Nam June Paik, RIP
(via BB)
One of the most pleasant trips I took to a museum was when the San Jose Museum of Art was showing Nam June Paik. It was a little like walking into a Best Buy on acid: monitors everywhere, seizure-inducing color assaulting you from every corner, and the hushed silence that's required in museums standing in stark contrast to the riot of motion and glowing light from every screen.
Needless to say, it was a bit overwhelming after a while -- it was the kind of thing where I had to go outside and look at a blank wall or something. And it's not as if he was a subtle artist by any means, or even an artist with a depth of vision. (Yes, he was kind of a one-trick pony.)
But damn, what an explosion his exhibits were. And he definitely had a sense of humor in his work, which is more than a lot of artists even strive for. Undeniably, unmistakably, there was activity and a celebration of life in what he did, even if sometimes he rode his hobby horse of technology's isolation/connection/community a bit much.
I'll miss him.