Sistine Chapel (1993)
Video projectors, metal, wood, custom video switchers and four video channels, colour, sound
In 1993 Paik and German artist Hans Haacke were invited to jointly represent Germany at the Venice Biennale. Both artists had lived in the United States since the mid-1960s.
Paik exhibited a series of works inspired by Marco Polo’s thirteenth-century journey from Venice to Mongolia and beyond. He used the subject to explore the historical and philosophical links between Europe and Asia. The Mongolian Tent 1993 was also shown in the German Pavilion, which received the Golden Lion award that year.
Another key work from Paik’s Venice Biennale exhibition was Sistine Chapel 1993, presented here for the first time since 1993. This immersive video installation filled one of the wing spaces of the pavilion, including the ceiling. It originally used 42 projectors which switched at random between four separate videos, all playing at the same time. An audiovisual collage of new footage and samples from Paik’s past videos, it featured many of the friends, collaborators and public figures seen in this exhibition. It was Paik’s own way of summarising his artistic career with video.
[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]
Sistine Chapel (1993)
Video projectors, metal, wood, custom video switchers and four video channels, colour, sound
In 1993 Paik and German artist Hans Haacke were invited to jointly represent Germany at the Venice Biennale. Both artists had lived in the United States since the mid-1960s.
Paik exhibited a series of works inspired by Marco Polo’s thirteenth-century journey from Venice to Mongolia and beyond. He used the subject to explore the historical and philosophical links between Europe and Asia. The Mongolian Tent 1993 was also shown in the German Pavilion, which received the Golden Lion award that year.
Another key work from Paik’s Venice Biennale exhibition was Sistine Chapel 1993, presented here for the first time since 1993. This immersive video installation filled one of the wing spaces of the pavilion, including the ceiling. It originally used 42 projectors which switched at random between four separate videos, all playing at the same time. An audiovisual collage of new footage and samples from Paik’s past videos, it featured many of the friends, collaborators and public figures seen in this exhibition. It was Paik’s own way of summarising his artistic career with video.
[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]