Innovation and Efforts of Nauman
After taking the trip the Berkeley Art Museum to observe the work of Bruce Nauman, I came out with a very puzzled view at his art work. It was very hard for a normal person not exposed to much art to have a sense of connection to the work of Nauman. Throughout most of the exhibit I was puzzled most of the time and failed to understand the meaning behind each art piece. Upon further thought I decided that I needed to appreciate the innovation and efforts of Nauman in his works rather than try to identify with each individual piece.
The innovation of Nauman is the use of his own human body throughout most of his art work. Most of the work in the exhibit was sculptures or imprints of his own body rather than someone elses. Most artists don't use their own body to do art because of the amount of effort it takes to complete the work. Two great example of this innovation and effort were the videos of Nauman tilting back and forth into a corner of a wall and the video of Nauman using his body to make different sculptures of the human form. The amount of effort in these videos is unbelievable. Its hard to imagine moving in out of a corner for 60 minutes without break or any kind of reprieve. The same goes for the effort into changing the form of your body almost every minute for an hour. These videos were something that I've never experienced in art so I had to appreciate the innovation and originality of his work.
The innovation of Nauman is the use of his own human body throughout most of his art work. Most of the work in the exhibit was sculptures or imprints of his own body rather than someone elses. Most artists don't use their own body to do art because of the amount of effort it takes to complete the work. Two great example of this innovation and effort were the videos of Nauman tilting back and forth into a corner of a wall and the video of Nauman using his body to make different sculptures of the human form. The amount of effort in these videos is unbelievable. Its hard to imagine moving in out of a corner for 60 minutes without break or any kind of reprieve. The same goes for the effort into changing the form of your body almost every minute for an hour. These videos were something that I've never experienced in art so I had to appreciate the innovation and originality of his work.
Labels: tim
posted by Tim McNally at
10:27 AM
2 Comments:
I agree with the fact that some of his works are quite physically demanding. He forces his body to perform tasks that many are incapable of doing. Yes, many people do not understand the purpose of his work. Many question his reasoning and motivations. But, there are so many videos on the web (like YouTube) that our generation consider innovative and exciting. Perhaps in forty years, kids studying today's works will think the same thoughts we are directing towards this exhibit.
I absolutely feel your puzzled response to the works of Nauman. They seem pointless, sometimes even maniac. However, an interesting interpretation I was exposed to was that Nauman's work was stemming from Minimalism. Minimalism strives to do art with the least possible complications to exactly convey what they mean. If I was to convey a certain message to my audience, Nauman's way of repeating something over and over again seems like a pretty effective method.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home