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Global groove video stills
1973, Nam June Paik.
Image courtesy of [http://www.deutsche-bank-art.com/art/preview/e/1/205.php Electronic Arts Intermix © Electronic Arts Intermix
] and http://www.deutsche-bank-kunst.com/
A videotape rather than a video installation, this piece by pioneer video artist Nam June Paik not only represented a breakthrough, in the sense that it contextualised the medium in contemporary society, paving the way for future video artists, but also represented a consolidation of Paik's work, as well as an acknowledgement of the parties significant is his development, namely John Cage, Charlotte Moorman, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Allen Ginsberg amongst others.
Running for half an hour, the newest version of the video (2004) plays images from his previous work, as well as "collective memories of decades of global television: dancers moving in time to rock music, Pepsi commercials, drumming Navajo Indians, psychedelic swirls of color, the grotesquely distorted face of Richard Nixon , footage from contemporary news coverage, game shows, and soaps" (db-artmag, 2004).
This piece explores the relationship between humans, the media and technology, and the collage mixed with random psychodelia and abstract electronic patterns work to emphasise the saturation of stimuli the individual is faced with given the progress of society. Kober suggests that Paik is "eternally at play with the concept of the reception of data" (2000: 1)
The piece begins with the voiceover, "This is a glimpse of a new world when you will be able to switch on every TV channel in the world and TV guides will be as thick as the Manhattan telephone book" (Decker Phillips, 1998: 156). It prophetically appears to be accurate; given that the progress of television, especially when one considers cable and digital broadcasting, has seen significant development since the 60's and 70's.
As such, Global groove is a defining work that attests to Paik's vision.
Participation TV (1963)
TV cello (1971)
Magnet TV (1965)
TV Buddha (1974)
Nam June Paik's Official Website
Nam June Paik's Official Website - Exhibitions
db-artmag (2004) Get into the global groove: Nam June Paik in the Deutsche Guggenheim [Online] Available: http://www.deutsche-bank-art.com/art/preview/e/1/205.php [Accessed 28 Oct 2004]
Decker-Phillips, E. (1998) Paik Video, New York: Barrytown. ISBN 188644935X.
Guggenheim Museum (2000) The worlds of Nam June Paik [Online] Available: http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/paik/ [Accessed 25 Oct 2004]
Kober, M. (2000) Nam June Paik and the new media [Online] Available: http://anaxagoras.concordia.ca/bed/academic/kober.pdf [Accessed 28 Oct 2004]
Liggett, L. (2004) Paik, Nam June: US video artist [Online] Available: http://www.museum.tv/ETV/P/htmlP/paiknamjun/paiknamjun.htm [Accessed 25 Oct 2004]
Nam June Paik Studios (2004) Nam June Paik's official website [Online] Available: http://paikstudios.com [Accessed 25 Oct 2004]
Stooss, T. & Kellein, T. (ed.) (1993) Nam June Paik: Video time- video space, New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0810937298.
QAG (2002) Asia-Pacific triennial of contemporary art: Nam June Paik [Online] Available: http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/content/apt2002_standard.asp?name=APT_Artists_Nam_June_Paik [Accessed 28 Oct 2004]
Walker Art Center (2004) Collections and resources: TV cello [Online] Available: http://collections.walkerart.org/item/enlarge_fs.html?type=object&id=881&image_num=1 [Accessed 25 Oct 2004]
Wikipedia (2004) The free encyclopedia [Online] Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page [Accessed 25 Oct 2004]
--Ryan Lee 13:18, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
