Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. / This dissertation develops a critical reading of the early work of the American artist, Bruce Nauman, who, in the mid-sixties, began creating a highly diverse and eclectic oeuvre--including discrete sculpture, photographic and text pieces, video and audio installations, neon signs, and cast body parts. While most studies focus on either one medium, theme, or body of work for review, I take a synthetic approach, arguing that the failure to locate the coherence of Nauman's art is due to the challenges it proposes theoretically and art historically. In the literature, the art of the late sixties is frequently divided into two strains of practice, which are seen as mutually exclusive--one defined through models of language, the other through the body and performance. Nauman's art, however, undermines the legitimacy of these divisions. As such, I propose that it raises philosophical and theoretical questions regarding the meanings of language, action, the body, experience, and subjectivity, resulting in the necessity for an art historical re-evaluation of their significance. The point of departure for my investigation is Nauman's reception of Minimalist sculpture, which challenged the traditional idea of medium and interrogated the perceptual conditions of the art object. I propose that Nauman' art, however, lends historical and social specificity to this project, responding to the extraordinary growth of technology and expansions of media in the sixties, which were, paradoxically, accompanied by a philosophical critique of the subject. / (cont.) As a result, I suggest that Nauman's practice overcomes the abstract notions of experience and limited definition of subjectivity Minimalism proposes. By examining the multiple material forms his investigation takes, I conclude that the very opacity of Nauman's art emerge as an embodiment--or an enactment--of its meanings. From enigmatic body sculptures, which are frequently mistitled, to proposals for impossible performances, to the use of confining architectural spaces mediated by sound, light, and video recordings, the potentiality for communication (linguistic, perceptual) to fail or manipulate can be recognized as a central theme of Nauman's technically and stylistically diverse, but conceptually consistent, work. / by Janet L. Kraynak. / Ph.D.

Zugl.: Potsdam, Universiẗat, Diss., 2009. / Online-Ausg. im Internet.

Zugl.: Potsdam, Univ., Diss., 2009

Link to dataset: https://doi.org/10.25399/UnisaData.14152106.v1 / The work of Bruce Nauman can be understood as an enquiry into the absurd. His work is a critique of art, the artist and society, and is in part viewed as a mediation of stereotypical ‘truth’. The absurd is defined and analysed to elucidate the nature of art and human behaviour by means of literary comparison, in particular of Camus, Sartre and Wittgenstein. This research focusses on Nauman’s subversive performance- based work and analyses how he simulates a particular work of Duchamp. I propose that Nauman espouses human activity into the functionality of objects, such as fountains. My artworks expand on Nauman’s interrogation of the concept of a ‘true artist’ by embodying an absurd fountain as a Sisyphean construct. In contextualising my work in relation to incessant duty, insecurity and double negatives, I offer a regenerative vigour against idolisation of success through contemplation of the artist’s doubt and the absurd. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)

Die vorliegende Arbeit erörtert das Phänomen „Verhüllung als Kunst“ anhand von Kunstwerken von Man Ray, Maurice Henry, Allan Kaprow, Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman, Franz Erhard Walther, Antoni Tapies, Joseph Kosuth und Christo und Jeanne-Claude. Diese exemplarische Auswahl macht den Einfluss künstlerischer Strömungen und Zielsetzungen deutlich und zeigt zugleich die verschiedenen Funktionen von Verhüllungen als Kunst. Aufgrund der immer wiederkehrenden „Ähnlichkeitsvermutungen“ zwischen bekannten sakralen und profanen Verhüllungen und sog. Verhüllungskunstwerken in (populär-) wissenschaftlichen Veröffentlichungen, wird eine genaue Betrachtung profaner und sakraler Verhüllungen vorgenommen. Ebenso geht die Arbeit der Frage nach, inwieweit die Verwendung der Begriffe „verhüllen“ und „verpacken“ sowohl bei der Interpretation als auch in den Titeln der Kunstwerke von Bedeutung sind. Fragen nach dem Verhüllten, der Hülle und ihrem Material, dem Ort, der Dauer, der Dimension und der Art und Weise der Verhüllung offenbaren eine Fülle von Erscheinungsformen und Merkmalen derselbigen. Die Analyse wird in der Interpretation durch (auto-)biografisches Material und frühere Interpretationen ergänzt.