The surface of a saucepan is caked with white paint and on its bottom is a list of traditional medicinal herbs and materials that Nam June Paik wrote in Chinese characters from left to the right, in vertical writing: garden rhubarb, five-flavor berry, Anemarrhena, dwarf lilyturf, Rehmannia glutinosa, figwort, aconite, deer antler, and milkwort. These herbs are considered to invigorate one’s health. Paik’s use of everyday objects in a Fluxus way can be found in his earliest works such as Zen for Contact, in which the artist attached various items to a sieve that made diverse sounds.
