November 11, Seoul--At the Korean Society of Cultural Industry, speaker Graeme Murran wove well known Korean artist Nam June Paik’s work and influence into historical perspective. For example mentioning that during Paiks well known performances with German cellist Charlotte Moorman, Eisenhower was warning of the “rise of the industrial military complex."
He was said he was endeared to the inventive wit and playfulness of Cage, and Paik’s musical performances, and told a story of a Cage performance where the composer left the audience waiting and waiting, surprising the audience with a noisy percussive replay of their restlessness, after having placed contact microphones under their seats.
His talk blended antidotes of art making powerful ecologic and political statements, mentioning the power of Japanese futurist photography exhibitions he held to point out the changes in the environment due to development.
Mr. Murran once had the honor of meeting Paik and the opportunity to discuss art and culture, and ask advice on preparing an exhibition. Paik told a story saying there were experiments with nuclear charges on the seabed of Japan for the construction of islands to facilitate expansion, to Point out the irony of causing damage for the sake of becoming bigger
These days the speaker manages and curates a sustainable wood mill in Scotland to provide material for woodworking artists, and avoided importing rare timber from Burma, or Indonesia.
He mentioned his special relationship with Korea and said, “I hope this continues with inventive and playful wit.”