If U.S. culture is shaped by the opposing worlds of avant-garde art and mainstream media, it appears that Nam June Paik has found a way in which to wire both together. Paik's "Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii," originally created in 1995, was recently reconstructed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, along with several other works by the artist, including "Megatron Matrix" and "Zen for T.V."
"Electronic Superhighway" is a 40-foot wide U.S. map complete with state border neon tubing, formed from a collage of closed-circuit television monitors flashing images of 49 different channels. The piece clashes art and technology while prying into senses once left untouched by the casual stroll through an art gallery. All of the elements of the display, from glowing neon lights to flickering televisions playing at different speeds and moments in history, at first appear to contend with each other.
But after gazing at the display a bit longer, one finds the elements completely dependent on and in harmony with one another. The viewer's eyes follow the gleaming state lines as it flows from one neon color to another on a cross-country travel interrupted every so often by a channel change, and a different cultural reference that Paik seeks to bring to our attention. Different colors illuminate from and different channels are tuned into on each state, yet there appears to be an underlying connectivity among the screens.
Referring to this art as harmonious, however, should not confuse one into thinking that the piece is altogether soothing or easy on the eyes. In fact, it is rather visually chaotic. But its chaos lends to a level of hypnosis, and much like a bystander witnessing a car wreck, it is difficult to avert one's eyes.
Minutes before reaching the display, an incomprehensible hum of voices and static reaches the ears of the viewer. Closer observation produces sensory overload as sound-bites from classic U.S. films, and news clips from the nation's history erupt from multiple speakers. Dorothy's repetitive screams for her Auntie Em bounce into one ear while Martin Luther King Jr.'s unmistakable voice streams into another. And yet, it is in this auditory repetition that one gets lost in his or her own memories of U.S. media and pop culture. The visual echoing of each state's images emphasizes the idea of growing homogenization of U.S. culture. It is a symphony of iconic U.S. events and a cacophony of mainstream images all at once.
Paik designed this video art display over a decade ago, suggesting that technologies such as television have had a huge role in forming an U.S. image of what the United States is, and that mainstream media has homogenized a formally-diverse nation. At the same time, Paik appears to make a playful attempt at demonstrating the potential for technology to make positive social change. He tries to show how technology has the potential to bring us closer together than ever before, with the hope that the better we are able to communicate with one another, the more unified we will be.
In U.S. society today, it appears that those clashing neon lights and flickering televisions all playing at different speeds bring to mind a newer concept of the nation transforming into a "salad bowl" culture, rather than a "melting pot." Someone can now stand on one end of the map - that is, live in one part of the country - and understand what is going on elsewhere, eliminating the need to travel across the country and experience different cultures in reality. Many of us live out our day in a virtual world, telecommuting to work to save time and money, communicating with family and clients thousands of miles away instantly. While the electronic superhighway should provide us with an even better means of exercising our freedom to see the world, perhaps it also slowly has become like our own set of chains, keeping us from getting out and seeing the world simply because it is not necessary.
Paik's design begs us to ask ourselves what we risk by replacing human-to-human contact with cell phone and computer communication. Human contact obsolete, are we to become like zombies, hijacked by an electronic superhighway that once held so much promise?
Paik's entire exhibit presents certain questions about the role of the media in our lives. By incorporating video into art, he touches new limits in the art world just as the world of technology is expanding and reaches limits of our senses left unexplored by other modern art. His work is hypnotic yet disturbing, enlightening but confusing all at once, making it difficult to wrap one's mind around the messages he attempts to convey. But in our culture of instant gratification, perhaps a challenge is just what people need.
