Conserving six colour CRT televisions in Nam June Paik’s ‘TV Cello’

Mon 10 Jun 2024

South Korea artist Nam June Paik (1932–2006) was a leading time-based artist linked with the Fluxus movement from the 1960s. He pioneered the use of electronic media, performance, sound, found objects, text and moving image, often in collaboration with muse cellist Charlotte Moorman (1933–91) an American cellist, performance artist, and advocate for avant-garde music. Paik created television sculptures throughout his practice with several versions of TV Cello. Some TV Cellos were performative while others were intended purely as sculptural works incorporating Paik’s characteristic video montages.

Watch | Charlotte Moorman performs with Nam June Paik’s ‘TV cello’ 1976

QAGOMA’s TV Cello 2000 (illustrated) is one of Paik’s later works, incorporating a common 20th Century technology — CRT television — in the creation of a hybrid sculpture representing the cello form. In the quarter century since the work was developed, CRT televisions are increasingly rare and challenging to maintain given the scarcity of replacement parts and technical knowledge to repair.

Nam June Paik ‘TV cello’ 2000 featuring Charlotte Moorman

The artwork includes the glass screens and internal components of six colour televisions placed inside three clear poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) (PERSPEX) cases. A wooden cello neck with neon plastic strings and wooden tail piece mounted on a marble base complete the assemblage. The artist has signed the work in vibrant yellow paint on the side of the top case, alongside two delightfully cheery smiley faces (illustrated). Two DVD players, housed inside the marble base connect with visible wiring to each case, play two channels of frenetically edited content (‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’) to the televisions in an alternate configuration.

Artist signature

The conservation of TV Cello, as with most time-based media artworks, is an ongoing process due to the constant evolution of technology. Since flat-panel displays superseded CRT technology in the mid to late 2000s, functional CRT television hardware is increasingly scarce and difficult to repair. It is important to test and maintain original equipment wherever possible. CRT televisions are complex machines with numerous components prone to failure with age.

Televisions can also be affected by magnetic forces, as exploited by Paik in his work Magnet TV 1965. The placement of the six televisions in the Gallery’s TV Cello is relevant to how the work functions as TVs in close proximity can cause interference with each other from the interaction of electromagnetic fields. Heat energy generated from powered televisions may also affect the appearance of the image. It is important to power all six televisions simultaneously to achieve consistent picture quality and reduce the chance of image impurities.

Each television was tested individually using a test pattern generator (illustrated) to create a standardised visual image to check the display functionality. This generated a predictable image to test colour, convergence, sharpness, colour bleed and other visual artefacts or impurities that may distort the image on the screen.

Conservation Treatment

Happily each television tested well both individually and when assembled. There was, however, a noticeable change in the Perspex sheet of the bottom case that sit in front of the four lower screens. The Perspex has developed an increased ‘crazed’ appearance formed from microscopic air bubbles inside the Perspex.

The solid acrylic cases used in TV Cello also trap heat generated from the CRT televisions, which can impact the electrical components and material wear of the plastic housing. PMMA will expand or contract with temperature change. Repeated heating and cooling as experienced by the clear Perspex® cases can lead to localised distortions and tolerance reductions that can appear as ‘stress-cracking’ or crazing as a delayed effect.

Ageing PMMA can also result in chemical degradation of the polymer chains resulting in the random splitting of bonds between carbon atoms in the main chain, lowering the polymer’s molecular weight. ‘At the same time as the chain splitting, gaseous products such as methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methyl formate, methyl methacrylate, and methanol are formed’^[14]. This may have resulted in tiny bubbles forming in the PMMA used to case the televisions.

The micro bubbles appear more concentrated in the centre of the bottom four screens, corresponding to where heat is most likely to be trapped. Heat affected Perspex can alter how the screen image is perceived by creating a moiré effect when viewed from certain angles. In an earlier treatment, QAGOMA conservators improved air flow by reorienting the original fans at the back of the cases to draw fresh air in, rather than out from the cases. A small gap was also introduced at the back of each case to allow for heat to escape.

Extraction fans at the back of each case were replaced

After consultation with the Curator of Contemporary Asian Art and senior conservators, it was decided two small modifications could further improve airflow to reduce trapped heat and minimize the risk of continued degradation of the PMMA cases. First, the extraction fans at the back of each case were replaced with newer models with significantly increased airflow as determined by tests with an anemometer (illustrated). At the same time, the earth connections were physically secured separately to bring to Australian electrical safety standard compliance and the degraded soft foam filters at the back of the previous fans were replaced with woven polymer textile to act as an air filter and reduce the likelihood of dust and particles being drawn inside the cases. Secondly, a 2mm gap was introduced to the front of each case to allow for improved air circulation and heat escape. Both changes have had minimal impact on the overall aesthetic of the work while reducing heat stress-induced impacts on the clarity of the Perspex cases and damage to electrical components. A slipped degaussing coil — for the removal of unwanted magnetism in order to correct colour disturbance — on TV 1 was repositioned and an original failed adhesive tape fragment holding another degaussing ring in place was reattached with conservation-grade adhesive.

Finally, all cases were cleaned of loose particulates and dust using compressed air and dental vacuum attachments. Accessible internal crevices with trapped dust were cleaned with barely dampened cotton swab and 0.5% Orvus paste in deionized water.

The recent testing and treatment of TV Cello was an opportunity to build on the extensive conservation work previously undertaken by sculpture conservators Amanda Pagliarino and Stuart Fuller. Testing procedures, documentation and installation instructions for future display have been further developed in the hope that it will preserve the life of this significant artwork.

Catherine Collyer is Associate Conservator, QAGOMA
With much thanks to the technical expertise of Huon Kane and electrician Ivan Hocevar and the guidance of curator Reuben Keehan.

Endnotes

1. ^ Waentig, 2008 Plastics in Art, 6.8.3 Aging behaviour of PMMA, p. 274-275