Bruce Nauman in "Identity"
Bruce Nauman
Bruce Nauman transforms everyday activities, speech, and objects into works that are both familiar and alien. “I needed a different way to approach the idea of being an artist,” says Nauman. “I always thought that you can make something that appears to be functional, but when you try to and use it, you can’t figure out what its function might be. And that’s in the end what the function is, for you to figure out what to do with it.”
Filmed at Nauman’s ranch and studio outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the segment features several of Nauman’s recent explorations into video, text, and self-portraiture—materials and themes the artist has engaged for over thirty years.
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About the artists
Bruce Nauman was born in 1941 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and currently lives and works near Galisteo, New Mexico. He graduated with a BFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1964, and with an MFA from the University of California, Davis, in 1966. In his work, Nauman uses videos, sculptures, holograms, neon lights, and installations to create scenarios that disrupt viewers’ habits of perception. By investigating themes of time, control, and language, the artist creates an open-ended body of work that prioritizes process over product and expands the possibilities of what art may be.
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