Transcending obsolescence in technological ruins? Questions of conservation and presentation in Nam June Paik’s Something Pacific and Rembrandt Automatic

Abstract

Standing amidst the lively garden of the campus of the University of California, San Diego, I am looking at the many television sets, Buddhas, and elements of various electronic devices scattered around. As the first outdoor ensemble of the Korean video artist Nam June Paik (1932-2006), the installation Something Pacific (1986) was installed here almost three decades ago. Although meticulously trimmed, the grass grows over the sculptures just slightly – nature, as time, is taking over the arrangement. There is a particular feeling that is attached to this observation, a feeling of tranquillity, stasis, deactivation, perhaps meditation and somewhat religious emotion. This strangely-arranged ensemble, rather than putting malfunction on display, takes the viewer to the other side (perhaps to nostalgia), questioning the standard of what is expected of media – a desire or even demand to view a transmitted image. It is astonishing in its devotion to stillness and contemplation.