The Fluxus movement which began in the 1960s did not remain only as a genre like other artistic movements but constantly assumed an extremely fluid and expansive attitude. Going beyond crossing over the parallel boundaries between artistic fields, Fluxus artists experimented on complementary, or even, convergent borderless art by sharing different genres. Considering these intermedia aspects, the Nam June Paik Art Center presents _{Intermedia Theater} which approaches the art world of Nam June Paik from a new perspective.
The driving force of the Western modernist movement was the development of science, the etymology of which comes from ‘to divide.’ As Thomas Hobbes argued that “those things that lie in confusion must be set asunder, distinguished,” the Western people tried to clarify the essence of the objects by dividing them. Obviously, this Western ‘scientific’ way of thinking has contributed to the accumulation of knowledge. However, on the other hand, there have always been criticisms about the limitations of the unitary view of the world which is ever-changing and indeterminate. The existing forms of art which had distinguished between genres and maximized the characteristics of each genre were challenged by Fluxus artists. They intended to fuse the various forms of art with the key features of the intermedia. As was suggested by the title, Fluxus became a huge trend of destroying the boundary between art and life, and between artists and the public. Paik was also an artist who naturally and subconsciously put the qualities of the intermedia into practice. For him, the borderline between art and life was vague. His everyday life was his performance and wherever he went, that became his stage.
_{Intermedia Theater} will be a good opportunity to be introduced to the post-genre artistic movement of the Fluxus group and the unique aspects of Nam June Paik’s intermedia. We sincerely hope that the exhibition will be able to successfully show the greatness of the art world of Paik who foresaw and had both direct and indirect influences not only on the intermedia, but also on the present socio-cultural phenomena marked by diversity, convergence, and global network.