Aki Onda – Nam June’s Spirit
Out of stock
$20.00
A spellbinding tribute from one multi-faceted artist to another. New York-based artist Aki Onda (b. 1967) conjured a transduction to the Korean multi-media pioneer Nam June Paik (1932-2006). Aki himself describes the project:
“Nam June’s Spirit Was Speaking to Me occurred purely by chance. In 2010, I was spending four days at Nam June Paik Art Center in South Korea for a series of performances and had plenty of free time to wander. The building was packed with Paik’s artwork and related material. I have always felt a close kinship with him as an artist, and so it was a great opportunity to immerse myself in his works and ephemera.
It was that night I made the first contact, via a hand-held radio in a hotel room in Seoul. It was literally out of the blue. Scanning through the stations, I stumbled upon what sounded like a submerged voice and I began to record it in fascination. I concluded this was Paik’s spirit reaching out to me.
The project continued to grow organically as I kept channeling Paik’s spirit over long distance and receiving cryptic broadcasts/messages. The series of séances, conducted in different cities across the globe, began in Seoul in 2010, and continued in Köln, Germany in 2012, Wrocław, Poland in 2013, and Lewisburg, USA in 2014. The original recordings were captured by the same radio which has a tape recorder, with almost no editing, save for some minimal slicing and mastering.
Paik is known for his association with shamanism, a practice that constantly surfaces in his works all through his career. In an interview, he stated “In Korea, diverse forms of shamanism are strongly remained. Even though I have created my work unconsciously, the most inspiring thing in my work came from Korean female shaman Mudang.” Paik himself was a master shaman and vividly used shaman rituals and symbols for staging his performances and installations.
These recordings also became a way for me to explore the mythic form of radio—a medium which is full of mysteries. The transmissions captured may be “secret broadcasts” on anonymous radio stations. There are in fact hundreds of those stations around the world, although the numbers dwindle as clandestine messages can now be sent via encrypted digital channels. Some of these stations were likely for military use or espionage or relics of the Cold War. But many others continue without apparent explanation. These are just some of the questions that remain unanswered.”
Commissioned in 2017 by documenta 14’s radio program “Every Time A Ear di Soun,” these recordings were continually broadcast on eight radios stations around the world that year. Nam June’s Spirit is a beautifully formed homage, I cannot think of any other like it. An intimate, flickering language discovered through the air. The LP comes replete with a booklet of rare photographs of Paik. These images were shot on the set of Michael Snow’s film Rameau’s Nephew… (1974), although the scene was not included in the final cut.
-Sean McCann, 2020
Genre | Experimental / Noise, Modern Composition / Musique Concrete / Electronic |
---|---|
Record Label |
Categories | LP |
---|---|
Stock Level | Out of stock |
SKU | 23604734 |
Share |
Related products
-
Ricotti & Albuquerque – First LP
$20.00 | Vinyl, LP Add to cart“Alternative Fox present a reissue of Ricotti & Albuquerque‘s First Wind, originally released in 1971. Percussionist Frank Ricotti played in the National Youth Orchestra and was [...]
-
Gregorio Paniagua – Batiscafo
$28.00 | Vinyl, LP Add to cart“Munster Records presents a reissue of Batiscafo by Gregorio Paniagua. Immersed in an age of re-releases and the pursuit of rarities, hidden gems and marvels, record labels are constantly [...]
-
Killer Bug-Shitsuke
$12.00 | Vinyl, LP Add to cartBrand new full-length LP from this Japanoise legend. Killer Bug is the alias of Kazumoto Endo of Tokyo, Japan. Since 1994, Endo has been eviscerating the minds and ears of […]
-
Maria Monti – Il Bestiario
$18.00 | Vinyl, LP Add to cart“First time available since its original release on the Italian Ri-Fi label, Maria Monti’s 1974 LP Il Bestario is a rare item even in its native country. Monti is an […]
-
Bomis Premdin – Clear Memory
$25.00 | Vinyl, LP Add to cartLP version includes digital download card; includes CD bonus track. Mental Experience present the first ever reissue of Bomis Prendin‘s Clear Memory, originally released in 1984. Formed in [...]
-
Augustus Pablo-Greek Theater Berkeley 1984
$19.00 | Vinyl, LP Add to cart“Horace Swaby, known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer, melodica player, and keyboardist. In addition to popularizing the use of melodica in reggae [...]
MORE FROM Recital VIEW ALL
-
Daniel Schmidt – Cloud Shadows
$15.00 | CD Add to cartCloud Shadows is the third album by the American gamelan composer, Daniel Schmidt. The pieces in Cloud Shadows, which are quite varied and more current than the work represented on […]
-
Sydney Spann – Sending Up A Spiral Of LP
$27.00 | LP Add to cartThe first vinyl release from American artist Sydney Spann, Sending Up A Spiral Of well encapsulates Spann’s body of work thus far. On their music, which reacts to themes of […]
-
Mary Mazzacane – The Art of Mary Mazzacane
$24.00 | LP, Vinyl Add to cartHer son Loren Connors writes… “These recordings, no matter how rough the sound quality, capture the essence of the art of bel canto soprano Mary Mazzacane. Born in an Italian […]
-
Eric Anderson – The Crying Space
$16.00 | 2xCD, CD Add to cartThis double CD is comprised of two sound pieces by the Fluxus artist Eric Andersen (b. Denmark, 1940). Fragile narrations played over a streaming assemblage of tragic classical music. The […]
-
Molly McCann – Das Jahr
$11.00 | CD Add to cartThe first published recordings of Molly McCann, my older sister, playing Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Das Jahr (“The Year”, 1841); a groundbreaking cycle of 12 thematically interlocked character [...]
-
Noel Meek & Mattin – Homage to Annea Lockwood Book + CD
$21.00 | Book, CD Add to cartRecital presents a book and CD homage to the New Zealand-born American composer Annea Lockwood (b. 1939). The unique concept for this album was conceived by artists Noel Meek (New […]
MORE FROM Experimental / Noise, Modern Composition / Musique Concrete / Electronic VIEW ALL
-
Personal Best 9
$16.00 | Magazine Add to cartLasse Marghaug’s magazine Personal Best is back! Issue number 9 will be in hand and shipping mid to late June. Still my favorite magazine around. Issue 9 features interviews with […]
-
Hijokaidan – No Paris / No Harm LP
$21.00 | LP Add to cartOriginally released on LP through Jojo Hiroshige’s Alchemy Records in 1988, Hijokaidan’s No Paris / No Harm captures the vitriol and terror of the legendary noise group’s studio and live […]
-
Leah P – Surviving The Familiar CD
$10.00 | CD Add to cartMasterfully orchestrated sonic bustles, erratically battle each other while simultaneously looping into an ascendancy, binding and surmounting into myriads of convulsive, hyper-jittery, tonal [...]
-
Enhet För Fri Musik – Ömhet & Skilsmässa LP
$33.00 | LP, Vinyl Add to cartNew Enhet För Fri Musk album, recorded in Gothenburg and Malmö 2020 by Hugo Randulv, Sofie Herner, Gustaf Dicksson, Matthias Andersson and Dan Johansson. A concept album on relationships, family [...]
-
The Rita – OCD Shin CD
$10.00 | CD Add to cartRemastered by Grant Richardson Co-released with Ominous Recordings
-
Grey Windowpane – Churn Clockburning Ace CS
$10.00 | CS Add to cartShips by 7/28/23. Writing about Mazozma aka Ma Turner’s work is like trying to frame a river. Throughout the course of their prolific career and many projects, the Lexington, KY […]