial production with the TV show ‘Good Morning Mr. Orwell,’ which was beamed via satellites all over the world (www.slate.com3). The diverse nature of Paik’s work could be attributed to the various regions of the world. He sourced his inspirations from his home country, from Japan and even the USA. This is where transnationalism is seen. Transnationalism is a phenomenon whereby people interact and share cultural and social aspects of their lives across borders without restriction. Other people may see this as globalization because of the manner in which the borders appear almost obsolete. As a member of the fluxus movement and in school, Paik interacted with people from all over the world and walks of life. People like Vostell inspired him pursue a career in video art but to learn how to manipulate TVs took him back to Asia. It was during that period that he encountered the concept of Buddha that was part of his piece TV Buddha. In this piece was a statue of Buddha watching TV symbolizing the interaction between the old and new world. Paik’s experiments, with ‘TV as art,’ lead to the production of the masterpiece TV cello. This piece combined love for music as well as his love for visual art. It was unveiled in Australia in 1976. He was accompanied by Charlotte Moore, a close assistant. The TV Cello is made of three cathode ray monitors that are arranged one on top of another. Each monitor is put in a Perspex case and a cello-like neck of Perspex rising from it. The monitors were selected based on size to resemble the shape of the cello. The one the bottom being large (at 20 inches) while progressively getting smaller going towards the neck. A 9-inch screen is at the centre while the top most one is 14 inches. A cello bridge is placed at the middle of the lowest monitor. The whole ‘cello’ was strung with bass strings running from the cello binding posts in the top of the neck to the normal tongue-like conclusion portion which was close to its pedestal. Thus when it played harmonized with a bow. Just like the regular cello. it could be. Moorman’s day after day performances involved her playing the TV Cello for its own type of hum, whilst Paik used a videotape camera to communicate images of both the audience and the performance to the cello display. This, the third version of the television Cello was constructed at Paddington videotape. It is at the present in custody by the AGNSW as fraction of the John Kaldor Family Collection. The Electronic Superhighway is one fantastic piece in its time as many other artists can agree. The image, which has been placed above, shows that the artist depicted the United States of America and all its states’ borders in neon lights. This piece is a humble tribute by the artist to the place he grew to call home, the United States of America. The artist used a futuristic approach in this piece with the creative playing with lights. The ‘electronic superhighway’ is currently on display at the Smithsonian Art Museum. It was donated by the artist himself for the world to have timeless access to his best work (Griffith, Shirley, 20144). The work put into the production of this piece cannot be overlooked. To create this monumental, masterpiece-like map of the United States of America, Paik made a set up of 336 televisions on a scaffold and used almost 600 feet of neon to mark the borders. The sizes of the television differs There are fifty DVD players in the set up. They function to send motion pictures or otherwise to the 336 screens populating each state simultaneously. The ‘electronic superhighway’ gives us a view into how Paik saw the new world of America when he first arrived there. He arrived in the United States of America in the year 1964. Then, the interstate had just been around for nine years and offered a unique opportunity for Americans to see the rest of the country. During this period, the country was promoting “see the U.S.A in your Chevrolet.” By looking at this piece, one can see the wonders that Paik was confronted with on first landing on the country. This depiction of America is so innocent that it is almost obvious it wasn’t done by a person born in that country. The artist’s representations of the states are so pure and without bias that might arise from information passed down from parents or where on e grew up. The depictions are based solely on his view. The outlines around the television are of neon tubes which represent the colorful maps used to entice Americans to go round the country. The neon lights light also represent the various destination the local tourists got to spend their time during their tour of the country. The colors also remind us that the different states still maintain certain uniqueness even in this era of technological advancement and mixing of races and traditions. Paik took into many aspects of the Americans when picking videos to represent each state. The criteria he used in picking the images and pictures were varied from personal to major events among others. In some states, he used pictures of his friends and mentors to show appreciation for their hometowns. For example, he used the image of Charlotte Moorman for Arkansas, composer Cage for Massachusetts and Merce Cunningham for Washington. In some states, he used popular movies like South pacific for Hawaii, the showboat for Mississippi and the Wizard of Oz for Kansas for their identification. For other states, he rotated through video clips that showed popular events that happened in those states like the Kenturky derby and the Iowa presidential candidates. The artist also showed events, like the Waco siege of 1993 or the summer Olympics, that took place in Atlanta in the year 1996. These images flashed periodically to give the impression that the pictures are being viewed through the windows of a moving car. The mood is further enhanced by the audio tracks to the motion clips which are from the wizard of Oz, Oklahoma and other favorites from the screens. The use of these screen tracks can be interpreted to show just how much America is influenced by what they see on television and on film. Paik, in his brilliance, was the first to use the phrase ‘electronic superhighway’ which in light of present events holds weight. In the present, all-day broadcasts and the internet have brought about endless avenues in which information can be exchanged. In the process, we end up exchanging even much more than intended. We exchange cultures, social behaviors and even accents thereby leading to the homogenization a nation that once was very diverse and unique. Through this piece, he shows how the internet and television can provide us with the adventure or the images that we previously had to look for outside our homes. The reality of the electronic superhighway is therefore very obvious. It can be seen as being between; virtual reality we have in the media and the beautiful world that lies outside our doors waiting for us to experience it (americanart.si.edu5). Paik’s form of artistic expression was very new to the Americans even to this moment. It took a while for them to grow to appreciate his art. This period was made tougher by the fact that Paik was a foreigner. The Americans showed difficulty in appreciating foreign aspects, including art. The Rockefeller foundation offered him a grant and that enabled him get his art into many avenues. He found his way into many exhibitions and museums leading to acceptance by the American public. Conclusion In the years that followed some of his greatest achievements, most of the creators and producers of video art have recognized him for the role he played in the development of the art. The period between 1970s and 1980s was spent mentoring and encouraging younger artists. His role, was the most crucial as he introduced it into the world. He will forever be remembered for his ingenuity when it came to art and how he was not afraid to express himself. He taught that fighting for what one believes in is the surest way of ensuring one’s success. He opened the eyes of the world to a new and colorful form of art that exuberates youth, in all its essence. It is because of such major contributions, that his legacy will live on regardless. He shall live through his art which can be found in various historical museums (www.npr.org6). Some of his works are even taught in schools to ensure more great minds are produced to continue his work. He passed away in 2006, leaving behind a world of art that is still evolving and will miss him dearly. Works Cited Griffith, Shirley . "Nam June Paik made video into a modern art form." Learning English. Voice of America. VOA, New York: 10 Mar. 2014. Radio. "Fluxus (art)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . "Nam June Paik, inventor of video art.." Slate Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . "THE ESTATE OF ARTIST NAM JUNE PAIK." Nam June Paik Studios. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . "Superhighway Scholars / American Art." Superhighway Scholars / American Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . "Exploring the Electronic Superhighway." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . Read More