bruce nauman

Life and Work

He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and art with William T. Wiley and Robert Arneson at the University of California in Davis. He worked as an assistant to Wayne Thiebaud and in 1966 he became a teacher at the San Francisco Art Institute. In 1968 he met the singer and performance artist Meredith Monk and signed with the dealer Leo Castelli. In the 1980s he moved to New Mexico. Much of his work is characterised by an interest in language which often manifests itself in a playful, mischievous manner. For example, the neon Run From Fear- Fun From Rear, or the photograph Bound To Fail which literalises the title phrase and shows the artist's arms tied behind his back. There are however, very serious concerns at the heart of the work. Nauman seems to be interested in the nature of communication and the inherent problems of language, as well as the role of the artist as supposed communicator and manipulator of visual language. In 1999 he received the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale. In 2004 he created his work Raw Materials at Tate Modern.

Nauman cites Samuel Beckett, Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Cage, Philip Glass, La Monte Young and Meredith Monk as major influences on his work.

Works

Some of his better-known works include:

• Clown Torture - in separate stacked video screens, a clown screaming "No" repeatedly, a clown telling an annoying child's joke, a clown balancing goldfish bowls, and a clown sitting on a public toilet.
• Vices and Virtues (1988) - Atop the Charles Lee Powell Structural Systems Laboratory on the campus of the University of California, San Diego as part of the Stuart Collection of public art: neon signs seven feet tall, alternating the seven vices and seven virtues: FAITH/LUST, HOPE/ENVY, CHARITY/SLOTH, PRUDENCE/PRIDE, JUSTICE/AVARICE, TEMPERANCE/GLUTTONY, and FORTITUDE/ANGER.
• The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths - a spiraling neon sign with this slogan.
• Setting a Good Corner - looping video of the artist setting a corner fencepost.
• World Peace - five projectors or video players displaying four women and a man each speaking simultaneous monologues about world peace.

Trivia

Nauman was one of the four performers of the rarely performed Steve Reich piece Pendulum Music on May 27th 1969 at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The other three were: Michael Snow, Richard Serra and James Tenney.

References and further reading

• Ketner II, Joseph (2006). Elusive Signs - Bruce Nauman Works with Light. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-944110-83-5.
• Dexter, Emma; Bruce Nauman (2005). Raw Materials. Tate. ISBN 1-85437-559-8.
• (2003) Janet Kraynak: Please Pay Attention Please: Bruce Nauman's Words : Writings and Interviews. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-64060-0.