“Many people had thought that television is against ecology... But in this case, television is part of ecology.”
—Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik’s vision of a connected global media ecology materialises in Sonatine for Goldfish of 1992. Comprising a vintage RCA Victor television set transformed into an aquarium, this work has the ability to be filled with water and plants, and even house a live goldfish. Although, Paik said, people think of technology and nature as polar opposites, and seeing them together as a “paradox”, he believed it to be crucial that they exist in harmony. By repurposing the TV – a symbol of mass communication and technological advancement – and presenting a live goldfish within it, Paik highlighted the intersection of natural and manufactured worlds, poeticising his idea of a harmonious global ecosystem within which nature and technology coexist, or even thrive.
Paik was captivated by television. For him, the TV set was not just a passive medium for displaying information, but an active instrument capable of disseminating cultural narratives and shaping societal norms on a global scale. Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, Paik emigrated to Japan aged-eighteen due to the outbreak of the Korean War. After studying aesthetics at the University of Tokyo, he moved to West Germany, before later emigrating to the United States. As a result of this journey, Paik viewed the world with a unique cross-cultural lens, and this global trajectory is evident in his artistic vision.
Informed by his experiences in Japanese-occupied Korea and mid-century West Germany, Paik possessed a nuanced understanding of how political power manipulates the masses through media. “Television is a dictatorial medium,” Paik argued. “When the superiors say something to the inferior, they can just listen and answer “Yes.” . . . I think talking back is what democracy means.” He saw the television, with its mass appeal and pervasive influence, as a means to do just that. Captivated by televisions, he sought to use them to demonstrate that art and technology, much alike nature, transcend national, cultural and linguistic boundaries. For Paik, the universal language of television could facilitate a shared understanding among people from different backgrounds, fostering a global conversation. His prescient concept of the “electronic superhighway” – a global communications ecosystem very similar to what would become the world wide web – forecasted our contemporary society. For this reason, Paik is often hailed as a prophet of today’s digital era, due to his deeply attuned understanding of the power of technology to transform global communications.
“The oldest television set humankind had was the moon, people always gazed at the moon.”
—Nam June PaikAs well as presenting Paik’s notion of a technological-ecological harmony, Sonatine for Goldfish also interrogates the line between reality and representation, ever blurred as media technology advances further. By replacing the television’s usual flashing, pixelated images with real water, plants, and swimming fish, in Sonatine for Goldfish Paik compresses reality and representation, distorting any distinction between present and recorded events. In this way, Paik underscored the curated nature of televised “reality”, empowering the audience to maintain control over their engagement with television and encouraging a resistance to unidirectional mass media. As we navigate an era saturated with social media, artificial intelligence, and constant news cycles, Paik's artworks serve as enduring reminders to question and actively engage with information presented to us. Furthermore, this becomes even more poignant as earth’s climate emergency continues to worsen, the natural ecosystem becomes increasingly fragile, and climate politics become more polarised. Amongst this tension, Paik’s pioneering work poignantly calls for a future in which technology and nature thrive in harmony.
