Nam June Paik hacked a satellite in 1986 to make art history live.
This ambitious live satellite link-up of Japan, Korea and the United States features interviews with Keith Haring and architect Arata Isozaki, and performances and works by Philip Glass and the Kodo Drummers, Charlotte Moorman, Nam June Paik, and Lou Reed. In an extraordinary section, a performance in Japan of classical Western music is accompanied by a group of Kabuki dancers.
Direction
Paik invented video art and threw a transcontinental party.
Production
Live satellite link-up of three countries in 1986? Insane.
Cinematography
Kabuki dancers + classical music = visual whiplash.
Director
Nam June Paik
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This broadcast happened during Japan's bubble economy peak, when tech utopianism felt actually possible.
Nam June Paik coined the term 'electronic superhighway'—this was him building it in real time.
JP
KR
