Nam June Paik

Nam-june Paik is a South Korean artist born with Seoul the July 20th 1932 and died with Miami the January 29th 2006. He is regarded as the Master of the Video art. He is prize winner of the Prix of Kyoto in 1998.

Biography

1958 : participation in the searches of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Nono to the electronic Music studio of Cologne. Meet with John Cage and David Tudor.
1960: October 6th, at the time of a concert of experimental music in Cologne, Nam June Paik starts to play of the Chopin then street on John Cage and its tie crosses to him (and its shirt).
1961: participation in the first Festival Fluxus of Wiesbaden. Meet with George Maciunas and Wolf Vostell;
1962: Düsseldorf, George Marciunas plays a solo for violin of Nam June Paik at the time of the concert Neo-Hobby-horse " In Der Musik" ;
1964: travel to Japan, meets with Shuya Abe, construction of the robot, then synthetizer Abe-Paik, voyage to New York, meets with Charlotte Moorman;
1965: round in Europe with Charlotte Moorman. Realization of the first band " Gogo" coffee; in New York on portapack Sony. Take part in the Festival of before guard of New York;
1967: exposure to Howard Wise Gallery, New York;
1968: exposure Électronic Art II, Bonino Gallery, New York;
1969: exposure " T.V ace has creative medium " , Howard Wise Gallery, New York;
1970: happening Fluxus in Kunstverein of Cologne;
1971: concerto for violoncello and videotapes with C. Moorman;
1972: construction of " T.V. Bra for has living room sculpture" , " T.V. Bed" , video project for Charlotte Moorman;
1973: realization of " Total Groove" ;
1974: " Videa & Videology" , Everson Museum, Syracuse (N.Y.). Realization of " Video Buddha " and of " T.V. Cello". Realization of " With tribute to John Cage" ;
1975: " Continuation 212 " (presented on Chanel 13 of the W.N.E.T.);
1976: " Fish flies in the sky " , Bonino Gallery. " Guadalcanal Requiem". " Moon is the oldest T.V"- Installation Gallery Rene Block N.Y.;
1977: retrospective-Stedeilik Museum, Amsterdam;
1978: retrospective A.R.C., Museum of modern art of the Town of Paris. " installation; Video gardens" , Center Pompidou, Paris;
1982: retrospective Whitney Museum, New York. Special price of the Festival of video art of Locarno. " Allen and Allan' S complaint" ;
1983: installation tricolorvidéo (300 monitors) Center Pompidou;
1988: creation of the robot Olympe de Gouges, at the time of the bicentenary of the revolution, with the museum of modern art of the town of Paris.

Its studies

In 1949, Paik between with the Royen School of Hong-Kong. It returns to Korea in 1950. In 1952, it flees Korea in war and between with the Université of Tōkyō. It makes studies of history and of esthetics of art at the University of Tōkyō which it leaves graduate in 1956 then it studies the music and art with the Université of Munich and with the academy of music of Freiburg-in-Brisgau in Germany. In 1961, he becomes member of the group Fluxus to which belonged Joseph Beuys and Ben.

The founder of the video art

The video as an artistic expression is born from the meeting from plastics technicians, engineers and directors of television channels: they seek new use potential of the video medium.

In 1959, in the book of notes of George Brecht, one finds the outline of a television part , assembly of nine television sets moving, formant what one would call today a video wall.

In 1962, Nam June Paik, invited by the music studio experimental of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk of Cologne, undertakes to make experiments with cathode tubes of television set. It is in 1963 that it exposes the results of its first research to the Parnass gallery of Wuppertal, which invited it for an individual exposure. This exposure marks the true birth of the Video art. In its exposure, Paik explored two topics: " Exposure off Music" and " Electronic Television" , compounds one with the other on the basis of a participation of the visitor in the exposure and his implication in the unfolding of this one, characteristic in the artists of the movement Fluxus (American movement and European néo- hobby-horse). During this exposure, it presents, with his friend Wolf Vostell, a work called " Thirteen television sets préparés" (wink with the Piano prepared of John Cage), its first installation.

Some from its points of view

"There exists something which one calls " art" and something which one names " communication". "

" The video learns to us much from things on the life. Thus, I had never thought that the color depended on time. Let us explain: a painter uses for his fabrics indifferently red, blue, yellow or green But in nature, each season has its own colors: spring is green, the blue summer, the yellow and red autumn and the white and gray winter. That which invented the color in video is a genius, since at the beginning, in video, there are no images, only lines… "

" Many artists paint large fabrics, but very little of them are put in circulation because they bring back money neither to the artists nor with their merchants. They report only to the insurance companies of them and to the conveyers… The artist who will want to make large fabrics in the year 2000 will have to give them a form which makes them transportable… The artist must think… " in the future;

Its works

" Olympe de Gouges in the Electronique" fairy; (1989, Museum of modern art of Paris)

Aspects of its work

Collaboration with his/her friends artists… (his/her partner, John Cage etc), culture of waste, the failure… as John Cage who cultivates the defect to create new sounds with his Piano prepared . Recycling of video forms “paper-painted”.

Some of its works

Total Groove
One Canddle
Mount Fuji
TV Buddha
Olympe de Gouges
the electronic Fairy
" Zen for TV " 1963
"Magnet TV " 1965

Anecdote

Its work " The fairy électronique" was with the program of the baccalaureat of French visual arts in 2006 and 2007, the year of its death. This cannot be regarded as a homage, since the choice of this work was made in 2005.

External bonds

Card artist of the MAMCO, Geneva

video art

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