Born in Seoul, South Korea, Nam June Paik became the pioneer of video art* in the United States. He coined the phrase "electronic superhighway", and with his work, demonstrated how artists could use the medium of television creatively. Part of his innovation was building a video synthesizer that allows video images to be reshaped and altered with color. In this and other ways, he expanded "the traditional definitions of art-making . . . while simultaneously initiating and influencing creative developments in the technical realms of television editing and image making" (ARTNews 5/99).

In spite of a stroke suffered in 1997, he continued to work and focused on laser installations, which were featured...