Living with the Living Theatre

Living with the Living Theatre

1989 · 29 min

One of Paik's most compelling and poignant tapes, Living with the Living Theatre pays tribute to Judith Malina and the late Julien Beck, founder of the Living Theatre. Reversing the theme of the earlier Allan 'n' Allen's Complaint, which dealt with two artists and their relationships to their fathers, Paik explores Malina and Beck's relationship to their children. Interviews provide the memories of actual lives lived together, while Betsy Connors' animated sequences transcend the specific to suggest the universality of childhood. Garrin and Paik edit these elements into an electronic synthesis that is at times dizzyingly psychedelic and always affectionate towards its subjects. Infused with personal and cultural memories that evoke time and place — Janis Joplin concert footage, Living Theatre performances — Paik creates a haunting and deeply moving homage.

Directed by Nam June Paik

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Living with the Living Theatre

Good Morning, Mr. Orwell

Both from Nam June Paik.

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Good Morning, Mr. Orwell

Good Morning, Mr. Orwell · 1984

Good Morning, Mr. Orwell

MovieComedyMusic

In his book "1984", George Orwell saw the television of the future as a control instrument in the hands of Big Brother. Right at the start of the much-anticipated Orwellian year, Paik and Co. were keen to demonstrate satellite TV's ability to serve positive ends-- Namely, the intercontinental exchange of culture, combining both highbrow and entertainment elements. A live broadcast shared between WNET TV in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, linked up with broadcasters in Germany and South Korea, reached a worldwide audience of over 10 or even 25 million (including the later repeat transmissions).

Back to Fucking Cambridge

Back to Fucking Cambridge · 1987

Back to Fucking Cambridge

About a group of graduates from Cambridge University who go back to their college to visit a friend who has stayed on there. Otto Muehl founded a community of artists in Vienna in 1970 with the aim of exploring a completely free life practice. Since 1972, this society experiment at the Friedrichshof in Burgenland, 60 kilometers from Vienna, further developed. From the mid-1970s, other municipalities were founded in 30 European cities. At Friedrichshof itself lived at times up to 240 members and visitors.

Beatles Electroniques

Beatles Electroniques · 1969

Beatles Electroniques

Part of a collection of restored early works by Nam June Paik, the haunting Beatles Electronique reveals Paik's engagement with manipulation of pop icons and electronic images. Snippets of footage from A Hard Day's Night are countered with Paik's early electronic processing.

‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen

‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen · 1974

‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen

MovieComedyMystery

Various unrelated vignettes, often juxtaposing sound and image.

Merce by Merce by Paik

Merce by Merce by Paik · 1978

Merce by Merce by Paik

Merce by Merce by Paik is a two-part tribute to choreographer Merce Cunningham and artist Marcel Duchamp. The first section, “Blue Studio: Five Segments”, is a work of video-dance produced by Merce Cunningham and videomaker Charles Atlas. The second part, produced by Paik and Shigeko Kubota, further queries the relationship between everyday gestures and formal notions of dance.

All Star Video

All Star Video · 1985

MovieAnimationDocumentary

A compilation of avant-garde artwork and talent of the mid to late 20th century hosted by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

"Topless Cellist" Charlotte Moorman

"Topless Cellist" Charlotte Moorman · 1995

"Topless Cellist" Charlotte Moorman

MovieDocumentary

Nam June Paik's first single-channel videotape since 1989 is a heartfelt tribute to his long-time collaborator Charlotte Moorman. This portrait traces Moorman's career as an avant-garde performer, from her classical training to her notorious arrest as the "Topless Cellist" and subsequent talk-show celebrity. Rare documentations of Moorman's performances include Otto Piene's Sky Kiss and Jim McWilliams' Chocolate Cello. Interviews with Moorman's friends, family and collaborators, such as Yoko Ono, Christo and Jeanne Claude, Otto Piene, and Barbara Moore, among others, provide intimate recollections of the inimitable Moorman.

Zen for Film

Zen for Film · 1964

In an endless loop, unexposed film runs through the projector. The resulting projected image shows a surface illuminated by a bright light, occasionally altered by the appearance of scratches and dust particles in the surface of the damaged film material. This a film which depicts only its own material qualities; An "anti-film", meant to encourage viewers to focus on the lack of concrete images.

