Owen Fox LookingOutwards-01

V-Pyramid (1982) by Naim June Paik is a sculpture composed of 40 individual television screens, stacked on top of each other into a giant pyramid. Paik used his own video synthesis technology to create the images and video the screens display. Sound plays a big role in the piece as well: the pyramid blends together rock music, traditional Korean music, and raw noise into one sonic experience.

This project shows both the potential of new technology itself (in 1982 this video tech was cutting edge), but also the potential for combination between physical or structural art and digital or computational art. Without the “ziggurat”-like structure, the piece would lack permanence and gravitas, and without the hyper-modern audio and visuals, it would lack immediacy and interest.

Paik’s work owes a lot of inspiration to technology itself, but also to more traditional forms of art from all types of media (punk music for example.) This piece also draws from his earlier work: television sets and video manipulation are clearly things Paik is interested in)