From Wired News, available online at: http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,33334,00.html Futuristic Artist Looks Back by Reena Jana 3:00 a.m. Feb. 21, 2000 PST Nam June Paik is considered not only the father of video art -- he first experimented with the form in 1959 -- but also the man who coined the phrase and concept "electronic superhighway" in a report for the Rockefeller Foundation that he was hired to write in 1974. Also: DVD Saved the Analog Star Discover more Net Culture The 67-year-old, Korean-born artist, who suffered a stroke three years ago, is known for creating witty media sculptures and installations that often express a desire to humanize technology. He�s the subject of the major retrospective and his largest-ever solo exhibition, "The Worlds of Nam June Paik." The show opened 11 February at New York�s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and runs through 26 April. Wired News spoke to Paik about technology and why young artists should experiment with new media. Wired News: Why did you turn to video? Nam June Paik: At the time, I was working with electronic music very seriously. Even then, the world of electronic music was saturated, and this was 1962. WN: Some curators say audiences have a hard time seeing every day technologies such as video or computers as artistic media. PAIK: I turned to video because I could more quickly make art. Video is a very open medium, and if you want to tell something to someone quickly through art, video is good. WN: Do you consider yourself a sculptor who works with video? PAIK: No. When I have to show in a gallery, people can only think in terms of painting or sculpture. When they see something 3D, they call it sculpture because they have no other name. I was startled when I saw, 'Sculpture by Nam June Paik' in Time magazine, and I thought, "What is this guy talking about?" I hope this changes. WN: How were you influenced by other artists when you first came to NYC in the 1960s? It has been widely documented that you became part of the avant garde group known as the Fluxus movement, consisting of artists such as John Cage and Yoko Ono. PAIK: Yes. But Fluxus was started in Lithuania. It is a small country with big ambitions. Korea is also a small country. I felt something in common between Lithuania and Korea. WN: Coming from a small country, do you think there is some connection to working with video and media? PAIK: We don't get easily intimidated. So we like to be variant. Everyone thinks television is always something big, like NBC or CBS, and that no one could do anything about this. But I thought I could change TV with one screwdriver. WN: You once told a reporter that you make technology ridiculous. PAIK: I meant I tried my best to make it more stately, but there is always a limit to what you can do. WN: But there is definitely an element of playfulness in your work. PAIK: Yes, I made a robot that can shit. And I think that it is the only robot that can shit! WN: Why is it important to have a sense of humor when dealing with technology? PAIK: If something is taken so seriously, it is good to look at it as if it is silly. It makes it more real. I like natural things. The biggest triumph in my life was when I went to the World's Fair in New York in 1964, and I saw a robot there. But it couldn't walk. And then I made a robot that was able to walk! And I was very, very happy. WN: Could you talk about the new pieces at the Guggenheim, especially the waterfall installation? PAIK: Yes, that is the centerpiece... . When I had my stroke, I had a kind of enlightenment. I had a vision of a hundred Ts looking up, playing Philip Glass music, looking at something in the sky. So I followed my enlightenment and created this piece. It is about heaven and earth, and connecting them in between. WN: Was there something you needed to say, first through electronic music, then through media art? PAIK: My father was a businessman in Korea. He was a big businessman between the 1940s and 50s. This was a very difficult time, since the Japanese and Americans came to Korea. There was a lot of bribery. And with art, at least I knew I wouldn't kill anybody. I might suffer, but I wouldn't hurt anybody. I wanted to have a good life. And if I don't hurt anyone else, that's good enough for me. WN: Why turn to electronics and electronic media? PAIK: I started out writing string quartets and piano sonatas. I was in Germany and I went to a famous teacher. Then I realized that existing instruments couldn't fulfill my needs. So I went to an electronic music studio in Cologne. There were only five then. But I got in. It was a big break for me. I might go back to music. In 2012, it will be John Cage's centennial. I want to make a big concert in Carnegie Hall for John Cage. WN: With your retrospective, do you feel the same way looking at your older artwork? PAIK: Some of the pieces aren't that old in the show. There is one piece called "The Crown Piece," which is a version of the oscilloscope. I made it in 1966. It is still very good. I have luck. But, you know, a pair of pliers can look really old and outdated. But when you look at a pair of pliers, you see the man who first made the pliers. And you can see the creativity of the mind of the man who first made the pliers. You see the creative idea rather than the object itself. That makes something timeless. WN: Do you encourage younger artists to work or at least experiment with new media versus the more traditional media? PAIK: Yeah, it is easier. And you can become a master. You can create your own field and you don't have any competition. It can be like running a marathon alone. You can win. You can eliminate the competition. There is more freedom. WN: At the same time, I heard you don't even use email. PAIK: I keep my personal life and my artistic life separate. If I were more of a technology freak I might make music like Bach. Because I am not obsessed with technology in my life, I can keep fresh. I like to show people what is new in my art. WN: You once said that you are interested in information overload. PAIK: Yeah. This is an instinct of our body. You have eyes, you want to fill up your eyes. You have a nose, you want to fill up your nose. You have a mouth, you want to fill up your mouth. You need to be satisfied. WN: Do you think there is too much information out there now? PAIK: Well, if we still have Monica Lewinskys, we will be entertained! But technology can help you. If you have a lot of information, your brain will work better. And with more information and more technology, they keep getting cheaper. WN: Technology can make everyone an artist. As you said, video is an easy medium to work with. Do you think this cheapens media artwork as a genre? PAIK: Everyone can make computer graphics or videos. I think anybody can do it. Lots of people have talent. They just don't sell it to the market. I wonder why there is no bestseller concept in the art world, like the bestseller concept in publication. In the art world, you make fewer works, and then you become more famous. There is an absurd hierarchy in the art world. I am trying to make a bestseller of art, but I don't think I have the talent for it. I am trying to make a mass-market video art for DVD players. I might also buy a cable channel in New York. I think one will open up in the year 2020 -- there will be an empty channel here then. I have a few SoHo studios, and I might sell them and buy a cable channel and broadcast art. WN: Do you think that you will create work for the Web? PAIK: The Web is actually too limited. There is no good real-time, live video pictures. You have to depend on telephone lines, so-called broadband access. I am waiting for the technology to catch up to me. But it will come. WN: Do you enjoy seeing so many people being creative with technology in today's world? PAIK: To be happy, you have to be creative. Now there are people making hundreds of millions of dollars from technology. It is wonderful, because creative uses of technology now give hope to young people. Everyone thinks they can make an IPO. I never heard that term IPO until three or four months ago. But I will stay an artist. In the art world, a good brain can knock down walls. But in the business world, there are a thousand good brains that surface with great ideas each year. WN: So what do you think is next? PAIK: I try to use laser lights at this time. They are very effective. I am going after new applications of lasers and new applications of architecture and these types of things. This is a new century, and people have been asking me to give a taste of this new century. I didn't want to give an apple or an orange. No, I want to give a mango or a kiwi. So that's what made me find lasers. Related Wired Links: DVD Saved the Analog Star Feb. 21, 2000 Technically, It's Art Oct. 4, 1999 Finally, a US Digital Museum Aug. 28, 1999 Copyright 1994-2000 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.
