Nam June Paik:
Becoming a Robot
The exhibition was presented in two floors at the Asia
Society and Museum. Nam June Paik was a visionary artist and innovator. He was
considered the “father of video art.” He used the combination of technology and
science. He uses the magnet against a TV to see the outcome as a experiment.
The TV was blurry and it looked as bunch of lines (sort of a hypnotizing.) His
creations are very interesting in my opinion. As I started on the second floor
of the exhibition, I perceived a very interesting history regarding his work.
The work that impacted me was the Robot Brain created in 1965; it is two metal
boxes with computers, cables, connection, from 1961, on wooden base under glass
done (as shown in the exhibition.)
I encountered a work that was created by Nam June Paik with
the collaboration of Howard Weinberg and Charlotte Moorman “Topless Cellist” created
in 1995. I founded very interesting at the usage of a technology and art as a
representation of a female body. The two small screens used as a “bra” and the
cello as a cover and a representation of art. The usage of angles in the small
screens to portray the face of Charlotte Moorman was very detailed and
carefully planned. The music from the cello and the movement of the instrument
was a movement that required precision; it was requirement for the creation of stability
in the movement of the screens used as a “bra.” There was a room specifically
dedicated to Charlotte Moorman. I saw her work and her clothes. There were precisely
13 pieces of clothing, 7 photos of her career and a poster. Charlotte Moorman
is described as a very important contributor to Nam June Paik’s work.
There were many exhibitions of Nam June Paik’s work but I will
be focusing on the Family Robots (1986), three camera participation (1969-2001)
and Golden Buddha (2005).
The Family Robots is constructed by The Father, The Mother
and The Baby. They were all built in 1986. The Father and The Mother are built
by vintage televisions and radio casings and monitors, tuners, liquid crystals;
the displays are in color and silent. The Baby is built by thirteen television monitors
and aluminum armature color, the display is in color and silent. (The shapes
are built to portray a robot with a head, arms, torso and legs.)
The three camera participation was located on the third
floor in its own room. The room was composed of three cameras with three
different shades, a TV and addition lights to illuminate the space. As I stood
in front of the three cameras, I saw into the TV a shape of my face in three
colors as a shadow. The reason for the illusion of colors is given by a closed
circuit transmission, it occurs when a
signal from a video camera is delivered to a monitor directly through a
cable link and projects onto the monitor screen which projects red, green and
blue.
The Golden Buddha was the last exhibition I stopped by. It
was located on the third floor. The Golden Buddha consisted of a Bronze Buddha with
permanent oil maker, a 27 inch monitor and a closed circuit video camera. The exhibition was really attractive with all
the colors, cameras, screens and artistic values.
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