Nam June Paik

Rousseau...Lao-tze also Pleaded for the Return to Mother Nature

1989

A vibrant artwork featuring a green circuit board background with superimposed images of vintage televisions and palm trees. The televisions have screens filled with handwritten text, and there are abstract black ink marks across the image. The piece has a playful yet technical aesthetic.
A vibrant artwork featuring a green circuit board background with superimposed images of vintage televisions and palm trees. The televisions have screens filled with handwritten text, and there are abstract black ink marks across the image. The piece has a playful yet technical aesthetic.

Not on view

Date
1989

Classification
Prints

Medium
Lithograph, photoetching, aquatint, and engraving

Dimensions
Sheet (irregular): 29 7/8 × 22 5/16in. (75.9 × 56.6 cm) Image: 27 9/16 × 100 1/2in. (70 × 255.3 cm)

Accession number
94.46.8

Edition
49/64 | I-VIII APs, 2 PPs, 2 Publisher's Proofs, 2 Shop Proofs

Publication
Printed by Mark Patsfall Graphics; published by Carl Solway Gallery

Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase

Rights and reproductions
© Nam June Paik Estate

API
artworks/8929

Part of a series:
Evolution/Revolution/Resolution
12 works

A colorful artwork featuring a robot-like figure composed of various elements including a television for a head, set against a bright blue background with white circuit diagram designs. The robot's body is adorned with panels containing handwritten text in different scripts, and the entire composition is accented with bold black brushstrokes and smaller red and white text elements.
A colorful artwork featuring a blue background with white electrical circuit diagrams and symbols. Overlaid are several brown vintage radio illustrations with green text on their screens, surrounded by abstract black brush strokes that resemble calligraphy. The piece has a white border and is numbered at the bottom left.
A print featuring a pattern of vintage televisions on a background resembling a circuit diagram in green and yellow hues. Each TV set has a screen displaying text in various colors, and there are large, black brushstroke characters overlaying the image. The artwork has a border and is signed at the bottom.
A graphic artwork featuring a bright red background with white and black technical schematics and diagrams. Overlaid on the schematic are several images of cassette tapes with handwritten notes in blue ink on their labels. Black brushstroke-like markings and some additional blue ink inscriptions are scattered across the image. The piece has a signature at the bottom right corner.
Graphic artwork featuring a central robotic figure composed of various rectangles with text, set against a pink background with electronic circuit diagrams. The figure has a head with a speech bubble, a body with multiple panels containing handwritten notes, and limbs with additional text. Large black and red calligraphic characters overlay the image on the right side.
A vibrant artwork featuring a bright yellow background with black and red circuit diagram elements and calligraphy. The center showcases a grid of brown vintage radios and television sets, each containing handwritten notes in various scripts. The piece is numbered at the bottom left.
A vibrant artwork featuring a green circuit board background with superimposed images of vintage televisions and palm trees. The televisions have screens filled with handwritten text, and there are abstract black ink marks across the image. The piece has a playful yet technical aesthetic.
This image displays a page from a publication with a combination of text and images. The page is predominantly covered in dense paragraphs of text in two columns, with a smaller column of text to the right. In the center and bottom of the page, there are three separate images of what appear to be artistic, cross-shaped arrangements of black-and-white photographs, each labeled with a year (Olympus de Gouges, 1989; Marat, 1989; David, 1989). The page number "6" is prominently displayed in the bottom right corner. The text is in French, and there is a footnote section at the bottom. The overall layout suggests an academic or literary context, possibly an art catalog or essay collection.
A minimalist artwork featuring a hand-drawn, irregular oval shape with the words "Evolution" and "Revolution" repeatedly handwritten inside, arranged in a circular pattern. The background is plain white.
This is a graphic artwork featuring a complex arrangement of abstract and representational elements. The composition includes a central array of reddish-brown rectangles resembling old-fashioned radios or speakers, each adorned with blue handwritten text. Surrounding these central elements are various black and white lines and shapes on a black background, suggesting a schematic or circuit diagram. Additional handwritten text and symbols in white and gold are scattered throughout, and some of the text is in different languages or scripts. The piece has a border and is marked with a signature and edition number in the lower right corner.

Nam June Paik
29 works in the collection, 8 exhibitions

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