The subseries, General and Personal Correspondence, makes up the bulk of the Correspondence series. This subseries reflects Paik's associations with a wide international circle of artists, including many of those associated with Fluxus. Notable artist correspondents include Mary Bauermeister, John Cage, Karl Otto Götz, Dick Higgins, Ben Vautier, and Wolf Vostell. The art critic Gregory Battcock, wrote while he was collaborating on Paik's single channel video You Can't Lick Stamps in China, signing his letters "Professor G." In addition to ordinary letters, Paik received collages and other forms of mail art from George Brecht, Ken Friedman, Ray Johnson, and Jim McWilliams. Also included is a card from James Tenney that includes one of Tenney's performance scores.
Business correspondence includes letters and faxes from corporations, foundations and publishers, documenting the artist's association with art festivals such as Biennale di Venezia, Documenta 5 (Harald Szeemann) and museums and galleries, including Galeria Bonino and the Carl Solway Gallery. Paik's correspondence includes letters to Howard Klein (Rockefeller Foundation), David Loxton (WNET), Peter Hoenisch (Sony, Germany) and Arthur Køpke, as well as a letter to Grace Glueck, an art critic for the New York Times, concerning the death of Charlotte Moorman.
Arrangement:
Folders are arranged alphabetically according to the surname of the individual or the name of the institution, with single correspondent folders following the group folders of the appropriate letter. Folders containing letters from unidentified correspondents and third-party correspondents are placed at the end of the subseries.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the archive requires an advance appointment. Please contact Paik Archive staff by email at PaikArchive@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Unpublished materials are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Collection Citation:
Nam June Paik Archive, Smithsonian American Art Museum; Gift of the Nam June Paik Estate
Sponsor:
This collection was processed with support from the Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
