Chapter 1, “Memories and Legacy,” approaches Paik’s artistic practice by reflecting on his life and the legacy he left behind. Beginning with Paik’s early career and detailing his activities in the United States from the mid-1960s onward, Barbara London, a former curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, provides a vivid portrait of the New York art scene at a time when media art was emerging as a result of the increasing interaction between art and technology.
Saisha Grayson, Curator of Time-Based Media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), highlights the meaning of collaborating with Paik through the Nam June Paik Archive held by SAAM.
Lim Shan, a professor at Dongduk Women’s University’s Department of Curatorial Studies and Art Management, analyzes the meaning of Paik Nam June’s writings from a contemporary perspective and explores the aesthetic meaning and significance of Paik Nam June’s writings that reveal his experimental nature and creativity.
Architect Kim Won, principal architect at the architectural research office Kwangjang, remembers his collaboration with Paik in the 1980s when he was designing the frame structure for The More, The Better.

Chapter 2, “Media Art and Conservation,” explores the technological achievements that made the reactivation of The More, The Better possible and, in a more general sense, the meaning of conserving artworks. Hanna B. Hölling, an honorary associate professor at University College London, discusses the conservation of Paik Nam June’s works in a multifaceted context of art history, materials, and technology.
Media artist and the president of the Korean Society of Basic Design & Art Yi Won Kon talks about the conservation goal of Paik Nam June’s video installations in the context of analog technology.
Dorcas Müller is the head of the Laboratory for Antiquated Video Systems at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe. Her work brings the concept of conservation from ancient Indian literature into the present.
One of the MMCA's conservators, Kwon Incheol, shares the conservation and restoration process of The More, The Better, which showed potential problems with conservation due to aging equipment from the time it was installed.

Chapter 3, “Spread of Discourse,” discusses the influence and potential that Paik Nam June’s artistic practice still has today. Focusing on Paik’s satellite works and his role as a cultural curator in Korea, Rhee Jieun, a professor at Myongji University’s Department of Art History, examines his vision of globalization and traces how the connectivity he so passionately sought manifested itself in his works and practice.
Kim Hee-young, a professor at Kookmin University’s Department of Fine Art, connects the work of Paik Nam June, who rejected traditional artistic conventions and instead sought to fuse sound and image through electronic experimentation, to the artistic vision of Dada artist Raoul Hausmann from a media archaeology perspective.
Gregory Zinman, an associate professor at the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology, suggests directions and pathways for contemporary art that can be connected to the principles of Paik’s art.

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

Since its foundation in 1969, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, also known as MMCA, has shared its history with that of Korea’s modern and contemporary art and became one of the most iconic cultural spaces in the nation. By opening additional museums in Gwacheon in 1986, Deoksugung in 1998, Seoul in 2013, and Cheongju in 2018, we have four major establishments that are unique and organically affiliated. For instance, MMCA Deoksugung places priority on early modern Korean art, expanding its coverage to calligraphy and literature, and MMCA Seoul represents Korea’s modern art and features an integration of contemporary art. While MMCA Gwacheon focuses on art research and family activities, covering the breadth of art history from architecture to crafts, prints, and design and offering children’s programs, MMCA Cheongju has established a system of storage, research, conservation, and exhibition that comprises the life cycle of collections. Looking back on the past fifty years, the MMCA will gather insight from the art world and soar to new heights in the next fifty to come.

Barbara London
Saisha Grayson
Lim Shan
Kim Won
Hanna B. Hölling
Yi Won Kon
Dorcas Müller
Kwon Incheol
Rhee Jieun
Kim Hee-Young
Gregory Zinman