Anten-nalope

Nam June Paik
(Korean, b. 1932)
Anten-nalope
1996
Multi-media assemblage
(2000.2)
Gilbreath-McLorn Museum Fund

Nam June Paik grew up in Seoul, Korea, moving to Tokyo in 1950 during the Korean War. After studying philosophy and music in Germany, he became involved in the Fluxus movement of the 1960s with George Maciunas, Joseph Beuys, John Cage, and others. Members of Fluxus organized “performances” that blurred the lines between art, theater, music, and vaudeville. Following the lead of Marcel Duchamp and the Dada artists of the 1910s and 20s, these avant-garde performers placed objects, animals, and people in unusual contexts and allowed their movements, actions, and reactions to contribute to the meaning of the works.

In the 1960s, Paik’s experience with Fluxus inspired him to become a pioneer of video art. For him, the kinetic television screen was one of the twentieth century’s most universal and enduring icons. For five decades, Paik has been celebrated for his television sculptures and installations.

Anten-nalope is part of a series of animal sculptures Paik designed in the 1990s. The assemblage is made from television cabinets, a vintage phonograph horn, an antique telephone mouthpiece, and other components. Paik was inspired by Neolithic cave paintings of animals, and the Anten-nalope encourages viewers to contemplate their relationship with nature in a technological age. Today many people are more familiar with animals on a video screen than they are with actual living creatures.

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