Unstrung Hero. . - Music - Nam June Paik, Works 1958.1979 - sound recording review

ArtForum, Dec, 2001 by Damon Krukowski

In "Duett: Paik/Takis" (1979), Paik's Romantic bent is given freer play, as is his impish good humor. According to the title of one of his multimedia works, I Am the World's Most Famous Bad Pianist, 1987, Paik is not unaware of--or embarrassed by--his mediocre technique. In "Duett," he plays bits of Romantic piano pieces, and even a kind of boulevard boogie-woogie, all badly but with great feeling.

Accompanied by Takis's incongruous clanging on metal sculptures and by what sounds like Paik's own humming of lushly harmonious tunes, the effect can be hilarious but also sincerely moving. The pleasure that Paik takes in the piano (and, at one point, a harpsichord--played even worse!) is infectious; and his humming is like a sketch of much grander music than that being plunked down. It is as if, again, Paik is dreaming of a music rather than playing it--and perhaps that's the music we hear.