Hrag Vartanian

Critic, Curator, Editor-in-chief & Co-founder of Hyperallergic

The Terrified Goldfish of Nam June Paik’s “TV Fish” (2004)

I spotted this Nam June Paik last Saturday at the James Cohan Gallery’s “Live Feed: 1975-1994 show in Chelsea.

It disturbed me that the fish in the tank on the left (there were none in the tank on the right) seemed to be suffering. They swam in a frenzy away from the flashing televisions.

A wider shot of the work here.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

The serene & sexy Reclining Buddha and the zen-like Enlightenment Compressed (both 1994).

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