This comprehensive book was published on the occasion of Nam June Paik: Video Time—Video Space, concurrent exhibitions by the artist at Kunsthalle Basel and Kunsthaus Zürich in 1991, which traveled to Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germany, and Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, in 1992. The dual presentations showcased both the life and work of the visionary video artist, with one focusing on large multi-monitor installations from the mid-1970s onward and the other on milestones of the artist’s life, including earlier work. Trained as a classical pianist, Paik came into contact with protagonists of the 1960s avant-garde through his interest in composition and performance, and this interaction shaped his outlook at a time when electronic images were becoming ubiquitous. Inspired to bring the popular medium of television into the realm of fine art, he was instrumental in the development of video art.

In addition to numerous artwork images and historical documentation, the book includes texts by more than twenty experts illuminating various aspects of Paik’s work as well as biographical notes, an exhibition history, and a bibliography. Paik’s own philosophical “Thoughts at Age Fifty-nine” is also featured, as is an evaluation of his musical performance art by his mentor, composer John Cage. This copy is signed, dated, and inscribed to “Aviva and Jacob [Baal-Teshuva]” by Paik and includes an original two-color wax crayon drawing on the front endpaper.