Bye Bye Kipling

Content Type

Artwork

Artist

Nam June Paik

Dating

1986

On Screens

Produced by WNET, New York, the Korean Broadcasting System, and Asahi National Broadcasting Ltd., Japan
Producer: Carol Brandenburg
Editor of single-channel version: Skip Blumberg

Medium

Video, colour, sound, 30 min 32 sec

Credits

Courtesy of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York

On Screens

Produced by WNET, New York, the Korean Broadcasting System, and Asahi National Broadcasting Ltd., Japan
Producer: Carol Brandenburg
Editor of single-channel version: Skip Blumberg

Similar to Good Morning, Mr. Orwell both visually and in spirit, Bye Bye Kipling was even broader. It linked New York, Seoul and Tokyo during the Asian Games. The title referenced a famous passage from a Rudyard Kipling poem: “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” Paik proved it wrong by bringing together rock musician Lou Reed and kabuki theatre, artist Keith Haring and fashion designer Issey Miyake, composer Philip Glass and a marathon in Seoul. As with Good Morning Mr. Orwell, Paik designed the linking graphic sequences, including one of his video sculptures.