Page 33 - David Bermant Foundation

32DWB’s Description of nam June paik anD “participation tV”:“Another piece similar to this was on display at the Howard Wise Gallery—one of the best galleries in the world for this form of art—in New York City in a show in 1969 called ‘TV as a Creative Medium,’ . . . and I paid $600 for the Paik piece, of which the artist probably got $300 to $400.“I sent the piece to my shopping center in Rochester, New York, where we hung two microphones from the ceiling as well as the piece on the ceiling. We hung the microphones so that one was at an adult dimension and the other was at a child’s dimension. A family going to the center could play with the Paik piece, as well as anyone else. It’s a fairly simple piece, yet I like to have these pieces checked on by the artist from time to time. When I asked Paik to check on it when he went to Rochester, as I knew he did occasionally, he would always refuse. He never would tell me why. Finally one day, I found out he was mad I didn’t pay enough money for the piece, as he thought $400or whatever figure he used was not enough. You could never understand Paik in those days when he talked, except when he mentioned money, then you could understand him. So I said, ‘What did I have to do with the price? I paid whatever price was on the piece. That’s ridiculous.’ But anyway, that was his reaction. And I used to ask him during those years to come up to my home and do a piece he talked about—a garden TV— and I said, ‘I’d love to do that. Come on up.’ I never discussed price or anything, just ‘come up and do it,’ and he never came.“Finally, one year there was an exhibition called ‘Soundings’ at the Newburger Museum in Westchester County, where I lived. And there was this piece you’re looking at. I called Paik up as soon as I saw it and said, ‘Hey Paik. What’s that piece doing in that show? You were only supposed to make one of these things, not two. Why don’t you sell me that?’ He said, ‘Not for sale.’ OK, not for sale, not for sale. ‘All I’m going to do is put it in my personal collection.’ ‘Not for sale, David.’“Two years later there was a grand retrospective given to Paik at the Whitney Museum. I went up to the opening alongwith James Wines, a good friend of mine who was also a close friend of Paik. As I approached the two of them, Paik turnedto Wines and said, ‘Here comes the guy who bought the first piece I ever sold in America, and the only piece I’ve ever sold in America.’ This was twelve years later, and mind you I consider Paik the greatest artist in the world today—here is a man who only sold one piece in twelve years. Can you beat that?“So once again I said to him, ‘Paik, whose fault is that? After all I’ve asked you to come to my home. I never put a price on anything. Why haven’t you ever shown up?’ No answer. I said, ‘Paik, why don’t you sell me this piece for my personal collection?’ ‘Not for sale.’ I got that same answer.“A week or two later I was talking to Howard Wise and Howard had apparently partially financed the Paik show because his name was plastered all over the place. I said, ‘Howard, tell me why that crazy artist of yours that I bought the piece from in 1969 won’t sell me an identical second piece, also called “Participation TV.” ’ He said, ‘He’s on the other phone, David, I’ll have him call you.’ Sure enough Paik called me. Paik says, ‘Howard say I should sell to you. You good guy.’ I said, ‘Sure I’m a good guy. How much do you want for it?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ I said, ‘What do you mean, you don’t know?!’ He said, ‘I don’t know, David, I don’t know how much money I want for piece.’ I said, ‘Think a minute. You must have some idea what your art’s worth.’ Silence. Then all of a sudden I hear him say, ‘I got idea, David. I tell you what, I owe lots of money for this show. I owe men I hire, I owe for pieces of material I have to buy . . . lots of money. I tell you what, you pick up all bills, the piece is yours.’ I said, ‘Well do you have any idea how much you spent?’ He said, ‘No.’ I thought a minute and said, ‘You made a deal. Send the bills.’ So he did.I get a bill for $400 here, $200 there, $900 here, $600 there, $80, $40, $50 . . . and after about three months the bills stop coming and I get a short note from Paik, ‘All bills paid. Piece is yours.’ You want to know what I paid? I ain’t gonna tell you. But a fraction of what I would have paid if I’d bought the piece through a gallery, because I’ve since had it appraised.”