Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii

Created by Nam June Paik in 1995, Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii transforms a map of the United States into a vast neon-outlined array of televisions, video loops, and sound. Paik, a pioneer of video art, developed his idea of the "electronic superhighway" by linking the Interstate Highway System to the circulation of images through television and media. Each state carries selected imagery, ranging from familiar pop-cultural references to more layered historical and political associations. Monumental in scale and technologically complex, the work became one of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s best-known contemporary pieces, preserving a late-20th-century vision of America shaped by broadcast culture.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States