Nam June Paik: Art in Process

This book was published on the occasion of the two-part exhibition Nam June Paik: Art in Process at Gagosian, New York, curated by John G. Hanhardt. It surveys the work of the video-art pioneer and reflects on Paik’s working method as well as the ideas and materials that inspired his art practice.

Nam June Paik: Art in Process highlights the centrality of process and exploration across Paik’s career—through his pioneering manipulated televisions from the early 1960s to live global satellite telecasts, large-scale video sculptures, drawings, and the late-style painted TVs—and provides an opportunity to follow Paik’s lifelong engagement with new media and the development of his own singular visual language. Highlights include Paik’s painted sections of the Berlin Wall (2005); Beuys Projection (1990), Paik’s powerful video interpretation of his performance with Joseph Beuys in Tokyo; and his celebrated One Candle, Candle Projection (1988–2000), a live video installation of candlelight.

With essays by John G. Hanhardt and Gregory Zinman, the book features extensive illustrations including numerous full-page plates and details, a foldout of the score for Paik’s Symphony for 20 Rooms (1961), as well as rarely seen archival photographs documenting Paik’s early performances by Peter Moore (1932–1993), dating from 1964 through 1977.