On the top floor of the National Portrait Gallery, stacked away on top of two floors of classical portraits, is Nam Jun Paik’s contemporary work, Electronic Super Highway. 

The massive map is made up of 336 different sized TVs, 50 dvd players, and borders made of neon lights. Each DVD player is running footage of what the artist associated in the that particular state, coming together as collection of one immigrant’s understanding of America through media.

Paik chose Wizard of Oz for Kansas, Marin Luther King Jr for Alabama and Oklahoma! for Oklahoma (obviously). 

At 63 years old, Paik created this piece. He had consumed 32 years of first-hand american culture while living in New York.

Commonly referred to as "the father of video art", Paik created this cartographic masterpiece using his favorite medium. Skip up the stairs and take a look next time you're in the US Capitol. (It's free!) 

#mapstotravelfor