Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Nam June Paik, 1962-1964.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyze (can you provide a link?)

Zen For Film (Nam June Paik, 1962-1964)

How was the photo or video authored?

This film was described as a Fluxus film, which indicates that Nam June Paik was trying to make experimental approaches which “emphasized the artistic process over the finished product” (Nationalencyclopedin, 2016). The video was an endless loop of plain, bright white square fulfilling the screen, showing the emptiness and the sense of purity by displaying a static image(while still a video since scratches appear without being avoided) without any background music attached.

Nam June brings the colorful combination of images in motion and music, however, he chose to create this “Zen For Film” as the art that stands out. There’s beautiful indeterminacy happens while the audience watching the film, the engaging, attractive, witness purpose of modern media become blurry in this process of gazing a meaningless while meaningful expression: void and emptiness. Brings the realization to audiences that thinking and sober is needed for this media-flooding period of time. The artist bravely made this anti-film, providing another aspect to examine trending media contents.

How was the photo or video published?

The film was published in 1965. The equipment used is a 16mm film leader, the duration of the video was 8 min approximately. The first publish was made in 1964 at Filmmaker’s Cinematheque in New York.

How was the photo or video distributed?

The video was distributed in several museums and exhibitions, according to the researches I’ve made, Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Barbara and Peter Moore Fluxus Collection, Margaret Fisher Fund and gift of Barbara Moore/Bound & Unbound are gain credit for distributing this video

 

 

Nationalencyclopedin (Swedish National Encyclopedia). 2016. “Fluxus.” Accessible at: http://www.ne.se/uppslagsverk/encyclopedi/lång/fluxus Accessed September 11, 2016.

 

The Aesthetic of Active Boredom in Nam June Paik’s Zen for Film (1964)