Nam June Paik
Rose Art Memory

Rose Art Memory
Rose Art Memory
Rose Art Memory
ArtistAmerican, born Korea, 1932–2006
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Rose Art Memory
Date1988
Made inUnited States
MediumWood, lacquer, aluminum framework, twenty monitors, and two-channel video
Dimensions67 × 87 × 14 in. (170.2 × 221 × 35.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2008.367
Non exposé

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Description

Revered as the leading innovator of video art, Nam June Paik explored the relationship between people and the rapidly changing environment of the media age. Displaced by the Korean War in 1950, Paik traveled the world, residing in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Munich, and New York. Paik's experiences across the globe led him not only to realize the artistic potential of tech-nology, but also to measure the distance from his native Korean culture.


Paik directly confronts the issues of assimilation and modernization in his two-channel video image Rose Art Memory by combining modern and traditional influences. Arranged in a grid format, 14 monitors set to one channel encircle six monitors set to a different channel. The two videos stream simultaneously, generating a pulsating and hypnotic effect. Inscribed within each corner of the traditional, red lacquer frame are the four points of the compass, thus linking the piece to a specific Asian heritage.


 Created the year Seoul hosted the 1988 Olympic Games, Rose Art Memory profoundly conveys the experience of impermanence and instability within a hyper-stimulating medium. Furthermore, by juxtaposing ultramodern tech-nology against traditional framework, Paik questions whether such extreme cultural changes will ultimately lead to the degradation of a rich history.


ProvenanceGraybar Electric Co.; [James Cohan Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2008.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed in gold, verso of frame, upper right: "88 PAIK" followed by characters

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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