Make Me Think. Bruce Nauman - ACE368.2

Excerpt from Poke in the Eye/Nose/Ear (1994). Commentary over says that "Bruce Nauman was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He lives and works in New Mexico, refusing interviews, photographs and film cameras." Multi-screen film of violent images; commentary says "This film is not about what you see… it’s about you, me, about our inner world, as seen through the eyes of an artist whose topics reflect the problems of today’s society… hot emotions cooled down by cold, distant media such as video, neon, photography or bronze…. This film is about him – and you." Multi-screen images. Neon light. An untitled interior landscape (c.1983), yellow corridor with steel tables and chairs. Joseph Kosuth, Artist, talking about Nauman’s work appearing at a time when presumptions of American society, authority, etc., were breaking down, and artists were questioning the "inherited authority" of painting and sculpture, looking for ways to produce art whose meaning could "not be constructed by the forms of the past". Multi-screen video running in background includes images of Kosuth. Multi-screen images of combat footage intercut with Bouncing in the Corner No.1 (1968). Bouncing in the Corner also seen alongside. Lithograph Normal Desires (1973). Double image photograph. Leo Castelli, Art Dealer, suggests that Nauman might best be described as a conceptual artist, though his approach is quite different to that of many others. Kosuth says his work runs parallel to that of Nauman. Video Revolving Upside Down (1968) seen on monitor. Several monitors. "How do you enter an artist’s universe? How do you film an artist who loves to film you, the viewer…? Enter one of his video corridors from the late sixties. Now you know where you are…?" Monitor. Sketches. Sequence of eleven colour photographs including Feet of Clay, Eating My Words, and Self Portrait as a Fountain (1966-1967).