At the Symposium held by the Korean Society of Culture Symposium, the attendees were treated to a talk from German artist and professor, Ingo Baumgarten. He spoke his about personal history and reception of world famous Korean Artist Nam Jun Paiks work in Germany. He pointed out that Nam June was basically considered a German artist. Even being chosen to represent Germany in an international biennale. At one point he said slyly “don’t make the mistake of thinking Paik Nam June is a Korean artist.”
Mr. Baumgarten said he was born the year Paik moved to New York, and jokingly mentioned that Paik’s work is collected in a lot of museums, and with many exhibitions in Germany so he feels qualified to speak about him. Showing Paik’s TV robot on a horse in front of Frankfurt’s museum of communication, as he was saying this.
Although his personal art is much different in style than Paik’s he appreciates his work very much, and remembers his first encounter with his work at 18 in Vienne, being fascinated with ”Prepared Piano” in contrast to Cage's prepared pianos which were modified to affect the sound, Paik made it as visual artistic statement, adorning it with nails and barbed wire. Mr. Baumgarten saw in it a criticism of high culture and enjoyed ‘the playful mixture of aggressive humor”
His talk followed Paik’s career from the beginning of his work with magnets and TVs and his “TV and Buddha.” He also treated the members of the audience to gossip about the artist when he himself was an art student, and Paik was a professor, saying he was famous for being too active internationally to come to class, only rarely showing up with jetlag.
