25 points
Going to School by Lars K
February 3rd, 2007 6:23 PM
Continuing on with my post-minimal studies, I was delighted when my friend M. invited me to check out the Bruce Nauman exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum. I was even further elated when I heard of a symposium, Nauman In Context, in which young scholars from around the globe presented papers on Nauman's formative years.
The symposium was split into two sessions, each with three speakers presenting the topics outlined below. Now I must admit that the speakers varied considerably in both research topics as well as rather nervous styles of public delivery; toward the end, I found myself doodling more than listening and taking notes. But heck, much like watching one of Nauman's narcissistic videos of himself bouncing in a corner, sitting for five hours in a cold auditorium doth warrant a bit of self-amusement at times, yes? :)
Ah yes, the most exciting moment occurred when the panel moderator from the first session had a fainting spell, falling to the floor with an unexpected thump. Someone called 911 as the stunned audience vacated the auditorium.
1-3:30 pm:
"Bruce Nauman, Henry Moore, and the Case of Westermann's Ear" - Dr. Jo Appline (University of York, UK)
"Recasting Life Casting: Bruce Nauman's Earliest Sculpture" - Anna Fishaut (Independent Critic)
"Nauman's Skin" - Jeremy Melius (History of Art, UC Berkeley)
3:30-5:30 pm:
"A Certain Sympathetic Response: Bruce Nauman, Early Video Installation and Video Psychotherapy in the Summer of '69" - Dr. William Kaizen (University of Massachusetts, Lowell)
"Site and Sound: Nauman's Sculptural Experience" - Dr. Jane McFadden (Art Center College of Design)
"Possibility Over Necessity: Duration and Address in Nauman's Early Video Works" - Benjamin Gerdes (MIT)
Here are a few findings:
Ever-so-cheeky Nauman, along with his teacher William C. Wiley, sent artist H.C. Westermann a silly letter written on carbon paper. They intended to let the carbon paper pick up the usual dings picked up via mail transit.
Nauman paid tribute to Henry Moore through a photographic series of flashlight drawings (see attached image, Light Trap for Henry Moore, 1967)
Video art broke onto the American art scene in the mid to late 1960s, first introduced by the likes of Nam Jun Paik and Andy Warhol in 1965 but more fully unleashed in 1968-1969 with exhibitions at the Castelli gallery, Whitney Museum and Guggenheim Museum.
Nauman sold his video work in limited editions. At the time, the medium was treated as a commercially friendly art form that would be readily accessible to the public at a lower average price point. Certain critics thought that video would overturn the institution of the art market, dethroning painting in favor of more technologically advanced forms of expression.
Steve Reich invited Nauman and Richard Serra to perform in Pendulum Pieces at the Whitney Musuem in 1969.
As video grew to popularity in the 1960s, New York psychoanalyst Milton Berger set up multiple video cameras in his office and filmed his patients' sessions as a means of recording their facial and body movements. Berger then allowed his patients to watch themselves on monitors and study how their televisual body language, in addition to the vocal statements they made, commanded deep influence over themselves and others.
Nauman followed suit in Art Makeup (1967), in which he films himself painting his upper body and face with different shades of body paint (white, pink, green, and brown-black). In this looped video, Nauman watches himself as he paints his own body, as both object and subject, in a mirror placed next to the camera.
Just for kicks, I've added a photo of one of Nauman's more interesting later works not covered in this lecture: Clown Torture, 1987 (photo of a clown sitting on a big white phone)
The symposium was split into two sessions, each with three speakers presenting the topics outlined below. Now I must admit that the speakers varied considerably in both research topics as well as rather nervous styles of public delivery; toward the end, I found myself doodling more than listening and taking notes. But heck, much like watching one of Nauman's narcissistic videos of himself bouncing in a corner, sitting for five hours in a cold auditorium doth warrant a bit of self-amusement at times, yes? :)
Ah yes, the most exciting moment occurred when the panel moderator from the first session had a fainting spell, falling to the floor with an unexpected thump. Someone called 911 as the stunned audience vacated the auditorium.
1-3:30 pm:
"Bruce Nauman, Henry Moore, and the Case of Westermann's Ear" - Dr. Jo Appline (University of York, UK)
"Recasting Life Casting: Bruce Nauman's Earliest Sculpture" - Anna Fishaut (Independent Critic)
"Nauman's Skin" - Jeremy Melius (History of Art, UC Berkeley)
3:30-5:30 pm:
"A Certain Sympathetic Response: Bruce Nauman, Early Video Installation and Video Psychotherapy in the Summer of '69" - Dr. William Kaizen (University of Massachusetts, Lowell)
"Site and Sound: Nauman's Sculptural Experience" - Dr. Jane McFadden (Art Center College of Design)
"Possibility Over Necessity: Duration and Address in Nauman's Early Video Works" - Benjamin Gerdes (MIT)
Here are a few findings:
Ever-so-cheeky Nauman, along with his teacher William C. Wiley, sent artist H.C. Westermann a silly letter written on carbon paper. They intended to let the carbon paper pick up the usual dings picked up via mail transit.
Nauman paid tribute to Henry Moore through a photographic series of flashlight drawings (see attached image, Light Trap for Henry Moore, 1967)
Video art broke onto the American art scene in the mid to late 1960s, first introduced by the likes of Nam Jun Paik and Andy Warhol in 1965 but more fully unleashed in 1968-1969 with exhibitions at the Castelli gallery, Whitney Museum and Guggenheim Museum.
Nauman sold his video work in limited editions. At the time, the medium was treated as a commercially friendly art form that would be readily accessible to the public at a lower average price point. Certain critics thought that video would overturn the institution of the art market, dethroning painting in favor of more technologically advanced forms of expression.
Steve Reich invited Nauman and Richard Serra to perform in Pendulum Pieces at the Whitney Musuem in 1969.
As video grew to popularity in the 1960s, New York psychoanalyst Milton Berger set up multiple video cameras in his office and filmed his patients' sessions as a means of recording their facial and body movements. Berger then allowed his patients to watch themselves on monitors and study how their televisual body language, in addition to the vocal statements they made, commanded deep influence over themselves and others.
Nauman followed suit in Art Makeup (1967), in which he films himself painting his upper body and face with different shades of body paint (white, pink, green, and brown-black). In this looped video, Nauman watches himself as he paints his own body, as both object and subject, in a mirror placed next to the camera.
Just for kicks, I've added a photo of one of Nauman's more interesting later works not covered in this lecture: Clown Torture, 1987 (photo of a clown sitting on a big white phone)
thanks for the heads up. i fucking love bruce nauman and i'm definitely going to see this exhibit.