"Hand and Face" captures Nam June Paik's performance in front of a camera in a 16mm black and white film. It is unclear whether Paik performed to film a movie or filmed these serial actions to closely observe his own performance. However, this video makes clear that he has been already concerned with the relationship between performance and documentation in 1961, even before he shifted his interest to video and electronic media experiments. Although this work is short and simple, it presents the suffocating slowness with abrupt changes in speed that often appear in Paik's performances, as well as his compelling and exquisite actions.
