John Cage y su influencia en la obra del video artista Nam June Paik

In 1958, the Korean artist Nam June Paik (*1932; 2006) meets in Germany John Cage (*1912; 1992), avant-garde musician, who was deeply interested in the Zen Buddhism. The meeting with Cage was vital, because the North American composer will convince him to orient his career towards the artistic avant-garde, giving up his facet like classic pianist. The philosophy of Cage is refl ected in compositions like “4’ 33’’, from 1952, where the spectator doesn’t listen the sound of the piano, because this isn’t played, but he listens a silence that is interrupted by the environmental sound. There are several versions of this piece, marking the silences by means of processes at random with the “I Ching”. In this sense, the silence used by John Cage is related to the vacuity of the Zen Buddhism. Also, Paik makes use of silence in numerous works, like “1963 TV Clock”, where 24 colour television sets are manipulated, feeling at the same time the silence, interrupted again by the own momentary circumstances of the spectator. This same infl uence of the Zen Buddhism in the music of Cage is observed when argues that the music composed of melodies has the same value than the sound understood by us like noises. This aspect, among others, infl uenced to Paik, whose video images are defi ned like attributes of traditional works that don’t impress to the audience, but they suggest variable conditions. Some of his works related to Cage’s philosophy have been “Hommage à John Cage” from 1959; “Study for pianoforte” from 1960; and “Global Grove” from 1973, where Paik uses as a collage the images of his avant-garde collaborators John Cage, Allen Ginsberg and Merce Cunningham. En 1958, el artista coreano Nam June Paik (*1932; 2006) conoce en Alemania a John Cage (*1912; 1992), músico vanguardista, quien estaba profundamente interesado en el budismo zen. Su encuentro con Cage fue vital, ya que el compositor norteamericano convencerá a éste para que oriente su carrera hacia la vanguardia artística, dejando su faceta de pianista clásico. La filosofía de Cage queda reflejada en composiciones como 4’33’’, de 1952, donde el espectador no escucha el sonido del piano, ya que este no es tocado, sino un silencio que es entrecortado por el sonido ambiental. Hay varias versiones de esta pieza, marcándose los silencios mediante procesos al azar con el sistema del “I Ching”. En este sentido, el silencio empleado por John Cage se relaciona con la vacuidad del budismo zen. Igualmente, Paik hace uso del silencio en numerosos trabajos, como en “TV Clock” de 1963, donde se observan 24 television