Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?
The practitioner that was selected this week was Nam June Paik. In the 1960’s, he was one of the very first people to use televisual technologies as an artistic medium, earning him the title ‘father’ of video.
What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)
The title is Magnet TV and the link is: https://gagosian.com/artists/nam-june-paik/
With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?
Magnet TV was produced in 1965 in New York.
How was the photo or video authored?
Nam June Paik had a seventeen inch black and white TV set which had an industrial size magnet resting on top of it. This altered the television image due to the magnets interfering with the television’s broadcast signals. The result was the distortion of the broadcast image into an abstract form that changes when the magnet is moved.
This challenged the “notion of the art object as a self-contained entity and established a process of instant feedback, in which the viewer’s actions have a direct effect on the form and meaning of the work.”
Magnet TV anticipated the participatory nature of much contemporary art.
How was the photo or video published?
The TV set and video were published in his first solo exhibition which is where the altering of the image took place. It’s hard to find if it was published anywhere else as it was something that occurred live and in the exhibition.
With a google search people are able to find a photo of the TV set with the magnet placed on top as well as a video of the alteration of images occurring.
How was the photo or video distributed?
It was distributed in his first solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in the 1960’s. However, it is hard to determine whether or not it was distributed or shown in any other exhibitions, this information was hard to come by.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum held an exhibition of Nam June Paik’s work called Global Visionary. It was held from 2012-2013 in Washington. However, I am unable to determine whether or not Magnet TV was exhibited there.
Nam June Paik: Global Visionary, Smithsonian American Art Museum, viewed 23 April 2019
<https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/paik>
Nam June Paik, Gagosian, viewed 23 April 2019
