Participation TV

Participation TV is one of the thirteen TV sets shown in Paik’s first solo exhibition in 1963. Here, only the viewer’s participation, that is, speaking sound into an attached microphone, can produce wildly moving patterns of lines of light on the TV screen. By using the technique of manipulating electronic circuits inside the TV, Paik showed the possibility of randomly changing the TV screen and communicating with it. He appreciated that this video art injected some new blood into happening and performance art. This meeting between new media, which had been regarded as non-art, and traditional forms of art initiated a bold experiment to blur the boundary of arts.