RIP NJP

The avant-garde artist Nam June Paik died on Sunday. Most of what I know about him comes from his brief appearance in a college course I took on John Cage. He was really clever and creative and tended to infuse his work (near as I can tell on limited info) with a great sense of humor. I remember hearing in the Cage class that in a bit of performance art, Paik once wheeled a motorcyle onstage, started it, and walked off. Eventually the audience realized that if they stayed for the end of the "performance," they would die of carbon monoxide poisoning. Here's a colorful bit from the Times obituary:

In 1965 he made his New York debut at the New School for Social Research: Charlotte Moorman, a cellist who became his longtime collaborator, played his "Cello Sonata No. 1 for Adults Only," performing bared to the waist. A similar work performed in 1967 at the Filmmakers Cinematheque in Manhattan resulted in the brief arrest of Ms. Moorman and Mr. Paik. Mr. Paik retaliated with his iconic "TV Bra for Living Sculpture," two tiny television screens that covered Ms. Moorman's breasts.