Beuys Vox 1989

Nam June Paik made this artwork, Beuys Vox, using a vintage television set and paint. The television is like a canvas, with the screen glowing with swirling colors and abstract shapes, as if the act of creation is a performance, a dance of light and electricity. I imagine Paik, totally in the zone, experimenting with technology and art, with the energy of the city pulsing through him. He’s kind of like a mad scientist and a zen master all rolled into one! Look at the scribbled words "Beuys Vox" and "Paik" on the cabinet doors, it’s as though he is literally writing his name into art history! The rawness reminds me of Cy Twombly or even Basquiat. It’s as though Paik is in conversation with the avant-garde movements of his time, pushing boundaries and challenging what art could be. Painting and all art making is really an ongoing conversation, across time and space.