Transmitted Live: Nam June Paik Resounds

As a practicing artist with an interest in sculpture and performance work I was naturally going to be excited about Scotland's first exhibition of Korea's Nam June Piak at Talbot Rice in Edinburgh.

Combining technology with art making processes Paik prophesied about the role of the artist and the world itself in the future, portrayed in his seminal 1963 works Participation TV and Random Access Information. Celebrating 50 years since Paik's first solo show, Exposition of Music - Electronic Televsion at Wuppertal in 1963, Transmitted Live: Nam June Paik Resounds documents the ideas of counter-culture movements of the 60's and Paik's belief that technology should be treated as a material within an artist's repertoire, televisions, lasers, video and satellites feature heavily within his work.

TV Cello - Nam June Piak

The main floor of Talbot Rice contains an bizarre bazaar array of work that includes homemade robots created from television robots that are seen socialising with Duchamp and Beuys who feature within a series of documentary videos. His iconic TV Cello (1971) sits along side video work that represents Paik's collaborative work with the likes of John Cage and Merce Cunnigham. Upstairs contains a wide range of work and includes exhibition memorabilia creating an intimate portrait of a man at the height of his powers. The round room is home to his trademark TV Buddha (1974) sits alone in a self reflecting meditation. In contrast the Gregorian gallery is filled with the sounds and sights of Global Groove (1973) that juxtaposes catchy pop hits and dancing with avante garde performance and rituals coupled with the dangling wires and televisions of Video Chandelier No. 1.

Global Groove - Nam June Piak

The work selected for display at Talbot Rice is what any fan of Piak would hope to see and hear, however the curation of these works is suspect, TV Cello sat on a plinth, objects created work displayed behind glass, posters and photographs of previous exhibitions presented as if they were equal to the performances themselves, therefore creating a sssh don't touch atmosphere that was not incorporated in the original works, TV Cello was made to be played, synthesizers were to be used and the posters for promotion only. On the upper floor sits a piece in which the audience is encouraged to speak into a microphone in which the pitch of their voices changes the shape on the screen accordingly that harks back to the original use of the work. Several photographs of the artist with fellow Flux member Yoko Ono and John Lennon, works with John Cage act as a justification to unfamiliar Fringe audience members as to why Talbot Rice should show this retrospective. The result of this is that instead of celebrating the genius of Piak the show merely documents a period in time, the old fashioned technology displayed in cabinets is reminiscent of a museum that depicts ancient artifacts.