Solange Fabião

1. Purpose of the Museum

The Nam June Paik Museum is to serve as a repository for the Artist's creative oeuvre, and a home for his future artistic activities. At the same time, it is to promote the Province of Kyonggi as an international center of culture and arts by locating a dedicated museum for the globally acclaimed media artist Nam June Paik.

2. Project Summary

Project Name : The Nam June Paik Museum
Project Owner : The Kyonggi Cultural Foundation
Site Location : San 10-4 Sanggal-ri, Kiheung, Yong-In, Province of Kyonggi
Buildable Site Area : ca. 33,000m2
Gross Area of Building : 5,000m2 (5 % variation allowed)

Nam June Paik Museum Proposal

CONCEPT:

Two arms of projection, penetration through the Nam June Paik world toward the Future.

The Museum body has two projecting arms with screens at the ends. The main arm is dedicated to the NJP collection. The folded arm is "changing exhibition space" and connects back to the main NJP. A sunny café terrace at one of the entrances is sheltered by the main projecting arm.

Video Time/ Video Space:

With the two arms, one devoted to NJP, one devoted to others, the key meaning is that Nam June Paik, through his vision of Video Time creates a place to work for others; a new Video Space; both arms are projections into the future.

Parallel to Nam June Paik's original fascination with the video monitor's "art object" aspect, the museum's exterior is made of curved charcoal-grey PVC panels. These special panels bend from roof to wall to underside in a smooth rain-skin surface. Unique in a pre-fabricated feeling, these panels should be molded using the latest CNC technology with construction directly from the digital drawings.

The basic structure of the building body is in concrete exposed on the interior with special steel truss work for the projecting arms. The large screens at the ends of the projecting arms are alive day and night viewed from both sides, with exterior balcony access for exceptional experience adjacent to the exterior face. Due to the high lumens of the newest technology, even a sunny day does not diminish the screen visibility.

The main circulation is in the form of a flexible loop, shaped like an infinity loop it is analogous to time. Like NJP’s Symphony number 5 it can be calibrated in minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, mega years etc.

A spiral ramp connects all floors and reaches above the building top making a sculpture of green light. Threaded through the center of the spiral ramp is the laser light "spine" of the building, which can move and project slogans into the cloudy night sky.

EXHIBITION SPACE: From the Inside, Toward the Outside:

Beginning and ending with the TV Buddha, the exhibition loop goes through the main arm where on the left and slightly below floor level the Broome Studio is experienced. (As it slips below floor level, it can be seen from below on the outside under the main arm) This slip creates a double space with a mezzanine where exhibition pieces can also be seen. Flanking this space to the right the TV Fish should be located, inviting the viewers into the second half of the main arm and the largest area for exhibition. At the end of this arm a large scale screen acts as a monitor framing access to the future. Beyond that membrane, a balcony opens with views to the landscape.

One can then turn to the right into the folded arm where the changing exhibition area is located. (This arm can be closed off for installations) The artist-requested space has a 10 m height and is visible from two different floors.

LIGHTING: “Moon Is the Oldest TV” NJP

The concept for the lighting is to gather and reflect the ambient lighting spilling off from the NJP artworks in a spirit of Light/Motion/Space. This can be achieved in a non-literal way, by means of small light- gathering devices that reproject from a distant light source or even a source many miles away. The laserlight spine and the Monitors provide a generous source of lighting which geometrically further defines a synthesis of Architecture and Lighting. Within the landscape the NJP linear projections provide not only night lighting but mysterious geometric figures, which in some ways even dominate the simple forms of the Museum Architecture. This Landscape lighting evokes the artist as nomad, wandering in the woods, the final figural image.

The building is sited to least disturb the natural landscape’s vegetation (which would be restored after construction).

The Landscape Concept is for an extension of the projection ideas into the natural gardens. The sculpture gardens are untouched native vegetation following the contours and acting like free waves as magnetic interaction produces the dynamic images of Nam June Paik's video.

"See Your Eyes with Your Eye" is the motto for the extension building.
Dedicated to teaching, this center for media art research also has a 1000 m2 student dormitory. We see this as an essential future extension; this museum must have a teaching and educational component. Sited to look back at the extended arms of the main building, the covered area under the main arm double functions as a covered walkway connecting to this proposed extension. It’s roof would double as an amphitheater which faces the screen of the main arm.

The changing exhibition space, will feature works by artist such as Tony Orsler created specially work for the NJP. It has PVC roof panels, which can be open ended up for natural light or remain closed when darkness is required.

In honor of Nam June Paik's work with robots, the museum has a greeting robot, a ticketing robot, and at the robot cafe, a special serving robot able to fill any order on the menu.

Green aspects of the building include photovoltaic roof panels, recycled materials such as fly ash concrete, recycled aluminum in foamed aluminum interior doors, and recycled rubber flooring.

The two arms of the Nam June Paik Museum are different but project from the same vision.