Nam June Paik: Live Feed, 1972-1994

South Korean-born American artist Nam Jun Paik left a hole in the video art world with his passing in 2006. Considered to be the first video artist and a pioneer of the space by many, his work foreshadowed contemporary video art as both a communicative and artistic medium. He even went so far as to asserted in 1965 that the television cathode-ray tube would someday replace the canvas. While video has by no means replaced canvas, you can see some of his influential work at the James Cohan Gallery.

Beginning April 14 and running through May 30, the James Cohan Gallery features a collection of Paik's important works including sculptures from his robot series, which incorporate video monitors and surveillance cameras with sculptural forms in order to allowing the audience to engage with the work.

Cloning Art

I was googling the words technology and art today to see if anyone is actually reading my blog or if it had any prominence in Google. To my dismay it didn't but what I found instead was an article from the technology section of the New York Times dated July 2004 about a french sculptor who wanted to reproduce a limestone sculpture of a loin's face for a line of fountains. Since carving each individual head was an arduous task that the sculptor was uninterested in, he instead worked with a new-stone mill in who technically mapped the original sculpture in 3D with a laser scanner and produced exact replicas of the loin's head. A task that would take any sculptor days if not weeks was completed in mere hours by the machine - without the subtle flaws and imperfections of handmade creations.

This story is an example of how technology is transforming the way sculpture, architectural elements and and even painting can be cloned. Computer aided design software and scanners are in some cases replacing the original artists creating detailed replicas from original works. While these replicas lack the inspiration and creativity of the original pieces they do paint a scary picture of what's in store for craftsmen.

Don't get me wrong I am all for advancements in technology but not at the cost of craftsmanship. Rapid prototyping pioneered by the automotive and aviation industry in the 1950's has gained traction in industries ranging from consumer package good design to toys, I guess it was only a matter of time before it infiltrated the art world.

Are artists fully prepared to embrace it though?