Dimensions / 30.4×40.2cm
Medium / Black & white photograph on baryta paper

Taken by Manfred Montwé, this is a photograph of To be Naked and Look at Yourself, one of the works featured in Nam June Paik’s first solo show Exposition of Music – Electronic Television held in Galerie Parnass in Wuppertal in March 1963. In the gallery’s library Paik installed pieces of mirrored foil in gold, silver and red from the ceiling to the floor, some of which were crumpled and wrinkled. This work was inspired by Ed Kiënder’s work: circular forms are cut out of mirrored foil and the fragments are rolled up so that its composition forms a still life on which the surrounding space is reflected. Paik encouraged viewers to lock themselves in the library and watch their self-images reflected and distorted on the thin paper. This room contained a fan heater positioned upward so that people could feel the warmth between their legs. Foil fragments were also laid on the floor in the Klavier Integral section, on one of which a violin was placed. In the same vein, mirrors placed in front of some experimental televisions can be construed in terms of inserting self-reflexivity in the space.