American media artist and director John Sanborn belongs to the second wave of video and electronic art that included seminal figures Bill Viola, Gary Hill, Dara Birnbaum, and Tony Oursler. While Hill looked to the sound and video works of Woody & Steina Vasulka, Viola and Sanborn, with distinct intentions, acknowledged Nam June Paik as a mentor. As Sanborn often said, Paik taught him to make video ‘with his fingers’.
John Sanborn’s encounter with Paik led him to consider three different creative paths. The first explored new means of expanded narratives and storytelling. The second celebrated the collaborative nature of much of Paik’s art, notably with composers and choreographers. The third required a lifelong commitment to the evolution of creative technologies. It is the sum of all three that allows us to measure the scope of his contributions to media art, and address the complex issue of where to locate him within media art history.
Stephen Sarrazin, Tokyo, January 2019
Artist Statement
I combine the persona of a stand up comic with the technique of a conjuror – as I am a student of Paik. I gravitate toward chaos while seeking the organization to recognize the unanswerable questions. Long story short – a hot mess. This makes me Prospero. Overwhelmed by ideas that develop exponentially every day, and lost in a library of the mind, I use my alchemical skills to upend the world, and remake it by editing (to shape time) and layering (transforming space).
At my age, the “stuff that dreams are made on” are my obsessions, as the progression to the final sleep is too near to discuss.
rounded with a sleep 