IMPORTANT EARLY WORK BY NAM JUNE PAIK 7574. PEDO, by NAM JUNE PAIK. Korean American (1932-2006). Video Automaton, c. 1989. Over life sized electronic automaton with composite body and TV monitor head, the title of the work 'PEDO' written in attached alphabetic beads. Dimensions 80 inches in height, weight is ~80 lbs. Additional photos upon request. Condition: The TV turns on, however the other electronics need repair (we can recommend an expert with experience in the repair and restoration of Paik pieces). There is also separation of one finger. This is a very heavy, bulky piece subject to special shipping by a fine art shipper. Provenance: An extensive North Eastern Collection. The collection of a New York entertainer. Acquired at auction in New York in the early 1980's. Nam June Paik is the acknowledged originator and pioneer of Video Art. His electronic sculptures have sold from $40,000 to well over $100,000 and are featured in museums such as the Whitney Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and numerous others. Christie's holds the auction record for Paik's work since it achieved $646,896 in Hong Kong in 2007 for his Wright Brothers, a 1995 propeller-plane-like tableau comprising 14 TV monitors. This is an early unsigned work by Paik before he was 'discovered' and became famous. I lived in Manhattan, and it was in the early 70's that I used to watch Paik, who had a regular program on a public access channel done by WNET called Videolab. Paik and his early pieces were prominently featured in those early shows with various camera feeds etc., often of Paik himself or his surroundings, being displayed through the monitor. This work was produced somewhat later and I'm not sure what kind of documentation exists for it. However we are not aware of anyone else producing early video art such as this in the same period. As such this is certainly an important early work by Paik and likely one of the earliest extant works of the video art genre and thus of considerable historical interest to the development of 20th century art. Price on request.