Critical Writing Index

Nauman Interview

by Willoughby Sharp

Arts Magazine, Mar. 1970, v. 44, no. 5, pp. 22-27

An interview with artists Bruce Nauman. He discusses an upcoming show at the Nicholas Wilder Gallery in Los Angeles, where he has planned a piece composed of long corridors with television cameras and monitors, meant to limit the audience's ability to see themselves on the monitors. He speaks about his relation to the California art scene, and downplays the influence of the Funk Art movement on his work. The interviewer encourages him to look back on his development as an artist, to criticize his early work and draw theoretical threads between his past and current work. Nauman describes the transformation of his work over his career, as it moves away from material manipulations and wordplay to meditations on body as material and on process, and as he begins to utilize film, video, and sound technology. He finally talks about his philosophical and artistic influences, and considers his art with regard to notions of perversion, therapy, and privacy.

ITEM 1970.005 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

Holograms - Making FacesBruce Nauman

Collection of Various Flexible Materials Separated by Layers of Grease with Holes the Size of My Waist and WristsBruce Nauman

Lead Tree PlaqueBruce Nauman

From Hand to MouthBruce Nauman

Six Sound ProblemsBruce Nauman

Performance AreaBruce Nauman

Henry Moore Bound to Fail (back view)Bruce Nauman

Untitled (1965)Bruce Nauman

Flour ArrangementBruce Nauman

DarkBruce Nauman

Portrait of the Artist as a FountainBruce Nauman

My Name As Though It Were Written On The Surface Of The MoonBruce Nauman

Fishing for Asian CarpBruce Nauman

Bouncing BallsBruce Nauman

Black BallsBruce Nauman

Making a FaceBruce Nauman

Steel ChannelBruce Nauman

Shelf SinkingBruce Nauman