Nam June Paik e la videoarte nella mostra alla Tate Modern di Londra

Nam June Paik is one of those artists with a purpose, a specific purpose: to combine art and technology to create a sharing experience that tells about all of us and our daily lives. And in this video we discover his story through his works in the exhibition just ended at the Tate Modern in London. Considered the father of the video art of the 1960s, Nam June Paik is today recognized as one of the most influential artists of our culture and his works are found not only in museums but also in major international art fairs, such as Frieze London. His greatest fortune was to be an artist open to change and attentive to what was happening around him. Born in Korea, in fact, he then lived in Japan, Germany and the United States. So he met great artists like John Cage and Joseph Beuys questioning not only the boundaries between east and west but also those between art and music and art and technology. His work is made up of sculpture, installation, music and television broadcasting. And the exhibition at the Tate begins with some of my favorite works in which the protagonist is television. TV GARDEN from 1974 is Nam June Paik's idea of ​​the future. A landscape in which technology and nature come together. Also from the same year, TV Buddha in which a small sculpture of Buddha fixes his image broadcast on the TV in front of him. A sort of technological mirror that tells us how we are used to immersing ourselves in TV in our daily lives. Television that is emptied in one of Paik's latest works: One Candle from 2004. Inside it only a candle, a symbol of silence and meditation in both western and eastern cultures. But Nam June Paik's works are not only made of televisions, but also of music. We find the piano in several works by both John Cage and Nam June Paik. However, its use is different. Cage makes the instrument emit random sounds thanks to the use of objects or food inside. While Paik in works like Prepared Piano decides to glue some of the keys or to place other objects such as barbed wire that force the pianist to adapt while playing. The main element is obviously randomness. The same is also true in completely different works such as Zen for Wind where the wind plays an instrument invented by Paik with random materials that emit all different sounds. But also in Random Access of 1963 which means "random access". At the beginning of the 1960s, Paik began to create not only with music but also with television broadcasts. For example, in Participation TV you can already understand from the title that TV is for everyone and everyone enters the work by participating. Its purpose was to bring technology closer to humans. It was invented by man and for man. This is how TV Robots were born. In Aunt and Uncle he creates two robots made entirely of televisions. But they are part of a larger group of family members. This exhibition at Tate was a fantastic opportunity for me to discover some objects from his studio too. But I'm also happy to have seen some of his installations together for the first time. For example, the Internet Dream of 1994. Paik wanted to use technologies to share and distribute art and develop an interaction with those who participate in his works and with other artists. His collaborations are not only with other visual artists but also with musicians. For example, cellist Charlotte Moorman with whom she has worked for nearly thirty years. Another famous collaboration was that between Nam June Paik and the German artist Joseph Beuys. After meeting in Germany during an exhibition of the Gruppo Zero in the 1960s, they no longer separated. Paik's work that best describes this shared interest is certainly The Mongolian Tent, created for the 1993 Venice Biennale. Another important work of the 1993 Biennale is the "Sistine Chapel", which was rebuilt at the Tate for the first time in almost 30 years. A eulogy and a summary of Nam June Paik's career. I came out of the exhibition at the Tate with the idea that each of us can tell and share their experiences in the art world in their own small way, both as an artist and obviously as a passionate me. Each with their own tools but always with the idea of ​​wanting to send a positive message. --- Follow me on social media and on my blog: Art and the Cities is my personal blog and Youtube channel of art and travel. Or better than art travel. I'm not only talking about art history but also about travel, museums, galleries, art market, love stories, books, exhibitions and much more. »Blog: https://artandthecities.com/ »Instagram:   / artnthecities   See you next video! Clelia