The “Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Deutschen Kunsthandels” published by the Central Archive of the International Book Trade has, since issue number 7/2004, been published in the Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg. The crucial development in Nam June Paik’s work – from music via Actionism and Fluxus all the way to media art – took place between 1958 and 1963, when the artist was living in the Rhineland. In the open climate marked by an international revival that attracted musicians and painters from the whole world, Paik found the necessary prerequisites for converting his ideas of art that place social, philosophical, political and technological processes at their centre and call them in question. The Cologne studio for electronic music at the WDR radio station and the activities at Mary Bauermeister’s atelier offered him the suitable experimental environment. The gallerist, Jean-Pierre Wilhelm (Galerie 22, Düsseldorf) and Rudolf Jährling (Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal) were engaged promoters who set up his first public platforms. The publication “On sunny days, count the waves of the Rhine…” focuses our attention on Cologne, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal – and, in a more limited way, Aachen – as the meaningful stages in Paik’s artistic biography. Significant actions and exhibitions are commented on and contextualised. At the same time, Paik’s role as the organizer of important (pre) Fluxus events in Wuppertal and Düsseldorf is examined. The book presents countless, and to a great extent, unpublished documents in words and pictures from the ZADIK archives and other loans.
HOME