Untitled (Zen TV) 1977

Nam June Paik made this untitled work on paper with ink, and what strikes me is the immediacy of the mark-making; you can almost see the brush dancing across the surface. The color palette is pared back to the essentials, just black ink on white paper, emphasizing the conceptual nature of the work. There’s a kind of casualness to the execution, visible in the texture of the ink and the slight variations in line weight. Paik isn’t trying to hide the process, and in fact, the unpretentious nature of the media emphasizes the playful quality of the work. Notice that little tick above the box, like an aerial, that could just be an errant mark, or the line at the bottom left where the ink has pooled slightly. It's in these spontaneous elements that the work really comes alive. Paik was always pushing boundaries, and you can see that spirit of experimentation here. I am reminded of the work of John Cage, also interested in the dialogue between chance and intention. Like Paik, he knew that sometimes the most interesting things happen when you let go of control.