[In-Depth Look] The Source of Communication

Director Kim Bora

In Changsin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, there is a place called the "House Remembering Nam June Paik." It is the site where Nam June Paik (1932?2006) spent his childhood for 13 years, from 1937 to 1950.

Nam June Paik was born in Seoul in 1932 but left Korea in 1950, living 7 years in Japan, 7 years in Germany, and 29 years in the United States before passing away. The actual house where Nam June Paik lived disappeared due to war and development. However, a hanok built on the old site at 197 Changsin-dong opened in 2017 as a space to remember him.

Since last October, a large-scale retrospective exhibition featuring over 200 works by Nam June Paik has been held at the Tate Modern, a contemporary art museum in London, UK. Tate Modern has recently become one of the most visited places in the UK. Perhaps due to familiarity, the journey to London to see the exhibition did not feel unfamiliar. Yet, on this not-so-short journey starting from his hometown, a subtle mix of pride and regret came over me as a customary feeling.

Nam June Paik became recognized as a world-renowned video artist with his 1984 work "Good Morning, Mr. Orwell." Regarding this work, he described it as "a challenge to George Orwell's idea that the world would perish because dictators control mass media and blind the people's eyes." Moreover, he named media as a symbol of communication that delivers information and as an "electronic superhighway" awakening the public's eyes in an era of disconnection. He foresaw the life of future modern humans.

Media began as a means to share knowledge and emotions. Now, its scope has expanded to move human thoughts and hearts, adjusting layers of understanding and misunderstanding. Media, extending beyond the press to art and culture, has undeniably become a survival environment for humanity, like nature itself.

Nam June Paik's "TV Garden" (1974) is a work where TVs are installed among lush trees. "TV Garden" shows that TVs have taken their place in nature like plants. It suggests that our lives are placed in a newly created media environment. Remarkably, Nam June Paik speaks about the daily life of modern people transcending everything and being interconnected in such an environment. "Participation TV" (1969), where the audience can see their own movements reflected on the screen, is a pioneering participatory art piece discussing interactive communication.

Nam June Paik believed that through such connections, cultures, nations, and languages, though different, can understand each other. His active collaboration with other artists was a consistent expression of his will to communicate continuously and expand his own domain.

Wasn't Nam June Paik envisioning a positive future based on humanity's technological advancement? As he said, life, art, and science are now moving toward everyday art that approaches not as metaphor but as real information. As the scope of sharing expands, the mind capable of governing it must also broaden.

Humans have faced new environments without properly preserving the once abundant natural environment. Now, they dream of sustaining existence through the media ecosystem.

Nam June Paik became an artist for whom nationality is meaningless. Fortunately, we can meet Nam June Paik up close. He always thought of himself as Korean. Many of his works are rooted in Eastern philosophy.

After returning from London, I visited the "House Remembering Nam June Paik" again. It seemed good to start anew in this place where he once played. Above all, with the new year, I reflect on whether I have any self-imposed mental cages. And I recall the belief that in this open era Nam June Paik envisioned, we can understand and communicate despite our differences. Soon, we will reach that refreshing place.

Kim Bora, Curator and Director of Seongbuk Art Museum

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.