Guitarist Kim Sehwang smashes a guitar during Paik’s memorial service at Bongeun Temple, Sunday. / Yonhap By Lee Hyo-won Classical music aficionados looked on in horror as a performer smashed a violin into pieces, and others were equally aghast when the same man who orchestrated the “heresy” held a Korean traditional “gut” — shamanist ritual — for, of all things, a piano. Five years have passed since video art pioneer Nam June Paik (1932-2006) parted from this world, but his iconoclastic spirit lives on — ceremonies, including one featuring the destruction of a guitar, were held across the country Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of Paik’s death. Bongeun Temple, southern Seoul, where Paik’s ashes were laid to rest, saw a Buddhist-style memorial on Sunday morning. The temple’s chief priest Ven. Jinhwa oversaw the event which was attended by Paik’s eldest nephew, Hakuda Ken Paik, 61, and figures from the local art scene. Kim Se-hwang, the guitarist of rock band N.E.X.T., carried out a guitar-smashing performance following the memorial service. The late artist’s death mask, a piano that was used during his funeral service, and a camera Paik used for his artwork are on display at the temple. Visit www.bongeunsa.org for more information. In the afternoon, Paik’s family members and other guests attended a memorial service at the Nam June Paik Art Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. “Gugak” (traditional music) maestro Hwang Byung-ki, who composed the music for Paik’s video performance for former U.S. President Bill Clinton at the White House in 1998, gave a “geomungo” (zither) performance. Following the ceremony, Park Won-gil, head of the Korean Association for Mongolian Studies, gave a lecture titled “Prairie Winds” — the talk was intended to shed light on the artistic mind of Paik, who strongly emphasized Koreans’ Mongolian roots by once saying “I’m a yellow disaster.” The museum has prepared a memorial site where fans and museum-goers can offer flowers. It will be open through Feb. 6. The center also plans to hold an exhibition. Visit www.njpartcenter.kr for more information. The Hankuk Art Museum in Yongin is currently hosting a photo exhibition chronicling Paik’s legacy. Visitors will be able to see Paik engaged in his daily affairs through Lee Eun-joo’s photographs and take a peek at his wife and fellow artist Shigeko Kubota’s studio and art through Jang Eun-seong’s works. Also on display are video art and engravings jointly produced by Paik and Kubota. The exhibition runs through Feb. 28. Visit www.hartm.com for more information. Fans can also visit Gallery Art Link in Anguk-dong, central Seoul, which is displaying photographs of Paik performing his famous piano gut in 1990. Visit www.artlink.co.kr for more information. Paik was the first to integrate media and art and is thus dubbed “the father of video art.” A visionary Fluxus artist, he used TV sets, music, noise, various props and live performance to express himself. Born in Seoul in 1932, he studied at the University of Tokyo and Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. He led an active and often controversial career in New York and parts of Asia and Europe. Close comrades include artist Joseph Beuys, composer John Cage and cellist Charlotte Moorman. Last year, various ceremonies and retrospective exhibitions were held all overthe world including Seoul, New York and London to commemorate his death.