A couple of weeks ago I attended the Nam June Paik exhibition at the Tate. Paik was “one of the most innovative artists of the twentieth century and is widely considered to be the first video artist, paving the way for the ‘MTV generation.” (Tate Liverpool Visitor Guide)
The exhibition is a tribute to the life’s work of this innovative artist, including pieces from his participation of the Fluxus art movement (the promotion of a revolutionary flood and tide in art-living art/ anti art) from which was first apparent in his first ever video recording, Button Happening (ca. 1965). This simple film of Paik fastening buttons on a shirt, made a transformation of an everyday action into art, which was a promotion of living art.
One of my favourite pieces of the exhibition was Magnet TV (1965), found on the top floor. This simple experiment using strong electromagnets to distort the electrons within a television set, was affective in creating an aesthetically pleasing installation which fuses together the mediums of art, technology and pop-culture.
The exhibition is a tribute to the life’s work of this innovative artist, including pieces from his participation of the Fluxus art movement (the promotion of a revolutionary flood and tide in art-living art/ anti art) from which was first apparent in his first ever video recording, Button Happening (ca. 1965). This simple film of Paik fastening buttons on a shirt, made a transformation of an everyday action into art, which was a promotion of living art.
One of my favourite pieces of the exhibition was Magnet TV (1965), found on the top floor. This simple experiment using strong electromagnets to distort the electrons within a television set, was affective in creating an aesthetically pleasing installation which fuses together the mediums of art, technology and pop-culture.
I also spent a lot of time amongst the self reflecting sculpture series, in particular Der Denker. This was an appropriation of the famous Rodin sculpture, The Thinker. It featured the figure reflecting upon itself using new media technologies such as, a camera and television. This relation to pop-culture, portrayed accurate connotations of the reality TV phenomenon and the image of a couch potato. The live feed from the camera to the TV, meant that the audience were able to stand in the background and become part of the piece, causing a reflection upon themselves as well as the art.
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