Nam June Paik “The Godfather of Video Art”

The Korean born video artist Nam June Paik has a special place in contemporary American Art history; he is widely known as “the Godfather of Video Art.” He resided in New York until his recent death. As the legend goes, in the sixties, Paik was one of the first to receive a Sony camcorder. On his way home in the cab from Rockefeller Center, Paik placed the camera out the window and shot what is widely acclaimed to be the first work of video art, an unedited piece of grainy raw footage. It was an action that today seems so normal, but imagine the importance of an artist so quickly seeing the potential in this new technology. Over the years Paik became internationally recognized as a conceptual video artist and his work has been exhibited and collected by major art museums around there world including ones in Germany, Australia, Spain, the U.S. and so on.

Nam June Paik, 1986 (Photo, Rainer Rosenow)



“Watching Buddha”
Mixed media, 46 7/8 x 15 3/8 bys 475/8 in.

http://www.paikstudios.com/bio.html

This work is for sale and for a million dollars and change, it can be yours.
“Watching Buddha” is a work of art comprised of a wooden painted elephant that has a sculpture of a glided Buddha roped on top of its back. Buddha is sitting in the lotus position on top of a prayer rug. The Buddha is directly facing a video monitor. Next to the elephant is a camera on top of a tripod recording the Buddha’s face, which is staring at the monitor of his own image. The cyclical meditative nature of the piece is critical. Paik drew his inspiration and images from his own life. He was a devout Buddhist and would create many variations on that theme, using the elements of TV and Buddha in his lifetime.





Alexander Roos Extra Credit #2 -1

“Eraserhead”

“Eraserhead” (1977) written and directed by David Lynch is one of the strangest and most unique films ever made. What it is about, I can’t really say; only that there are strange things that happen to and around a young man whose head looks like a pencil eraser. It is all mood and weirdness, but you never forget it once you have seen it.
Lynch began the film while a student at the American Film Institute. It is said of Lynch and “Eraserhead,” according to film historian David Thomson “It was not just a student film, but as private as any solitary art like writing or painting.” Apparently Lynch did everything; he wrote, directed, special effects, photographed. His characters are weird, sometimes grotesque and repelling. The late musician Peter Ivers wrote and sang the song “Everything in Heaven is Fine” for a character that is a strange cupie doll with a melon size growth on her face.
“Eraserhead” found an audience in weekly midnight screenings at a theatre in Venice. It slowly gathered a cult following.
From “Eraserhead” one would expect that Lynch would make only small experimental films. However, he went on to make great films that also found a wide audience such as “Blue Velvet” (1986) and “Mulholland Dr.” (2001), and “Elephant Man” (1980). Lynch also made his mark with a twisted and dark television melodrama “Twin Peaks.”


Links:

AFI
http://www.afi.com/Education/

David Lynch
http://www.davidlynch.de/
http://www.davidlynch.de/head.html

Alexander Roos Extra Credit #2.2

Sam Taylor-Wood's Self Pieta Ass#3

Madonna Reincarnated

Contemporary artists often turn to old masterworks as inspiration or to reinterpret their composition and subject matter. sometimes these artists are referred to as "Copyists" but wha tevery label, masterwork references can be seen in work by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo, and too many other artist to list. This is exactly what Sam Taylor-Wood has done in her "Self Pieta," c type print photograph, c. 1976. the artist has photographed a man across the lap of a woman of similar age and positioned them on stairs. the artist is brave if not a clever soul to take on Michelangelo's "Pieta."

"Pieta" (1499) is a marble life-size sculpture of Mary holding Christ's body across her knees after his crucifixion. Michelangelo sculpted this masterwork when he was only twenty four years old. This work is highly finished and is considered by most art critics and we commoners to be a masterpiece. Rather than signs of agony and suffering that one would expect on the faces of Jesus and Mary, their faces are serene and in a state of peace. The whole work conveys a sense of promise and hope for the future, rather than tragedy. Did Taylor-Wood measure up as an artist with her work?

Taylor-Wood is the young woman who has a man, the actor Robert Downey Jr draped across her lap. The pose is similar to Christ's body draped across Mary's lap in Michelangelo's work. Again, like Michelangelo's, Taylor-Wood as Madonna shows strong muscular legs, even masculine ones. this is a good thing, as she needs to be strong to bear the incredible burden of of a man's body in her lap. The man's eyes are closed and his arms are out-stretched. He looks fast asleep. The woman/Madonna is gazing into his face with concern. like Michelangelo's you see that there is a a relationship between the two figures. they are in a state of grace , bliss, and rapture, whereas Taylor-Wood in her looks compassionate and amused.

When one views Sam Taylor-Wood's "Self Pieta" you get it- the references and the artist's intent. The Michelangelo's original can leave you in awe, while Taylor-Wood's photograph makes you smile.

Self Pieta 2001 Sam Taylor-Woods b. 1967 C print type 49 x 49 in

Pieta 1499 Michelangelo 147-1564

174 cm St. Peter’s Vatican

http://www.tba21.org/program/exhibitions/9/artwork/380?category=exhibit

http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/art/all/00304/facts.michelangelocomplete_work.htm

Alexander Roos

Blog Ass#3