To mark its opening, OMG has prepared an ∞ 49th-day rite.
On June 23, 1982, Nam June Paik brought K-456 out onto the street from the museum where it was on display. K-456 is a robot created collaboratively by Nam June Paik and the engineer Shuya Abe. As it strolled through the street, K-456 would collapse after every three steps, requiring four men to lift it back up. During this procession, K-456 was struck by a traffic accident. Nam June Paik referred to this incident as “The first catastrophe of the twenty-first century. And we are learning how to cope with it.” It was both a prophecy of the future and a lesson on the position humanity must take.
Suddenly, an absurd thought arises. What became of K-456 after the accident? K-456 was exhibited in the very state of its collision and later appeared again through multiple variations. We hold the 49th-day rite one day before Nam June Paik’s date of death, January 29. For that to be possible, K-456 must die on December 11. OMG’s K-456 is Chaking.
Chaking is a person with cerebral palsy. On November 1, the day OMG opened, Chaking decided to kill the version of himself that had lived complacently within mutual goodwill and consideration. He danced in front of others. Salt was scattered upon one another. We listened to Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) by Arnold Schoenberg.
The tree turned upside down is a triangular TV. Nam June Paik once said that the moon is the oldest television. Next to the house where the dog Camus lives, there is a stream. Walking along the water with Camus, his guardian looks at the Christmas trees lit up inside each home and reflects on their own heart. Some memories remain vivid, while events from moments ago slip away. Situations continue to invert. Anything that does not flow according to rules, anything that enters into relation with humans, ultimately depends on the human heart. Perhaps this is why Camus began The Stranger with the line: “Today, mother died. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know. I received a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Deep sympathy.’ That doesn’t mean anything. It may have been yesterday.”
Thoughts separated by a single day. We can be reborn every day. We are influenced by events, accidents, and people that trouble us. To escape pressure, choose the mechanical. The path to becoming a better human is to choose a mechanical life. Just remember to take care of your heart in advance. You may need it someday. Today as well, with a heart that carefully looks after itself, OMG updates itself by generating a new mechanical language and a new natural language. Please hang a silver-foil ornament engraved with your own face on the tree. Salt may be scattered. The lightning-struck tree TV will guard our hearts.
