Far and Wide: Nam June Paik, Leonardo Electronic Almanac
Leonardo Electronic Almanac in collaboration with FACT (Foundation for Art Creative Technology) and following an exhibition organized by FACT and Tate Liverpool on Nam June Paik announces a special issue titled: Far and Wide: Nam June Paik. This issue explores the role of Nam June Paik in shaping the future vision of contemporary new media approaches, experimentation with emerging technology, aesthetics and conceptualizations.
Nam June Paik (1932-2006) changed the very idea of what making art might look like. An artist, philosopher, performer and composer (widely considered to be the first video artist), Paik was a true visionary whose work is defined by collaborations with other innovative artists and experimentation with emerging technology.
Paik embraced TV as an artistic tool, investigated telecommunications and worked with lasers while they were in their infancy. Credited with coining the term ‘information superhighway’, he imagined the MTV and YouTube generations before they happened.
Taking as a starting point the major retrospective across FACT’s gallery spaces and Tate Liverpool – that traces the artist’s life and works, through his early artistic developments as a Korean-born composer in Japan and Germany (where he worked alongside artists such as John Cage, Joseph Beuys and Karlheinz Stockhausen), to his developing interests in electronic art and avant-garde movements, including the Fluxus group – LEA invites papers on the historical role played by Nam June Paik and on contemporary innovative use of creative technology.
Paik’s innovative use of creative technology is exemplified by the Laser Cone – for the first time in Europe at FACT/Tate Liverpool – a fabulous large-scale laser installation representing Paik’s ‘post-video’ period and the culmination of his continuous experiments with new technology and media.
The call for papers is open to contemporary artists whose creative methodologies and conceptualizations inherited the visionary approach of Nam June Paik to media as well as art historians’ analyses of Paik’s video art collaborations, TV experiments and innovative use of technology.
This special issue of LEA wishes to offer a definitive look at Paik’s body of work, from the scores of early music performances and TV works, to robot sculptures and large-scale video installations. The godfather of new media art – Nam June Paik’s influence has been felt far and wide.
What is our current relationship to new media and creative practices? What innovation strategies – if any – are contemporary artists using that are inspired by Paik’s work and methodologies? What is the historical and new media legacy that Paik has left and what critical conceptualizations are framing the analysis of Paik’s work?
The Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA) is inviting proposals for an issue on these or related themes with Senior Editors Lanfranco Aceti (Kasa Gallery Director and LEA Editor in Chief) and Mike Stubbs (CEO FACT). The issue editor is Omar Kholeif and contributing editor Caitlin Page.
New Media academics, theoreticians, curators, art historians and artists that have worked on or were inspired by the oeuvre of Nam June Paik are particularly welcome to submit proposals for consideration.
The Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA) will produce an online and printed issue, as well as host curated images and videos online.
Proposals to: info@leoalmanac.org
a) Subject heading: Far and Wide: Nam June Paik
b) 500 hundred word abstract for articles – submission of full articles preferred for this special issue by proposal deadline March 1, 2012
c) Deadline for proposal submission: March 1, 2012
d) Deadline for submission of full article: March 31, 2012
e) 2 images at 72 dpi resolution no larger than 700pixels width for artists
f) Links to previous work, videos or personal sites
Our publication formats allow for full-color throughout and we encourage rich pictorial content where relevant and possible. Note however that all material submitted must be copyright cleared (or due diligence must be evidenced). For online publication a wide variety of media content may be considered (animation, mp3, flash, java, etc…)
• For scholarly papers please submit the final paper ready for peer review. Your contribution will be reviewed by at least two members of the LEA board and revisions may be requested subject to review.
• For themed and pictorial essays please submit an abstract or outline for editorial consideration and further discussion.
• Please keep your news, announcements and hyperlinks brief and focused – include contact details and a link to an external site where relevant. We reserve the right to sub-edit your submissions in order to comply with LEA policies and formats. Where material is time-sensitive please include both embargo and expiry dates.
• In all cases specify special system considerations where these are necessary (platform, codecs, plug-ins, etc…)
We look forward to hearing from you!