VOA慢速英语2018--Nam June Paik Made Video Into a Modern Art Form

 

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: I’m Shirley Griffith.

MARIO RITTER: And I’m Mario Ritter with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Nam June Paik is widely considered one of the first video artists. Today, video art is a rich and popular field in modern art. But in the nineteen sixties, the use of television and television images to make art was very new and revolutionary. Nam June Paik helped turn the moving image into a common tool for artists to use as a form of expression. Today his works can be seen in the permanent collections of museums around the world.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: One place to experience the art of Nam June Paik is at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. There, visitors can see several of his works. One is a huge neon and video sculpture called “Electronic Superhighway: Continental¹ U.S., Alaska, Hawaii.” The sculpture was created in nineteen ninety-five. It is made up of three hundred thirty-six televisions, fifty DVD players, and over one hundred seventy meters of neon lighting².

The work measures about twelve meters wide and over four meters tall. The televisions and neon lighting form the shape of a map of the United States.

Nam June Paik's "Electronic Superhighway"

MARIO RITTER: Name June Paik used video imagery to represent each of the fifty states. For example, he chose to show parts of the movie “The Wizard of Oz” to represent the state of Kansas. Images from the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior are used to represent the state of Alabama. The many bright images move very quickly in a disorderly and energetic way. The sculpture shows how media images defined Nam June Paik’s understanding of the United States and its many cultural expressions.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Another of his works at the Smithsonian American Art Museum is called “Megatron/Matrix.” It has two hundred fifteen television screens that play videos. Each television shows fast-moving images of Korean folk traditions, modern dance and the nineteen eighty-eight Olympic games in Seoul. Larger moving images flow across the screens of each television, creating a magical effect.

Nam June Paik's "Megatron/Matrix"

An earlier work by Nam June Paik is called “The more the better.” He made this work to mark the Olympics in Seoul, where the work was shown. This video sculpture makes use of over one thousand televisions. They were placed one on top of another in a circular shape. The sculpture looks like a huge layered birthday cake.

(MUSIC)

MARIO RITTER: Nam June Paik was born in Korea in nineteen thirty-two. His family fled their country during the Korean War and moved first to Hong Kong, then to Japan. In college, Mr. Paik studied art and music history at the University of Tokyo. Later, he moved to Germany to study music at Munich University. There, he met the American composer John Cage. Mister Cage was known for his experimental music and for using everyday sounds in his art. He had a big influence on the young Korean artist.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Nam June Paik became part of an art movement known as Fluxus. Fluxus artists created works that were experimental, playful, and combined different art forms. Mr. Paik organized art events that combined his interest in experimental music with theatrical⁴ performance. He moved to New York City in nineteen sixty-four.

Nam June Paik in 2004

The year before, he provided artwork for a show in the West German city of Wuppertal. The show was called “Exposition of Music: Electronic Television.” His work was said to be made up of thirteen televisions in a room. Some of the televisions were turned off. Some had no picture. And others showed bent⁵, changed images. Mr. Paik created those images by placing magnets near the television.

MARIO RITTER: One reporter described the Wuppertal show as a hugely important moment in art history. Jim Lewis of Slate⁶.com said it marked the first time video images were freed from television. He said that television images were no longer only the property of governments or broadcast companies. Video could be used by anyone, and it could be a material for artists.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Another development helped expand the possibilities of video art for Nam June Paik and others. This was the release in nineteen sixty-five of the Portapak, made by Sony Corporation. This handheld video camera was light and easy to carry. It was also far less costly⁷ than movie and television cameras used by industry experts. The handheld video camera permitted anyone who could buy one to become a producer of images. This device helped open up the world of video to more artists.

In nineteen seventy, Nam June Paik and a friend invented a video synthesizer device. This helped him to change and move video tapes and television programs to create the fast-dancing images that are part of his work.

(MUSIC)

MARIO RITTER: Nam June Paik is well known for his huge, complex video works that involve many televisions. But the National Gallery of Art in Washington is currently holding an exhibit that shows a different side of the artist.

Harry⁸ Cooper is the head of the National Gallery of Art’s modern and contemporary art department. He organized this exhibit. He says an important part of the artist’s message was to reject the blind acceptance of television and its images. Instead, he says, Nam June Paik wanted people to take an active role in the media that is so much a part of modern life.

