carsten nicolai

crt mgn

2013
neon lights, cameras, tvs, permanent magnets, motorized pendulum system, pick-ups, sound system
dimensions variable
crt mgn crt mgn

four neon tubes are mounted parallel to one another and aligned horizontally on a wall. their light is recorded by a video camera whose signals are transmitted on a tv screen. the televison image is distorted by a magnet attached to a pendulum, which hangs on a aluminium support and moves unregularly above the television screen. additionally the swinging magnet induces electricity in an electric coil. the corresponding fluctuations of the magnetic field produce modulations within the electric circuit that are transformed into acoustic signals audible during the exhibition. the magnet field of the televison is influenced in a way that causes the image to shift and distort colours and shape.

the inspiration for the work goes back to an event in 2007, in honour of nam june paik shortly after his death, at the watari-um museum of contemporary art tokyo. at that time, the watari family and ryuichi sakamoto invited artists to a collaborative performance commemorating paik. for a short solo-performance it was experimented with the idea of a distorted tv image which paik had used in his work magnet tv in 1965. the work was re-performed in paris at fondation cartier in 2012 and laid the grounds for the installation crt mgn.