The artwork and ideas of Nam June Paik were a major influence on late twentieth-century art and continue to inspire a new generation of artists. Each year, the museum celebrates Paik's birthday on July 20 with a talk by a contemporary artist who was influenced by his work. This year, we welcome digital video artist Takeshi Murata, who will share how his interests have been shaped by Paik's innovative work. Murata manipulates animation, digital video, and appropriated footage to create complex and visually compelling works. He exploits the distortions and glitches that result from digital compression to create flowing layers of color and form that appear almost painterly in style. Murata was one of the first artists to employ this technique, which is known as "datamoshing." If you find the concept confusing, check out Murata's 2005 Monster Movie, recently acquired by the museum for the permanent collection, in which the artist transforms a section of an old B-movie into a swirling, hypnotic dance of color. Want to know more? Join us on Saturday at 6 p.m. for his talk! There will be Paik cake. (@PaikBot will be tweeting, too.)
