Nam Jun Paik...
2:00 p.m.
12/11/19 - Investigating, in the History of the Arts, is a never-ending task, because objects, ideas and artists, their connections and diversions, are not only re-interpreted constantly, but also past concepts acquire new life. Nam Jun Paik (South Korea, 1932 – USA, 2006) was a video-artist, one of the first to work with a medium so removed to the artistic cannons of the mid-20th Century. Bill Viola and Douglas Gordon followed his steps and today video-installations are present in almost all Modern and Contemporary Art museums in the world.
Charlotte Moorman, by Nam June Paik (1990)
two-channel video, ten monitors, cello, nine vintage TV cabinets, 220 x 253 x 61cm)
In 1974, Paik produces his most iconic work, the video-installation Buddha Watching TV, which displayed the head of Buddah in silent meditation in front of a TV screen which simultaneously monitors him. Many recreations were made of that primitive sculpture of the 70s. The artwork describes the differences between Western and Eastern societies, juxtaposing modernity and technology with religion. Other interpretations place vanity as the center and focus of the installation: Buddah absorbed in contemplation of his own image.
In the last Frieze Masters Fair in London, the Hyundai Gallery of South Korea presented an installation belonging to a series Paik made in collaboration with cello-player Charlotte Moorman. Charloote Moorman (thus the name of the artwork) is a harmonic construction of several vintage TV screens, which reproduce the artist's video investigations. The artwork is dated in 1990, precisely a year before the death of the musician. Other similar artworks were made in collaboration with her, where Moorman (naked) moved the arch of her instrument over the screens which projected Paik's videos. In this video-installation, presented at Frieze Masters, the videos are still there and she is present with the object on the left (a cello).
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