Nam June Paik Becoming Robot

This new, fully illustrated catalogue on the celebrated progenitor of video art, Nam June Paik (1932andndash;2006), brings together a host of scholars, artists, and Paikandrsquo;s own collaborators to illuminate the work of this innovative artist. An essay by curator Michelle Yun takes readers through Paikandrsquo;s highly original career, providing insight into his radical and witty experiments with technology, especially in relation to the body, which he viewed as vital platforms for the future of art, science, and popular culture. Scholars David Joselit and John Maeda contribute texts examining the artistandrsquo;s interest in new media and popular culture. A roundtable discussion with three of Paikandrsquo;s own artistic collaborators and contemporary artistsandrsquo; statements shed light on the collaborative process and Paikandrsquo;s enduring influence on artistic practice today. Drawing on the newly established Nam June Paik Archive at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, this book also features never-before-published primary sources that highlight Paikandrsquo;s prescient attitude towards the integration of increasingly indispensable technologies into modern life.

andquot;A good introduction to the artistandrsquo;s work, and particularly valuable for reproducing a number of the artistandrsquo;s typescript notes and letters. No one is better on Paik than Paik.andquot;andmdash;Andrea Kirsh, The Artblog

This richly-illustrated catalogue on the work of the influential andldquo;father of video artandrdquo; features texts by scholars and by Paikandrsquo;s own contemporaries, his collaborators, and artists he has inspired.

Melissa Chiu is museum director and senior vice president of global arts and cultural programs and Michelle Yun is curator of modern and contemporary art, both at Asia Society, New York.