Art Section V: Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii

Where and when was Nam June Paik born?

Seoul in 1932

What country controlled Korea when Paik was born?

The Japanese Empire

What kind of family was Paik born into?

An elite family that highly prized education

What was Paik introduced to at a young age?

European music and literature

When did Paik go to Japan?

1952

What did Paik study at the University of Tokyo?

Aesthetics and music theory

Where did Paik go after graduating?

Munich

What did Paik become connected to in Munich?

A multi-media avant-garde art scene

What work did Paik begin in the late 1950s?

Performance and installation

What influenced Paik's approach?

Buddhism and American popular culture

Who was the first person whose full name Paik was aware of?

Shirley Temple

What themes did Hommage à John Cage (1959) explore?

Emptiness and silence

What did Zen for TV (1963) consist of?

TV sets whose output had been manipulated or distorted

What movement did Paik become involved in during the early 1960s?

Fluxus

What was Fluxus?

A group of artists, musicians, and performers who focused on breaking down barriers between art and everyday life

What was Fluxus characterized by?

Participatory, performative, immersive, and collaborative multimedia work

Who was associated with Fluxus?

George Maciunas, Alison Knowles, Yoko Ono, and Joseph Beuys

What did Paik teach himself?

Electronics

What did Paik do in collaboration with Abe Shuya?

Technically complex artworks

What features did the works created by Paik and Abe include?

Responsive feedback, pre-recorded and live footage, and sonic and visual distortion

Where did Paik move to in 1964?

New York

What kind of works did Paik create?

Scores, musical notations, performances, sculptures, video pieces, robots, TV broadcasts, large-scale installations

What are scores?

Instructions for performances that could be followed by anyone

What is Paik considered to be?

One of the most influential new media artists of the 20th century

When did Paik die?

2006

Where is Electronic Superhighway located?

Smithsonian American Art Museum

How many TV screens does Electronic Superhighway consist of?

More than 300

What are the dimensions of Electronic Superhighway?

40 ft long and 15 ft tall

What aspects of Electronic Superhighway attract attention?

Neon tubing and constantly changing images

What do the screens show?

A map of the US

What outlines state borders?

Neon lights

What bodies of water are highlighted?

The Mississippi River and the Great Lakes

What supports the TV screens?

Wooden framing

What do the screens for each state show?

Clips of film or TV footage related to that state

What do the screens in Kansas show?

Clips from The Wizard of Oz (1939)

What was Paik fascinated by?

The US highway system

During whose presidency was the highway system implemented?

Dwight Eisenhower

What act established the highway system?

Interstate Highway Act of 1956

What was consistent between the newly created roads under the Highway Act?

Construction principles, numbering, and signage

What factors led to more Americans driving for leisure?

Marketing of the family automobile and the interstate highway system

What aspect of the interstate highway system was Paik interested in?

How it contributed to American cultural unification

What impact did the highway system have on American society?

It connected people, expanded product distribution networks, and aided the spread of chain stores and restaurants

What does Electronic Superhighway represent the highway system as?

A unifying force

What was another element of American cultural hegemony?

TV

What is Paik sometimes called?

The father of video art

Paik was one of the first people to do what?

Create viewer-responsive artworks

What exhibition did Paik participate in in 1969?

TV as a Creative Medium

What did Paik exhibit at TV as a Creative Medium?

A TV that was programmed to respond to the sounds visitors made into a microphone

What did Stephanie Harrington say about the TV?

It was off-putting and lacked a unifying idea

Who popularized the theory of cybernetics?

Norbert Wiener

When was Wiener's influential book published?

1948

Which artists adopted Wiener's theories?

Dan Graham, Hans Haacke, and Paik

What did the art inspired by Wiener's ideas do?

Analyzed and presented datasets, responded to viewer actions, or addressed human-machine relationships

What did Paik say about cybernetics?

"Cybernetics", as the science of pure relations … has its origin in 'Karma' in Buddhism

What did Paik's interest in cybernetics allow him to do?

Thematize the internet as a potential replacement for travel

What possibility did Paik reference?

That users could soon be able to travel virtually via a telecommunications network

What did Paik write in 1974?

Transportation and communication are considered generally as two separate issues … What we need is an Ersatz technology to travel, and broadband communication is the strongest candidate for it

What did Paik say about the importance of dematerialized information?

Information is no longer a means to get something live and concrete, but has become an end in itself

What did the phrase "information superhighway" refer to?

The internet

What did Paik accurately predict about the 21st century?

Smartwatches

What does Electronic Superhighway imagine?

A new generation of users staying home instead of pleasure driving due to TV, satellite, and broadband

What did Paik incorrectly predict?

A reduction of travel

How many passengers traveled by air in 1995?

1.3 billion

How many passengers traveled by air 30 years later?

4.46 billion

What have virtual worlds not done?

Replace the experience of traveling somewhere in person