Interact: Zoom It
Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Nam June Paik, 1995, 49-channel closed circuit video installation, neon, steel and electronic components, approx. 15 x 40 x 4 ft., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2002.23
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Welcome to the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Interact page. Here you can "test drive" special online features.
Explore a photograph of our new video installation Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii using the "zoom" tool. The controls under the image allow you to zoom in (+) and out (-). Use the arrows or your mouse to move about this hypnotic landscape. Can you identify the iconic footage that represents your state? (Sorry! Alaska and Hawaii are not seen in this photo.)
To design this monumental map of the United States, the artist Nam June Paik arranged 336 televisions on a scaffold and overlaid it with almost 600 feet of neon. Fifty DVD players send multimedia simultaneously to screens populating each state. Often classic Hollywood films are the source, as clips from the Wizard of Oz, Oklahoma, and Showboat transport viewers to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana respectively.
Experience this artwork in action when we reopen our historic landmark building in Washington, D.C., in July 2006. Meanwhile, browse our collections and exhibitions online and see if one of our traveling shows is visiting your town!
If you have comments or suggestions about this page please email us. The address is saaminteract@si.edu.
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