Nixon (1965, reconstructed 2002)
Two 20-inch cathode-ray tube televisions, magnetic coils, amplifiers, oscillator, capacitors, timer and video, black and white and colour, sound
This video installation draws upon the most significant television images of Richard Nixon’s presidency up to his resignation speech following the Watergate scandal in 1974. Paik began to use circular magnetic coils to subvert broadcast material in 1965. He often chose politicians as the subjects of his distortions, as a form of visual satire that worked on multiple levels: both against the figures of authority seen on the screen and against the manipulative nature of mass media images.
[Tate Modern]
Nam June Paik
(October 2019 – February 2020)
The visionary artist who embraced mass media and new technology
Nam June Paik’s experimental, innovative, yet playful work has had a profound influence on today’s art and culture. He pioneered the use of TV and video in art and coined the phrase ‘electronic superhighway’ to predict the future of communication in the internet age.
This major exhibition is a mesmerising riot of sights and sounds. It brings together over 200 works from throughout his five-decade career – from robots made from old TV screens, to his innovative video works and all-encompassing room-sized installations such as the dazzling Sistine Chapel 1993.
Born in South Korea in 1932, but living and working in Japan, Germany and the US, Paik developed a collaborative artistic practice that crossed borders and disciplines. The exhibition looks at his close collaboration with cellist Charlotte Moorman. It also highlights partnerships with other avant-garde artists, musicians, choreographers and poets, including John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Joseph Beuys.
[Tate Modern]
Nixon (1965, reconstructed 2002)
Two 20-inch cathode-ray tube televisions, magnetic coils, amplifiers, oscillator, capacitors, timer and video, black and white and colour, sound
This video installation draws upon the most significant television images of Richard Nixon’s presidency up to his resignation speech following the Watergate scandal in 1974. Paik began to use circular magnetic coils to subvert broadcast material in 1965. He often chose politicians as the subjects of his distortions, as a form of visual satire that worked on multiple levels: both against the figures of authority seen on the screen and against the manipulative nature of mass media images.
[Tate Modern]
Nam June Paik
(October 2019 – February 2020)
The visionary artist who embraced mass media and new technology
Nam June Paik’s experimental, innovative, yet playful work has had a profound influence on today’s art and culture. He pioneered the use of TV and video in art and coined the phrase ‘electronic superhighway’ to predict the future of communication in the internet age.
This major exhibition is a mesmerising riot of sights and sounds. It brings together over 200 works from throughout his five-decade career – from robots made from old TV screens, to his innovative video works and all-encompassing room-sized installations such as the dazzling Sistine Chapel 1993.
Born in South Korea in 1932, but living and working in Japan, Germany and the US, Paik developed a collaborative artistic practice that crossed borders and disciplines. The exhibition looks at his close collaboration with cellist Charlotte Moorman. It also highlights partnerships with other avant-garde artists, musicians, choreographers and poets, including John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Joseph Beuys.
[Tate Modern]