Robot Artist Paik Nam-june - Part 1

A Pioneer in Robotics and Video Art

 

By Lee Dong-il (Performing Arts Director, Guest Professor at Sogang University

 

“Artists before 1950 discovered abstract space. Video artists after 1960 discovered abstract time. Time with no content.”

— Paik Nam-june, Nostalgia is the Square of Feedback, 1992

 

In previous installments, I discussed a project I worked on with Paik Nam-june, the founder of contemporary video art, over four entries. While Paik traversed numerous genres including sculpture, painting, music, and media art, I aim to shed light on his pioneering role in the emerging field of robotics technology alongside artificial intelligence.

 

In 1986, Paik unveiled his work titled Robot Family at the Chicago Art Fair. This installation comprises a three-generation robot family, featuring a grandmother, grandfather, and a baby robot, constructed using early television models from the 1940s and 1950s, as well as the latest TVs of that time.

 

 

▲ "Robot Family: Mother and Robot Family: Father (1986)" (Photo courtesy of Paik Nam-june Art Center)

Following this, Paik created robots inspired by various figures, including Hamlet, David, and Voltaire. He also made robots representing prominent Korean historical figures such as Jang Yeong-sil, King Sejong, and Queen Seondeok.

 

Paik continued his work with robots in subsequent years. In 2001, he created robotic interpretations of Franz Schubert, Bob Hope (the legendary American comedian), and Charlie Chaplin, each modeled after real individuals. The robotic Schubert wears a red, vintage gramophone speaker as a hat and displays footage of Charlotte Moorman (an avant-garde artist and long-time collaborator of Paik).

 

 

▲ "Charlotte Moorman performing with Paik Nam-june in 1965" (Photo courtesy of Barbara Moore)

Paik Nam-june’s robot series appears even more remarkable when viewed through the lens of today’s world, characterized by a confluence of robotics and culture. Modern individuals are already living in a reality where advanced technologies symbolized by robots are perceived as a new concept of "family." This innovative notion stems from Paik's unique artistic philosophy.

 

He consistently maintained that "the world tomorrow will be more beautiful," embodying the concept of an abstract flow of time while never losing his cheerful spirit.

 

I believe Paik began his work with robots in 1961. At that time, he was already deeply immersed in early media art based on cybernetics, a field that sought to advance mechanical technologies into artificial intelligence through the union of humans and machines.

 

The term “robot” first appeared in the 1921 play R.U.R by Czech writer Karel

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