Name June Paik

Name June Paik is a very interesting and literal person in his work to me. He takes many normal activities like playing instruments to a new level such as when he "plays" the piano or violin. The piano is played with a sledgehammer as he bashes away at it on stage. Once the whole piano is in pieces on the ground he stops "playing" and walks off stage. His definition of "playing" an instrument is different from the classical viewpoint of sitting down and using the tool as it should be used. One of his performances was to drag his violin around behind him on the ground as he walked through New York City. He stood on a bridge and dangled it off the side hitting it against the railing and beams.

To me this was an example of taking things to the extreme in my book. To me this is also taking the word "playing" literally. He "plays" with his instruments like a kid with a child's toy, dragging it around and beating it up.