"Electronic Superhighway" by Nam June Paik
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 38° 53.657 W 077° 01.430
18S E 324484 N 4306991
This incredible neon and video sculpture can be found on display in the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. Each state has television sets displaying looped video of images that are representative of it.
Waymark Code: WM442W
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 07/04/2008
Views: 64
This incredible neon and video sculpture can be found on display in the National Gallery of American Art. Each state has television sets displaying looped video of images that are representative of it.
The plaque next to the piece reads:
When Nam June Paik came to the United States in 1964, the interstate highway system was only nine years old, and superhighways offered everyone the freedom to "See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet." Walking along the entire length of this installation suggests the enormous scale of the nation that confronted the young Korean artist when he arrived. Neon outlines the monitors, recalling the multicolored maps and glowing enticements of motels and restaurants that beckoned Americans to the open road. The different colors remind us that individual states still have distinct identities and cultures, even in today's information age.
...Paik was the first to use the phrase "electronic superhighway," and this installation proposes that electronic media provide us with what we used to leave home to discover...
The Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery are free to the public and open 11:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m. daily every day except for Christmas.