Video: The New Wave

Video: The New Wave · 1975

Video: The New Wave

MovieDocumentary

The New Wave is the seminal compendium of independent video work in the early 1970s. Written and narrated by Brian O'Doherty, this overview of the emerging video field includes examples of guerrilla television and "street" documentaries, early explorations with image-processing and synthesis, and performance video. This historical anthology includes excerpts of tapes by the following video pioneers: Stephen Beck and Warner Jepson, Peter Campus, Douglas Davis, Ed Emshwiller, Bill Etra, Frank Gillette, Don Hallock, Joan Jonas, Richard Serra, Paul Kos, Nam June Paik, Otto Piene, Willard Rosenquist, Dan Sandin, James Seawright, Steina Vasulka, TVTV, Stan Vanderbeek and William Wegman.

Adelic Penguins

Adelic Penguins · 1986

Adelic Penguins

Originally commissioned by the Sony Corporation of Japan and performed live on the JumboTRON, a fourteen-story TV set at the Expo in Tsukuba, Japan, Adelic Penguins is a collaboration between Fitzgerald, artist Paul Garrin, and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (who also appears as a performer). Structured in six segments, this technical tour-de-force is a pyrotechnic fusion of sound and image, in which the dynamic visual imagery fully complements and heightens Sakamoto's staccato, percussive score. Fitzgerald and Garrin merge terrestrial and interplanetary worlds, in which Sakamoto's figure becomes an integral part of the landscape. Set aloft in the surreal world of the artists' invention, Sakamoto dances, floats and walks through a hyperkinetic universe.

Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel · 1993

MovieDocumentaryHistory

Sistine Chapel is an audio-visual collage of new footage and samples from Paik’s past videos, which featured many of his friends, collaborators, and public figures. It was Paik’s own way of summarizing his artistic career with video. The film installation consists of fast-paced and overlapping images that completely cover the gallery walls and ceiling—one of the most under-appreciated parts of architecture, according to Paik. With its electronic visuals and booming audio, interspersed with periods of silence, the immersive installation stands in stark contrast to the experience of its namesake.

Home Movies 1971-81

Home Movies 1971-81 · 1985

Home Movies 1971-81

MovieDocumentary

Home movies shot on Super 8mm by W+B Hein over 10 years.

Tapes

MovieDocumentary

The tapes in the program consist of some of Mekas’ earliest cassettes from the 1990s not long after he first began working with video as well as more recent mini-DV tapes from 2010s. The contents of the tapes have not been previously seen in their entirety. The footage provides rare insight into aspects of Mekas’ video-making practice, as well as his activities, thoughts, dreams, and concerns, especially during the later years of his life.

Fluxfilm Anthology 1962-1970

Fluxfilm Anthology 1962-1970 · 2010

Fluxfilm Anthology 1962-1970

MovieDocumentaryFantasy

Feature-length compilation program presenting 37 out of 41 original fluxfilms produced and directed in the 1960s by Fluxus artists, including George Maciunas, Nam June Paik, Yoko Ono, Robert Watts, Paul Sharits, et al.

Allan ‘n Allen’s Complaint

Allan ‘n Allen’s Complaint · 1982

Allan ‘n Allen’s Complaint

The influence of Jewish fathers on their sons and the complexity of familial relationships are explored in a witty, poignant portrait of two artists. Beat poet Allen Ginsberg (whose father Louis was a poet in his own right) and performance artist/sculptor Allan Kaprow (whose father is a high-powered lawyer) are the sons who struggle with and against the influences of these patriarchal figures.

TV Buddha

TV Buddha · 1974

One of Nam June Paik’s most iconic works, TV Buddha expresses the contrasts and parallels between East and West and between technology and spirituality in a very simple and direct way. A CCTV camera films a Buddha statue, which Paik bought from an antique store. Its static, silent image appears live on a round TV set, inspired by popular sci-fi imagery. Here the Buddha is both the viewer and the viewed image, mirroring our own experience as mass media consumers.

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