HARRY COOPER: “Behind all this was really a kind of political and cultural idea that we shouldn’t just be consumers of experience, we should be producers of experience. We shouldn’t just watch the world go by and accept the media images that we’re given. And we shouldn’t even just criticize them, but really try to make our own images. So it is a very democratic idea of being activists⁹ in the world of images.”

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The National Gallery’s exhibit includes twenty works by Nam June Paik.

The main work is called “One Candle, Candle Projection¹⁰.” Every morning, a museum worker lights a candle. A video camera sitting nearby records the candle all day as it slowly burns. About ten different projectors¹¹ direct the image of the candle on different walls in the room. Some projections¹² of the candle are small, other are very large. Some are high up on the wall, another is low to the ground. One image shows the burning candle in red, green and blue.

Harry Cooper of the National Gallery of Art says the work is both simple and complex.

HARRY COOPER: “In some ways it’s classic Paik. That is, very complicated. Lots of stuff to look at, sometimes almost a kind of visual overload¹³. But at the same time, we have this very simple image of a candle and that’s all there is to look at.”

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Mister Cooper says the work is a reminder¹⁴ of Nam June Paik’s interest in Zen Buddhism¹⁵ and in meditation¹⁶.

HARRY COOPER: “So, there is this other side of Paik which is very quiet, very calm. Really the opposite of what we think of as the world of media that he was immersed in. So for me, ‘One Candle’ puts these two extremes and takes them together.”

On left, part of Nam June Paik's "Standing³ Buddha¹⁷ with Outstretched Hand" and in background, images from "One Candle, Candle Projection"

MARIO RITTER: Nam June Paik also made a series of works called TV Buddhas¹⁸. One of these can be seen at the National Gallery exhibit. It is called “Standing Buddha with Outstretched Hand.” The work is made up of a nearly life-size metal statue of Buddha. Nearby, a video camera records his image. The Buddha is facing four televisions placed one on top of another. Two of the televisions show an image of the statue taken by the video camera. The two other television screens show colorful moving images.

The exhibit also includes several works by Mr. Paik that have rarely been exhibited - his drawings.

HARRY COOPER: “It turns out this is one way he came up with ideas, making notes to himself, playing on paper with ideas and materials. For me, these different kinds of drawings all have to do with his thoughts about television, what kind of thing it is, what kind of medium it is.”

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Mister Cooper says many people have seen the exhibit. He says he often finds visitors sitting on the floor, looking at the walls and just “hanging out” and enjoying the art.

HARRY COOPER: “People have been surprised to see this aspect of Paik’s work focused on because they are used to seeing the big banks of televisions with a lot of dancing and twisting images. I wanted to present a different kind of work that is more meditative¹⁹. So I think people come out, you know, hopefully a little surprised and with a larger view of what he was all about.”

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Nam June Paik died in two thousand six. But his works continue to influence new generations of artists and art lovers.

(MUSIC)

MARIO RITTER: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Mario Ritter.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I’m Shirley Griffith. For pictures of the art of Nam June Paik, visit our website at voaspecialenglish.com You can also read and listen to our programs and get podcasts. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

1 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

2 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

5 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

11 projectors   

电影放映机，幻灯机( projector的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Energy projectors fired and peeled off the ships' armor in a flash. 能量投射器开火然后在一阵闪光后剥离了飞船的装甲。
• All classrooms equipped with computers, projectors, video and audio booth, broadcasting equipment. 全部教室配备电脑、投影仪、视频展台和音响、广播设备。

12 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

13 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

14 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

15 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

16 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

17 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

18 Buddhas   

n.佛，佛陀，佛像( Buddha的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She called on spirits and Buddhas and made innumerable vows, all to no avail. 她把一切的神佛都喊到了，并且许下多少誓愿，都没有用。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Tibetans identification with the political role of Living Buddhas is declining. 藏新政权的政治舞台中活佛的政治角色处于边缘。 来自互联网

19 meditative   

adj.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• A stupid fellow is talkative;a wise man is meditative.蠢人饶舌，智者思虑。
• Music can induce a meditative state in the listener.音乐能够引导倾听者沉思。