Bruce Nauman for Beginners

Bruce Nauman, For Beginners

Angela Westwater and Gian Enzo Sperone’s new space may not be to everyone’s taste but there is no questioning the ambition that fuels it.  Now the question is whether artists will be able to impose themselves on what could be an overpowering space?   In the current exhibition by Bruce Nauman , ‘For Children/For Beginners’ Nauman has chosen to deal with the double height space with one deceptively simple video, of hands- his of course- every hang nail clearly visible from the mezzanine viewing space. The sound track is Nauman reciting the combinations of possible finger movements , providing the conceptual rules for the piece. 



Over the years of Nauman viewing we have been almost Pavlov trained to recognize the artist’s body.  Whether pressed up against a wall, muttering, pacing or rolling we  have become acclimatized but the scale here is awesome and the king sized hands compulsively moving capture our gaze.  

Bruce Nauman, For Beginners (Instructed Piano)

This is my first time in the finished space- I had seen it during construction- and I am  keen to sample the moving room, the very expensive Norman Foster solution to adding space to a narrow  problematic site.   Health and safety dictates an operator travels with you and Nauman has made the experience as uncomfortable as possible for repetitive viewing – or I should say listening- as the piece, ‘For Beginners-(Instructed Piano); is a sound piece of ear aching jangliness.  There are also some bouncy and twirling stools to sit on as we ascend and descend at agonizing slowness.  The sounds are  performed by a pianist following the same spoken instructions as the video work by moving the appropriate finger to play a note, but we, the viewer. do not get the sound of Nauman’s voice but only the jangling and discordant notes.  To add to our discomfort the speakers are hidden in the walls creating a room with sound that appears to be coming from nowhere -but these are not the sounds of skill but of torture.

Upstairs, another sound work,  of Nauman's voice recorded  repeatedly saying the words 'for children'.  Again   here are the sounds of nightmares not sweetness.

Bruce Nauman For Beginners

Bruce Nauman on his ranch, photograph Bart Eberly

After the opening comes the dinner, in this case conveniently round the corner and down a hidden alley way to a restaurant that is fearfully trendy and like so many other trendy places is serving retro comfort food.  All I can think of is bring back the ladies and the popovers.  After copious glasses of wine I ask Angela Westwater about  Nauman’s relationship to Cage.  ‘Everything comes from John Cage’.  Angela says   ‘Bruce would acknowledge the legacy of John Cage and then Bruce Nauman  influences everything after him’....  And the rest is history.  I fill in the dots.  Cage is everywhere and nowhere, and Nauman is very here tonight.