(Seoul 1932–2006) Untitled, wooden cupboard, 4 radios, 2 plasma screens with integrated DVD player, wooden African mask and felt hat, 192 x 78 x 53 cm, on the righthand, narrow side of the cupboard signed, dated PAIK 87, the original tube televisions have been replaced with plasma screens, (PS)

Provenance:
Private Collection, Italy - directly from the artist

“Just as miracles are the cornerstone of every major world religion, it is singularity which is the true driver of human history/development. Important things only happen once in our life. Things which can neither be repeated nor changed – death, loss of virginity, birth (where, when and into which social environment). Video art finally enables us to tackle the central problems of human existence (chance, coincidence, wagers, luck). Pascal and Sartre must be very envious of particular video artists. We are even able to encode these metaphysical things in popular entertainment.”
(Nam June Paik, 30. 1. 1984, from his text for the satellite broadcast Paris-New York, Good Morning Mr. Orwell)

Whether monumental or intimate, bombastic or still, all of Nam June Paik’s video installations have a sculptural character. For Paik, the monitor is an object which should be perceived as such. From his videotapes and installations, to the paintings, drawings and prints, Paik’s works examine and question, in an exemplary manner both critical and simultaneously entertaining, the institution of TV and the subject of communication. More than anything else, his video installations and environments formulate a critique of the flood of images produced by television, one which throws all the content together, turning it into a confused mass.” (Eds.. Marc Scheps, Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts - Museum Ludwig Cologne 1997, p. 546 ff)