Nam June Paik
(Seoul, South Korea, 1932 - 2006, Miami, Florida)
Family of Robot: High Tech Child
1987
Color televisions in aluminum frame on 1950s RCA table model cabinet with paint and video
79 1/2 x 44 1/2 x 26 in. (201.9 x 113.0 x 66.0 cm)
Collection of the Akron Art Museum
Purchased with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Irving Sands and the Museum Acquisition Fund
1987.30 a-s
More Information
Nam June Paik, considered a father of video art, recognized the tremendous impact television has had on human perception of the world and saw it as a tool of great artistic potential. His humorous but telling representation of the child of the future—or perhaps the present—has its roots in a past both technological and artistic. The younger generation robot made of sleek metal televisions stands on a more dated wooden model, suggesting the medium’s history. Paik also raises the timeless issue of a younger generation emerging from, and eventually supplanting, its parents.
Keywords
SculptureTelevision
Contemporary Art
Robots
Technology
Video
Television