NAM JUNE PAIK I attended the funeral of my dear friend Nam June Paik yesterday. The funeral took place at the Frank Campbell Funeral Chapel on 81st Street and Madison In attendance were the complete A List of the Art world. Yoko Ono, Merce Cunningham, Jean Claude and Christo, Besty Broun director of the Smithsonian, John H. Hanhardt, curator of the Guggenheim, and Bill Viola. There were faces in the crowd of people I hadnt seen in some 30 years. German museum director Wulf Herzogenrath told me that he purchased the "Paik Abe Synthesizer " for his museum. That was the very first piece of electronic equipment my hands ever touched. Suffice to say, Herr Herzogenrath was delighted to learn this news,as the medium was at its shear infancy in 1975. Paik influenced the entire world, taking steps that were not there before. He called me "A crazy man" because I took stills of moving images which he was not doing and saw the digital world just above the mountain. As most of you know, Paik was kind enough to write the introduction to my book, "Laurence GARTEL: A Cybernetic Romance," published by Gibbs Smith, Utah, 1989. I will forever be indebted to him for his wonderful words, and kind thoughts. In true Fluxus style, Paik's nephew Ken Paik Hakuta told everyone to cut off their neck ties in homage to Paik. Yoko Ono placed half a tie on Paik's body resting gently. It was indeed outrageous and Paik's final performance. I have the whole Funeral and "After Party" at the Mark Hotel documented in both stills and digital clips. May the vision of great men live on. -Laurence GARTEL |
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