SAPPORO INTERNATIONAL ART FESTIVAL
"Robot K-567 and Paik" (1993) Photo courtesy: Watari Museum of Contemporary Art

Nam June Paik

Born in Seoul, 1932, and died in Miami, 2006. After graduating from the Department of Aesthetics at the University of Tokyo, Nam June Paik moved to Germany to learn contemporary music. Then, encounters with John Cage and George Maciunas prompted him to join the Fluxus international art movement. He released the world’s first video art work in 1963, and moved to New York in 1964 to perform Robot Opera with Charlotte Moorman. In 1984, he released Good Morning, Mr. Orwell, satellite art that enables real-time interactive communication, and also put on a solo exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. He won the Golden Lion award at the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993. A retrospective of his work was held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2000.