Wooden frames of 50-60s TVs embracing the myriad of ritzy
images that give you a sense of a look you would see through a prism convey the
oscillation created from the harmony flashing digital media and wooden boxes
combined to result in. The nexus of old TVs in the form of humanoids bear
genial warmth similar to that possessed by contemporary people who have managed
to think beyond mere survival, but trapped in floods of information and media. Compilation
of ponderous mass of video art each speaks up as the Namjune Paik뭩 major work
throughout his life offers the opportunity to savor his philosophy through
media at Gallery Hyundai. Including the revival of , a
Korean traditional exorcism performance done in remembrance of Joseph Beuys, , , series of and his
significant artworks from when Paik뭩 works bloomed into a peak were displayed
at two of the buildings, giving a tour of his connections to the world in 1980s
and 1990s.
Gallery
Hyundai maintained a consistent partnership with Paik, from 1988 when Paik
opened the first solo exhibit in Korea. From then, several exhibits by Paik
took place, including 밃 Pas de Loup: From Seoul to Budapest?(1990), 밪culpture
Exhibit?(1993), and solo exhibitions at least once in two years. The recent
exhibit of Paik at Gallery Hyundai, 밡amjune Paik, In Seoul? is a result of
such long solid relationship it had with Paik, extracting the gist of the works
it had displayed throughout the years. It all goes back to when Paik made a
significant encounter in Germany, studying contemporary music. Born in Seoul,
1932, Paik started as a modernist composer, highly influenced by John Cage. He
even described his relationship with Cage as the one holding paramount meaning,
working on experimental performance art such as destruction of a violin. In
1960s, he collaborated with Charlotte Moorman, a Cellist and also a producer of
New York Avant-garde Festival, combining music and media art in the form of
stripteases concert of Moorman, while he also engaged in international Fluxus
movement with Joseph Beuys. Paik went on to present television sets as his
signature medium to constitute his view toward ever more media-saturated world,
manipulating avant-garde figures through off-the-wall live satellite
transmissions, and expressing ties one has with the universe beyond his or her
recognition and its significance.
Visualized
form of kinship Paik held with John Cage, Charlotte Moorman, and Joseph Beuyes
holds substantial portion of the exhibit. Delicate touch upon the TV monitors
with Paik뭩 original writing of Chinese characters signifying the figure each
object stands after, and vivid posture of each structure bring them into life,
apart from their identity as robots. This clearly encapsulates Paik뭩 attempt
to denote clear rebuff to machinery and technology by retrogradely making use of
them consequently recreating them from emotionless everyday object into an
animated piece, throwing festive shouts and exclamations of vitality and
impression Paik held toward Cage, Moorman and Beuys. The colorful symphony of a
humanoid TV sculpture then intensifies with a assemblage of readymade objects
such as parts of tarnished ford car, decorative replica of an elephant, and
worn out palanquins stacked up all together to embody the coexistence of
cultures in the past. The variation progresses into limitless potential of
connecting every aspect of human life, engraving the mutual reliance of various
types of fields of study.
Process of
Paik뭩 various projects recorded as a short documentary showing at the corner
of each floor, it naturally came in hands with the series of digital images
flowing inside the boxes of television, strengthening their position not as
electronic devices exporting selection of motion pictures, but communicating as
if they were breathing mediator of visual language. A collection of pictures
starring Paik and Moorman covering the whole wall also do more than giving a
sense of awe; each picture carries the exquisite vibe of the moment, working as
a piece of puzzle in completing the whole picture of the interaction between
Moorman and Paik.
Although the significance of
key works of Paik presented at once cannot be overlooked along with visual aids
to approach the process of Paik뭩 works, Gallery Hyundai뭩 trial of reviving 밃
Pas de Loup?into a visual memoir was poorly succeeded in capturing the essence
of the performance, even considering the inability to recreate the original
vibe, in that it rather created an insipid juxtaposition of objects used at the
moment, consequently evoking an atmosphere one could find in a desolate history
museum. Traditional banners inscribed with shamanistic shapes neatly laid out
in one side, a typical table prepared for ceremonial ritual, and the same piano
with the fedora, representing Beuys that Paik covered with earth was placidly
remaining its silence. Rather containing the original aura, it once had when
Paik himself conducted the exorcism with other Korean shamans, it created a
pungent scene with the objects even seemed to be worn out of its value like
piece of corpses on top of requiem-like fissural sound of zither and gong to
generate the atmosphere of performance. The sound even perched upon other parts
of the building, permeating into pieces that would not vocalize themselves with
folksy vibe, rather speak for its individual sake.
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