Fortuitous timing to be able to visit MoMA while in New York for another reason. Entering such a huge multi-story building with an enticing sculpture garden courtyard it was difficult to know where to start.
Glimpsing the sculptures on entry, the top to bottom approach won. Bruce Nauman’s ‘Disappearing Acts’ cried out for interaction despite the intentions of the artist (born 1941) to show withdrawal and loss over time. Not only did I find myself wanting to appear in a box but also found someone inside what looked to be an impossible narrow wooden curved wall.
Another installation, albeit easy to walk past instantly connected in my mind with some of the internal shots I have made while pursuing recycling locations.
In essence Nauman seems to have achieved an intention set out on a wall of the gallery:
Some installations did not appeal to me (although they did to my companions). Perhaps my senses were over sensitive that day. They included columns of neon signs each pairing the word die or live with others, some emotionally charged, some seemingly random attachments, and a room full of plain rectangles suspended between floor and ceiling each of which transmitted a spoken word: a day of the week. Entering this room ears were faced with a cacophony of different voices simply naming a day. Even reading the accompanying titles and notes did not help me, I was just glad to get back to a place without a barrage of sound and flashing neon.
However, Nauman’s other works apparently depicting Henry Moore as encased and outlined in flashlight circles, plans for four circular trenches as well as what I initially thought could be lines in circles perhaps representing a marked-out sporting game in a gym (my interpretation) caught my attention. The first was a time-lapse photograph, the second a huge suspended installation and the third tape stuck on the wooden gallery floor. Circles or holes are appearing more and more in my images as I work on my project Event Horizons and I am instantly drawn to inspect the ways others are using this shape.
What did I learn from his work? Planning with detailed calculations, working with collaborators on construction and presentation and above all not being afraid to experiment with materials and ways of making that do not appear to be conventional methodologies. The latter clearly has resonance with my Final Major Project as I am still creating and making and encouraged in each tutorial to continue with experimentation; I guess until the answers or conclusions start to emerge….
NAUMAN, Bruce. 2018. ‘Disappearing Acts’. Available at: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/3852 [accessed 26/11/18].
Sarah Newton Photography 