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http://fargo.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/history/timeline/images/paikmagnettv.gif
Magnet TV
1965, Nam June Paik.
Image courtesy of Nonlinear history of New Media- Michael Naimark
Along with Participation TV (1963), Magnet TV (1965) was an attempt by pioneering video artist Nam June Paik to "gain audience participation through his TV experiments" (Decker-Phillips, 1998: 63).
In this piece, Paik made use of powerful, externally mounted electromagnets to manipulate electrons within the television set. In doing so, the process produced a continuously morphing display of abstract lines and shapes on the television screen.
This work was created during an era where television was only just beginning to become a fixture of day to day life, and was easily accepted by audiences and art critics alike. It referenced "the viewer's own familiar and private association with the medium, draws him in, thus implicating an involving him in Paik's recontextualization of art, technology and pop-culture" (Nankivell, 2004).
Paik further reinforced this reading stating that "Magnet TV was his first successful work because art critics could understand it by merely looking at it" (Decker-Phillips, 1998: 64).
Participation TV (1963)
TV cello (1971)
Global groove (1973)
TV Buddha (1974)
Nam June Paik's Official Website
Nam June Paik's Official Website - Exhibitions
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]
Nam June Paik Studios (2004) Nam June Paik's official website [Online]
Available: http://paikstudios.com [Accessed 25 Oct 2004]
Nankivell, A. (2004) Magnet TV [Online]
Available: http://fargo.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/history/timeline/magnettv.html [Accessed 25 Oct 2004]
Stooss, T. & Kellein, T. (ed.) (1993) Nam June Paik: Video time- video space, New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0810937298.
Wikipedia (2004) The free encyclopedia [Online] Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page [Accessed 25 Oct 2004]
--Ryan Lee 10:12, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
