Documenta 6 Satellite Telecast
Joseph Beuys, Douglas Davis, and Nam June Paik
1977, 30 min, color, sound
Documenta 6 Satellite Telecast
Joseph Beuys, Douglas Davis, and Nam June Paik
1977, 30 min, color, sound
Description
Documenta, held every five years in Kassel,Germany, is one of the largest and most important contemporary art surveys. In 1977, Documenta 6 featured the first live international satellite telecast by artists. Performances by Nam June Paik, German conceptual artist Joseph Beuys, and Douglas Davis were transmitted to over twenty-five countries. Paik and Charlotte Moorman are seen live from Kassel in Fluxus-inspired collaborative performances, including TV Bra, TV Cello, and TV Bed. They fuse music, performance, video and television in an homage to global communications. Also from Kassel, Joseph Beuys presents a direct address to the public, elaborating on his utopian theories of art as "social sculpture," which were crucial to his conceptual project. From Caracas, Venezuela, Davis performs The Last Nine Minutes, a participatory piece in which he addresses the time/space distance between himself and the television viewing audience.
Introductions: Russell Connor and Peter Eden. In German with English voiceover and English.
Exhibition & Distribution Conditions
PLEASE NOTE: Allow extra lead-in time if you are planning a public screening or exhibition of Nam June Paik's single screen video works. All such orders must be forwarded by EAI to the Paik Studio for their agreement before any event can be confirmed.
