‘BYE KIPLING,’ HELLO GLOBAL TV

The title of this latest effort is an ironic reference to Rudyard Kipling’s lines, ‘O, East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet.’

The streets of Seoul, South Korea, a shopping plaza in Tokyo and a New York discotheque will provide the setting for an avant-garde variety show to be seen on PBS Saturday .

“Bye Bye Kipling,” 90 minutes of arts, entertainment and sports events to be broadcast live from the three world capitals, marks video artist Nam June Paik’s latest attempt at creating what he has termed global television.

It also provides the only scheduled live U.S. television coverage of the 1986 Asian Games, now under way in Seoul.

“This is a tiny step in the right direction,” producer Paik said, following a New York press briefing on the upcoming special last week at the Korean Cultural Center. Paik was referring to his goal of using video to bring the people of the world together.

The title of his latest effort is an ironic reference to Rudyard Kipling’s lines, “O, East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet.”

In Southern California, “Bye Bye Kipling” will be seen at 6 p.m. on KVCR Channel 24 and, on tape, at 10 p.m. on KCET Channel 28.

Like Paik’s last global media event, “Good Morning, Mr. Orwell,” which originated live from New York and Paris on New Year’s Day, 1984, “Bye Bye Kipling” will intertwine music, theater and dance performances with video and other visual art.

But at the heart of the program will be live coverage of the marathon at the end of the two-week Asian Games on Sunday, Seoul time.

“Nobody knows about the games, and I thought it would be exciting to see competition among athletes as well as artists,” said Paik, who pointed out that the Asian Games have been held every four years for the last 20 years but are largely unfamiliar to Westerners.

Paik, who was born in Seoul, educated at the University of Tokyo and now lives in New York, also pointed out that Korean TV viewers of the special will be getting a rare glimpse of U.S. artists.

Among those scheduled to perform Saturday at New York’s 4D nightclub are composer Philip Glass, graffiti artist Keith Haring and the Living Theater troupe. The Tokyo portion of the event, originating at the Ark Hills (shopping) Plaza, is to feature sumo wrestling and appearances by architect Arata Isozaki, fashion designer Issey Miyake and other Japanese visual artists.

Interspersed with the live segments will be a video report on Korean life by documentarian Skip Blumberg, video art by John Sanborn and Paik, and taped highlights from other events at the Asian Games.

“If people can come to know each other in more human ways, instead of in economic and political competition, the fear of unknown (culture) will be mitigated,” Paik said.

According to Paik, the project--a collaboration of New York’s public television station WNET, Korean and Japanese television--has received financing from Sony and other corporations, the Rockefeller and other foundations, and individual Japanese philanthropists, including Isozaki.

Paik said he considers the upcoming event “a dress rehearsal” for a worldwide “international arts Olympics,” to be held in conjunction with the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

“My ultimate goal is to put up giant TV screens in Times Square, Red Square and every other major square in the world, so that people can communicate directly with each other,” he said.