For an artist, his or her lover is one of the biggest inspirations.

Late Korean video artist Paik Nam-june and his Japanese wife Shigeko Kubota, who is also a video artist, were inspirations for each other.

“We often had the same ideas. I had to put my work ‘Duchamp’s Grave’ inside the house for quite a time and one day saw that Nam-june had made a work called ‘V-yramid.’ I asked him what it was about, and he said ‘I couldn’t help but see ‘Duchamp’s Grave’ everyday, whether I wanted to or not.’ He was inspired by my work,” said Kubota at a press conference on Tuesday.

“We were both artists but he was a philosopher and musician who is more symbolic and idealistic, while I majored in physical art like paintings and sculptures. I encouraged Nam-june to show his works to more audiences so that more people could enjoy his work.”

Kubota published the book, “My Love, Paik Nam-june,” which reveals previously unknown sides of Paik’s struggles, efforts and of course, their love story. Two authors, including Nam Jeong-ho, an international news editor at a local newspaper, helped Kubota organize her memories into writings.

The book starts with Kubota’s reminiscence of Paik’s very first performance that she saw in Tokyo, on May 29, 1964, which made her fall in love with the man.

Seeing Paik’s “grotesque” performance of throwing eggs against the walls, torturing two pianos with his bare hands, hooks and axes until they broke down, painting a picture with Chinese black ink using his head as a brush and finally drinking water from his leather shoes, Kubota “felt as if I had found an oasis in the desert of my mind, where there used to be only wind and sand,” she wrote in the book.

“I loved him because he was so talented and was a genius. Even before I knew him, he was a legendary person in Tokyo. When you talked to him, you knew he was very special. He had knowledge about everything, from high art to low art,” said Kubota.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Paik grew up listening to the piano his sisters played everyday, said Kubota. But whenever Paik hung around the piano, his father scolded him, saying that pianos are not for boys because they cannot make a living out of it. Not surprisingly, his father was furious when Paik announced that he would study music composition instead of law or business like his father told him to.

“That was only the beginning of his struggles as an artist. After his father died, Nam-june had no money. His mother used to say ‘spend money like water’ but Nam-june did not have money to do so. You know, it is easy to sell food in the supermarket but it is hard to sell art,” said Kubota.

Paik moved to New York, the mecca for artists, met Kubota, and the two fell in love.

“Being so poor, Nam-june didn’t want to get married and be responsible for his family but just wanted to concentrate on his art. That was his style of life, which I understood,” said Kubota.

Paik’s stubborn resistance against marriage broke down, however, finding out about Kubota’s uterine cancer. As Kubota had no insurance coverage in the U.S. and had to return to Japan for treatment, Paik proposed to her right away.

Another thing Paik was generous with, despite his lack of money, was buying materials for his works, Kubota remembered.

“One day, Nam-june brought home an ugly looking Buddha that he had bought at an antique store. Using it, he showcased his first ‘TV Buddha’ at an exhibition in Bonino Gallery, and it received great response. I thought ‘Oh, this guy is a genius.’ I couldn’t complain about how he uses money!” she said.

“This is a book for young artists to tell them to never give up. Everyone is poor in the beginning. Nam-june didn’t become a big artist in one day. Someday, it will happen to you. Art has more chance than Wall Street, you know,” added Kubota.

“There were a lot more sensational stories that Kubota told me, said Nam “But I couldn’t write it in the book because the people involved are still alive. The book still contains very dramatic stories.”

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)