Looking at Music

Aug 13, 2008–Jan 5, 2009

Nam June Paik and Otto Piene. Untitled. 1968. Manipulated television set and plastic pearls, 9 × 13 × 10″ (22.9 × 33 × 25.4 cm). Gift of The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Greenwich Collection Ltd. Fund, and gift of Margot Ernst. © 2003 The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Thomas Griesel

In the 1960s, the decade that saw astronauts land on the moon, artists were likewise seeking to expand boundaries of time and space and to have new experiences. At the same time, portable video equipment reached the consumer market— suddenly simultaneity and “now,” the present and the past, became content. Musicians led the way in developing new working methods, and music was at the forefront of interdisciplinary experimentation during the early days of media art. This exhibition looks at the dynamic connections that occurred from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s with a display of early media works by Nam June Paik, Bruce Nauman, Steve Reich, Joan Jonas, Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, and David Bowie presented alongside related drawings, prints, and photographs by John Cage, Jack Smith, Ray Johnson, and others.

Organized by Barbara London, Associate Curator, Department of Media.

Publication

  • Press release 7 pages

Artists

Installation images

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