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Korean content has taken the world by storm, from music and drama series to movies. It is easy to spot people in different corners of the world listening to K-pop, trying out Korean dance moves, learning Korean language, and enjoying Korean food. The massive global popularity of K-content made me think of the man behind the first wave of Hallyu, or the Korean Wave. As early as in the 1980s, he described himself as “a cultural merchant who wanders around the world to export Korean culture.” To others, he is known as “a performance artist who pushed the boundaries,” “the greatest artist Korea has ever produced,” and “the founder of video art.” You would probably have guessed him by now. Yes, it is Nam June Paik.

2022 marks 16 years after his death and 90 years since his birth. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of his birth, a number of events were held by the local and international art communities to reflect on his life. The ACC Humanities Lecture Series, in line with its aim to invite professionals in the art and culture spheres to explore new knowledge and ideas, organized a lecture titled Nam June Paik's Visible Music: Abstract Art in Motion. The invited lecturer was Kim Eun-ji, an art professor at Hongik University and a Paik expert, who delved deeper into the artist’s life and artistic achievements. With creativity and perseverance, Paik created original works of art that no one had tried before him. But what many don’t know is that his passion in art started with music.

Professor Kim Eun-ji addresses the audience

# Making music visible

Paik was born into an affluent family in Seoul in 1932 and studied music in Japan. Fascinated by the music of Arnold Schoenberg, he later moved to Germany to study avant-garde music for about two years. Paik’s first encounter with the medium of video in Germany triggered his lifelong pursuit of change and experimentation. His first 1963 solo show Exposition of Music - Electronic Television held in the small town of Wuppertal marked the beginning of this journey.

Professor Kim Eun-ji addresses the audience

As the name suggests, the exhibition was unconventional in every aspect. It was aimed at making music visible. To transform what is heard into what is seen, Paik modified 12 keys on the piano by hanging different objects, such as a pine cone, a bucket, a metal kettle, and a battery-operated light bulb. As a result, when a key is pressed, you would see a corresponding object vibrate or light up instead of hearing a sound. This is how Paik created visible music.

In the 1970s, Paik began to incorporate machine technology into his video art. He invented a video synthesizer with Japanese engineer Shuya Abe and used it to combine music and visual images. The synthesizer was capable of superimposing up to seven separate streams of video at once to produce visual effects with an unprecedented level of depth. Among the works created using the device is Global Groove, one of the most iconic video art works. Music is also transformed into a visual experience in this piece. The video synthesizer brings together rhythms, beats, and melodies to create movements and changing colors and shapes. This may not sound novel now, but the idea was groundbreaking some 50 years ago. Another notable feature in this work is abstraction, a mainstay in Paik’s art.

# Abstract Art in Motion

In Global Groove, Paik introduced the concept of abstract art in motion which is viewed as one of the greatest discoveries in art history. Seven video images are merged into an unrecognizable shape and everything comes together as a single dot. A combination of yellow and purplish blue forms a beautiful contrast.

Professor Kim Eun-ji addresses the audience

But the piece was met with muted response when it was first unveiled in 1973. The 30-minute montage of TV commercials, loud music, and dances from across the globe with fast-changing colors, forms, and shapes was perhaps too abstract to be understood in a time when environmental issues were a common subject matter for artists. After all, Paik made it clear that he wanted to express his personality through art and objected to being evaluated based on traditional values.

He thought the highest level of beauty radiates from the process of constant change, instead of being fixed and static. This idea was translated into reality in the form of abstract art in motion. Paik’s works received renewed attention in the 1980s with the emergence of music videos, earning him a reputation as a visionary and a creative genius.

Paik’s video art is also marked by endless repetition, which leads to the play of time and space. A case in point would be his 1974 TV-Buddha. A Buddha statue and its projected image on a TV screen exist in the same time. But the space the two exist in differs – one is a physical space, and the other is a virtual space within a machine. This one-time, two-space setting pits real against live and time against space. This concept is also evident in his later works, such as Real Flower Live Flower and Real Fish Live Fish. They all use a visual device to demonstrate that the past, present, and future are not separate but interconnected.

Professor Kim Eun-ji addresses the audience

# Pioneer of NFT art

Professor Kim highlighted Paik’s ingenuity as a visionary artist by discussing NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in closing. An image in digital form can be duplicated endlessly. NFT technology helps assign and track the ownership of the original piece. The image can be copied, but the creator has the original ownership rights. In 2021, the opening of Paik’s Global Groove was offered as an NFT at an art auction. The innovative video work of the 20th century found a new life as an NFT in the 21st century. Paik was accurate in his prediction that the form in which art is presented does not matter, because technology is always changing.

What drove his creativity, imagination, and the ability to see ahead of the curve? According to Kim, it was, and always had been music. The professor went on to underline that his entire oeuvre was the result of looking for the ideal way to express music. Known as the father of video art, Paik mastered the three genres of video art - video, installation, and sculpture. But he reportedly was never fond of the title “video sculptor.” He didn’t want to be bound by the conventional notion of sculpture after a years-long pursuit of avant-garde art in defiance of traditions.

Professor Kim Eun-ji and writer Song Jae-young during a Q&A

Sixteen years have passed since Paik’s death, but his works still carry his artistic legacy. Ahead of his birthday in 1977, he released a classical music single titled My Jubilee ist Unverhemmet. Just as the title suggests, he devoted his entire life to testing his limits and pushing the boundaries. Recordings of the lecture Nam June Paik's Visible Music: Abstract Art in Motion are available on the ACC’s YouTube Channel. The ACC Humanities Lecture Series will return next year with more knowledge to share.

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