Two ordinary wooden chairs comprise Colored Chair, Black & White Chair. One chair bears tangled lines often found in Nam June Paik’s drawings, and only two legs are left, making it impossible to stand alone. The other chair has most of its black paint peeled off, revealing the wooden base in patches, yet the legs are in place, and below the seat writes, “Made in Neuss.” The two chairs are often stacked together when on display. From 1968, Paik produced a series of works combining televisions with chairs. The artist would transform television into a seat or install a monitor below a chair so that those who sit on the chair cannot watch TV, or attach a small TV to make an all-in-one chair. If the two chairs are considered as a pair, the black & white chair may refer to a television frame while the colored chair may refer to the screen.
