Carl Th. Dreyer Robot

The four robot sculptures were created by Nam June Paik for the SMK in 1996. They depict four major figures from Danish history: Physicist Niels Bohr, philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, film director Carl. Th. Dreyer and writer Hans Christian Andersen. The robots combine technology, in the form of television cabinets and screens, with everyday objects such as toys, books and an umbrella. The videos screened and the objects themselves are linked to the lives and works of the persons portrayed. Paik was greatly interested in the evolution of new mass media and information technologies. He was a pioneering figure within video art, and began incorporating TV objects in interactive installations back in the early 1960s. To Paik, new technology held social as well as aesthetic potential, and his experiments have helped push media art in new directions. Despite the humorous undercurrents often seen in Paik’s work, the main objective was not to create “scientific toys”, but rather to “humanise technology”. The four friendly robot portraits reflect this position. They also point to how science, literature and philosophy can enter into and be presented in new settings, carried aloft by technology and entertainment.