Jump Into Art at Nam June Paik Museum
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
What better way to open the Nam June Paik Art Center (NJP Art Center) than with an exhibition showing not just Paik's landmark artworks but also works by a generation of artists he influenced?
Located in Yongin, Gyeonggi province, the NJP Art Center is the first museum dedicated to Paik (1932-2006), who is widely known as the ``father of video art,'' having successfully combined media technology and art.
The NJP Art Center finally opened its doors to the public Tuesday with the Nam June Paik Festival. ``Now Jump,'' which runs through Feb. 5. The exhibitions feels more like a small-scale biennale with the diversity of works by 113 artists and nine groups from 19 countries
Inside the gleaming, glass-covered building, visitors are greeted with Paik's landmark work ``TV Fish,'' a series of aquariums with video screens.
The smell of fresh paint lingers in the hallways as visitors navigate through first part of the exhibition. Station 1 features Paik's photographs, early works, old video cameras, notes, memorabilia and newspaper clippings, including a 1984 story about Paik that appeared in the Hankook Ilbo, sister company of The Korea Times.
On display are Paik's memorable works, ``TV Garden'' where several television sets are placed amid tropical plants; ``TV Buddha'' where a statue of Buddha sits in front of his own image being projected on a TV screen; and ``Elephant Cart,'' an elephant with a wooden cart filled with TV sets.
Paik was once quoted as saying ``Anyway, if you see my TV, please, see it more than 30 minutes." This is probably something viewers have to bear in mind as they see his works.
Station 2 focused on the state of performance art today, and numerous performances by foreign and local artists will be staged throughout the duration of the festival.
On the opening day, French group Les gens d'Uterpan staged a live performance, ``X-Event 2'' involving men and women clad only in underwear. Belgian artist Kris Verdonck also introduced a performance piece ``Duet'' featuring two dancers suspended in the air by a crane that suspends them slowly. Both run until Oct. 11.
There are several interactive works that visitors can enjoy through Feb. 5, such as William Forsythe's ``City of Abstracts'' by William Forsythe, Ryoji Ikeda's ``Spectra II'' and Romeo Castellucci's ``Paradiso''
``City of Abstracts'' involves a video camera taping the audience, then transferred to a computer program which alters it and projects the images on a large screen in real time.
For ``Spectra II,'' only one person at a time can go inside the dark and narrow corridor. Once inside, blinding lights and booming sound bombard the viewer, causing disorientation. Claustrophobic people should give this a pass.
Special performances are scheduled through February such as ``Quizoola!'' by British theater company Forced Entertainment (Oct. 18), ``Laugh,'' a laughter workshop by Antonia Baehr (Nov. 8) and ``Laughing Hole,'' by La Ribot (Nov. 8).
Across the street from the NJP Art Center, Station 3 is held inside the Shingal High School gymnasium and the ZIEN Art Space. The gymnasium was transformed into a maze, filled with various paintings, installations, murals and videos by Choi Chang-sub, Kiyoshi Kuroda, Namaiki, Aurelien Froment, Jackson Hong and MeeNa Park. Architect Seo Seung-mo designed the city-like grid structure that allows visitors to navigate through the different rooms and corridors.
Some video works require time to view, such as Rene Daalder's documentary ``Here is Always Somewhere Else: The Life of Bas Jan Ader'' and Marjolijn Dijkman's ``Wandering through the Future,'' a collection of clips from science fiction films such as ``Star Trek'' and ``Lost in Space.''
At the ZIEN Art Space, the blue glass house is where you'll find Dutch duo Bik Van der Pol's neon installation ``Ideas You Believe Are Absurd Ultimately Lead to Success,'' and ``The Disappearance Piece,'' where visitors can pick up a book on how to disappear.
Reservation is required for certain performances at the festival. Please e-mail name, contact information and title and date of performance to reservation@njpartcenter.kr.
Admission is 7,000 won for adults, 5,000 won for middle and high school students and 3,000 won for elementary school students. Details on how to get to the NJP Art Center are on the Web site, www.njpartcenter.kr.