A Pioneer of Interactive Art: Nam June Paik as Musique Concrète Composing Researcher

A Pioneer of Interactive Art: Nam June Paik as Musique Concrète Composing Researcher

(Long paper)

Keywords: Interactive Art, Musique Concrète, Nam June Paik, Random Access, record Shashlik, Participation TV

Nam June Paik is mostly known as the father of video art. At the same time, he can also be regarded as a creative pioneer of interactive art. Unfortunately, most scholars and art historians still neglect Paik’s remarkable achievement in interactive art with his musical background. Especially, Paik’s experience with Musique Concrète was a core springboard to develop his interactive pieces. However, among Paik’s artistic backgrounds Musique Concrète is hidden by well-known influences from John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Fluxus. Based on Musique Concrète, Paik created basic elements of interactive art such as database, nonlinearity and sensorial translation at Paik’s first solo show, Exposition of Music – Electronic Television, in 1963. These are still considered fundamental properties to make interactive pieces. In this regard, Paik as an interactive artist can be a significant contribution to finding an origin of interactive art since art theorists have started to explore its genealogy.