In the age of social media-centered video content creation, who was the first to do it? Many millennial or Gen Z-ers may say it all started when Jawed Karim uploaded “Me at the zoo” on Youtube in 2005, but the father of video art is actually Korean artist Nam June Paik, who predicted a future in which “everybody will have his own TV channel.”
READ MORE: ‘Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV’ Review [Sundance]
Paik was born in Seoul, Korea, but found himself in Germany as an adult to pursue his interest in avant-garde music, composition, and performance. He created a large body of work including video sculptures, performances, and television productions, ultimately leading to his famous exhibition at the Galerie Parnass that featured prepared television sets. With this exhibition, he changed the look and content of television going forward, but from being the creator of art exhibitions to becoming the subject of them, who is Nam June Paik? This question is exactly what director Amanda Kim has set out to answer in “Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV.”
For the first time, Kim tells audiences the story of his rise in the New York art scene and his visions of the future–that have now become our reality. Paik was one of the first artists to use a video camcorder, he was a self-taught engineer who worked with Shuya Abe to construct a video synthesizer, and is arguably the most famous Korean artist in modern history.
From something as simple as a YouTube video from your favorite vlogger to the set and on-stage performance of Matty Healy and The 1975’s “At Their Very Best Tour,” you can see his influence throughout contemporary and 20th-century media and art.
Paik’s writings are read by Steven Yeun. Greenwich Entertainment is opening Kim’s film at Film Forum on March 24. Enjoy the trailer, below.
