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Contemporary Art, 1960s–present

Contemporary Art and Technology

Who was Nam June Paik?

Nam June Paik (1932—2006) was a Korean American artist who worked in many different media, creating videotapes, paintings, sculptures, robots, laser installations, and writing. He is best known as an innovator in video art. Paik joined Fluxus while studying in Germany and was later inspired by the experimental composer and artist John Cage, who he met and befriended in 1958. Paik used the video as a structural component in his sculptures and installations. For example, he made a “cello” by stacking television sets and stringing them together with cello strings. He also made a bra out of two television screens in a work titled, TV Bra for Living Sculpture (1969), which he designed to be worn by cello player and collaborator, Charlotte Moorman, while she performed. Paik’s Video Flag X (1985) is another example of video used in sculpture—a series of television screens are arranged in a grid pattern to display an image of the American flag.



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