Wrap Around the World (1988) is Nam June Paik’s third and final satellite project. Coinciding with the Seoul Olympic Games, the global live-television event celebrated art, culture, and the end of the Cold War. It transcended geographical and national boundaries, transmitting satellite signals from 10 countries: Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Soviet Union, and the United States. Global stars David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto give performances and converse, Merce Cunningham dances, the Vienna Art Orchestra plays a set, and the Great Wall of China makes an appearance. These sequences interweave into a tapestry of international exchange, held together by the visual language of standard television broadcasts and Paik’s signature video graphics. A transcontinental sensation amid the rapid expansion of global networks and telecommunications in the 1980s, the project sits at the intersection of contemporary art, pop culture, and televised media.

Screenings run in a loop.