NAM JUNE PAIK ARCHIVE GIVEN TO THE SMITHSONIAN

The Nam June Paik archive will be given to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, reports Carol Vogel for the New York Times. John G. Hanhardt will spearhead the organization of the archives and the establishment of a Paik center at the museum. As a leading expert in Paik’s work, he was the curator for two landmark exhibitions devoted to the artist: the first, in 1982, at the Whitney and the second, a retrospective in 2000, at the Guggenheim. The archive is vast and includes Paik’s early writings; correspondence with other artists and collaborators like the composer John Cage, the German artist Wolf Vostell, and the avant-garde cellist Charlotte Moorman; and a complete collection of videotapes used in his work, as well as production notes, television work, sketches, notebooks, models, and plans for video installations. The archive covers a panoply of equipment: early-model televisions and video projectors, radios, record players, cameras, and musical instruments. There are toys, games, folk sculptures, and the desk where he painted in his SoHo studio. “This archive becomes fundamental in understanding the changes in late-twentieth-century art,” Hanhardt said. “[Paik’s] ideas speak to what young artists are doing today.” It will take a few years to catalogue and organize the archive. Over time, it will be available to scholars and artists by appointment only. Hanhardt also plans to create exhibitions drawn from it.