Paik exhibition goes back to the future

Exhibition, symposium and performances to commemorate the artist’s life and works


As this year marks the late pioneering video artist Paik Nam June’s 80th birthday, a series of events are planned to shed new light on the artist’s life and work.

Starting on his birthday, July 20, the Nam June Paik Art Center in Gyeonggi Province plans to hold a special exhibition featuring a rare collection of his major works, followed by a symposium and musical performances attended by his wife Shigeko Kubota, his close friends and experts on Paik’s art works. 

Titled “Nostalgia,” based on the title of his essay published in 1992, the exhibition will showcase some of his major works including “The Rehabilitation of Genghis Kahn,” an assemblage of a TV set, a bicycle and other materials into human-like forms.

Other works include “One Candle” and “TV Garden,” on loan by MMT Museum of Modern Art of Frankfurt, and “Camera Three,” from Kunsthalle Bremen, an art museum in Bremen, Germany. Works of other artists who have been inspired by Paik will be on display as well.

“The exhibition sheds new light on Paik’s thoughts about the future. He was a pioneer in incorporating science and technology into art. He created works that reflect the future of the media before satellites and computers were introduced. His works clearly illustrate his vision for the future,” said Ahn Kyung-hwa, chief curator of NJP Art Center at the news conference on the exhibition last week. 

The exhibition will also showcase “The Paik-Abe Video Synthesizer,” a collaboration between Paik and video engineer Shuya Abe that generates imageries through electronic manipulations.

At the opening, Abe will demonstrate how images are put together using the equipment.

Some of Paik’s videos including “Hand and Face” and “Video Synthesizer” will be presented to a wider public when they are screened on the facade of Seoul Square across from Seoul Station from July 20 to Aug. 20. The videos will be screened after 8 p.m.

Scholars and experts on Paik’s art will also gather at the NJP Art Center to discuss Paik’s legacies, thoughts and theories which laid the foundation for his art.

Several prominent experts have been invited to the symposium scheduled on Oct. 12 including Glenn Wharton, rehabilitation expert of media art of the Museum of Modern Art in New York; Bernhard Serexhe, chief curator of ZKM Art and Media Center in Germany; and William Kaizen, professor of art history and media theory at Northeastern University in the U.S.

The experts will lecture on theories behind Paik’s art such as cybernetics and discuss future forms of media art.

Music was another channel Paik incorporated into his art. Two musicians ― gayageum master Hwang Byung-ki and Japanese violinist Takehisa Kosugi, who worked closely with Paik ― will hold a tribute concert on July 20 at the NJP Art Center.

For more information about the exhibition, visit www.njpartcenter.kr.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)