Nam June Paik, 1932 - 2006.

Nam June Paik, an avant-garde composer, performer and artist widely considered the inventor of video art, died Sunday at his winter home in Miami Beach. He was 73 and also lived in Manhattan.

Roberta Smith, the New York Times.

Paul Schimmel, chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, said Paik was "the first artist to realize the potential of television, the idea that it was going to be all around us and change the culture." Despite Paik's fascination with that phenomenon, Schimmel said, "one of the beautiful things he did was to disrupt the sophistication of electronic technology."

Suzanne Muchnic, the Los Angeles Times.

The late Paik Nam-june, a Korean-born celebrated video-artist, will have his wish to be buried in his home country fulfilled. Paik, who died on Sunday at his home in Miami, Florida, will be cremated and his ashes placed in South Korea, the United States and Germany.

Bae Keun-min, the Korea Times.

Update, 2/5: Yoko Ono remembers Nam June Paik at a memorial service in New York on February 3. A short video by Doron Golan.

Posted by dwhudson at January 31, 2006 9:36 AM