Dimensions / 30.4×40.2cm
Medium / 30.4×40.2cm

Taken by Manfred Montwé, this is a photograph of Nam June Paik’s first solo show Exposition of Music – Electronic Television held in Galerie Parnass in Wuppertal in March 1963. Part of the exhibition was Klavier Integral, four prepared pianos. On to two of the pianos, different objects were suspended, stuck and nailed, all tangled with electric cables. Visitors were invited to play the piano freely. When the keys were pressed, you could hear a strange sound or see objects moving; or you would find that your action of playing the piano turned on a lamp, a siren, a ventilator or a radio in the room. The photograph shows the gallery owner Rolf Jährling fiddling with the piano. Architect Jährling opened Galerie Parnass at his architecture office in 1949 and he organized more than 160 exhibitions and concerts until 1965, particularly Fluxus actions and happenings of the early 1960s.