Untitled 1975

This untitled work was made by Nam June Paik in 1995, in ink on graph paper. What strikes me is how Paik has isolated and repeated the image of a mountain, each one a little different from the last. It’s like a meditation, an iteration. There’s a delicate quality to the ink line, and the simple form of the mountain. And these mountains live inside these gently squared off boxes. Each of these boxes also contains a sun, or is it an exploding star? My eye goes to the second mountain where a sharp black sun rises right above the peak. It’s a little bit scary, a little bit funny. This is the Paik I know and love. His playful experimentation with media and mark making, brings Sol LeWitt to mind. Just like LeWitt's wall drawings, Paik encourages multiple interpretations and celebrates the ongoing conversation of art across time.