This autumn Tate Modern showcases Nam June Paik, an exhibition with works from all the phases of the Korean artist’s career featuring key artworks to draw on the complexity of his ideas.
Bakelite Robot 2002. One-channel video installation with 2 4″ LCD monitors and 3 5.6″ LCD monitors
Synonymous with innovation and vision, the late Nam June Paik (1932-2006) was a pioneering figure in multimedia art expanding the definitions and languages of art and blurred the lined between science and fine art ; He established video as an art medium and gave new dimensions to the visual culture; His educational background in music history was the springboard which inspired him to explore the field of electronic art experimenting with diverse media from television, radios, to robotics and computers to investigate the technological era’s impact on humanity.
Nixon 1965-2002 One-channel video installation, two 20” monitors with two Abe-made
magnetic coils driven by Mackintosh amplifier, video switcher, audio
The show offers an extraordinary range from the artist’s accomplishments, which span more than 40 years, including Can Car 1963, an early sculpture created from a tin can, an electric motor and a pair of wheels; Bakelite Robot 2002, a late work made by stacking vintage radios into the shape of a humanoid robot. Also on show are some of Paik’s seminal video installations addressing contemporary issues of mass media and surveillance to convey Paik’s conceptualization of the future roles of the technological advances in expanding global media culture. One of those installations, Nixon 1965-2002 uses electromagnetic coils to warp and distort footage of former US President Richard Nixon, while Three Eggs 1975-1982 is a CCTV triptych, in which an egg is watched by a video camera and transmitted live to a nearby monitor.
Victrola 2005. One-channel video with 40″ plasma monitor, records, audio
Alongside the aforementioned works from the archive, the show also offers a group of rarely seen Paik’s works on paper consisted of drawings in pencil, pastel and ink; The exhibited works have been acquired by Tate through the generosity of the artist’s family and with the support of Hyundai Motor Company, Tate’s Asia Pacific Acquisitions Committee and Tate Americas Foundation.
Synoptically, Nam June Paik at Tate Modern gives insights into the progressive ideas of an artist who had foreseen the role of the communication technologies in our lives and whose artistic methods still shape the modes of the contemporary visual culture.
by Xenia Founta
The show on now at Tate Modern, Level 4 Admission free
Open daily from 10.00–18.00 and until 22.00 on Friday and Saturday
All the images by Tate Photography
Images courtesy of Nam June Paik Studio