CINEMA METAPHYSIQUE

  [via Nam June Paik]

Hand sculpture
without shadow play,
isolated light
in rectangular strip
represented his face twice,
image proportioned 60/40.

Why should a single person sigh?
I make technology ridiculous.
It has arthritis & has not bar mitzvah.
Scared of getting arrested?


Barry Alpert / Silver Spring, MD US / 5-24-06 (12:44 PM)


Initially drafted intuitively in the dark during a screening of 8 separate 
works by or about this major artist.  Though Nam June Paik is often 
referred to as the George Washington of video art, I first became intrigued 
by his performative manner when I encountered him as a next door neighbor 
after I moved into Westbeth in NYC.  Many years later Paik was able to pull 
off the most stunning performance ever by an artist in Washington DC, but 
since this work was sited in the White House and not in a museum or 
gallery, information about it circulated in an erratic manner.  Where the 
photo and video documentation can be found remains unknown to me, but I 
believe this account by his nephew, Ken Paik Hakuta:

"In 1998, Nam June was invited to a state dinner at the Clinton White 
House, June of '98. Some of you will remember -- it's not that long ago -- 
that was the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Nam June was going, and 
he asked if I would go with him. I wheeled him into the White House, and 
these gigantic Marines took over from there. Nam June was very amused, I 
think. He was having a great time, talking to all the people. Then we got 
into to the receiving line. Nam June decided to show respect, I think, to 
the President, Mrs. Clinton and the other dignitaries there. He decided to 
get up from his wheelchair, get on his walker, and try to walk through the 
receiving line. The world press is across from the line at the state 
dinner. Tens and tens of cameras and video cameras, everything. So as Nam 
June is talking to President Clinton, and I'm standing right behind him, 
Nam June turns around and says to me, ‘Ken, I think my pants are falling 
down.’ True story here. And I said, ‘What?’ ‘My pants are falling!’ he 
says. I look down, and his pants are falling! They are completely down on 
the floor. And he has no underwear on! So I pick up his pants. I pull them 
up and I just hold them there. Now, Bill Clinton is such a cool president 
he still continued to have small talk with my uncle. I think they were 
talking about Chelsea, maybe, I don't know. A little bit down the line, I 
could see that Hillary was really not amused at all. She was ticked. But 
Bill Clinton was saying nothing. It was really quite amazing.

"After that interesting dinner, Nam June was inundated with phone calls, 
faxes, everything. All his friends around the world thought that was the 
best Fluxus performance in the world. Everybody wanted to know, including 
the press, whether it was an accident or whether it was a statement, 
because you have to remember, my uncle is in a wheelchair now, but he has a 
reputation for being a cultural terrorist. So I asked Nam June, ‘Did you 
drop your pants on purpose? Was it an act? Was it an artistic statement? A 
political statement?’ And he replied, ‘My pants dropped. That's all.’ He 
told me -- and this is very Nam June -- he said, ‘It really doesn't matter. 
It was a great event.’