"Poke in the Eye/Nose/Ear"Using a high speed industrial camera that was able to shoot up to 4,ooo frames per second, Bruce Nauman documented himself performing simple activities in the studio and then he changed the projection speed to extreme slow motion. These films were usually short, black and white films that depicted Nauman manipulating parts of his body stretching his lips with his fingers for example, or pulling a length of gauze from his mouth.
"Poke in the Eye/Nose/Ear" is a continuation of these Slo-Mo films. In this piece, Nauman records his face in closeup and he methodically pokes himself in the eye, nose, and ear. By enlarging the image, slowing down the pace of the video, and focusing on the feature he is manipulating, then the brutality of the activity becomes grossly exaggerated. With this work he has transformed a straightforward, almost mundane action into a prolonged essay on human vulnerability.
I was interested in this work because I have always found artwork focused on process to be fascinating. I am drawn to work that involves the body and Nauman, as an artist, involves the body in manipulations in order to demonstrate its limits.
"Poke in the Eye/Nose/Ear" is a continuation of these Slo-Mo films. In this piece, Nauman records his face in closeup and he methodically pokes himself in the eye, nose, and ear. By enlarging the image, slowing down the pace of the video, and focusing on the feature he is manipulating, then the brutality of the activity becomes grossly exaggerated. With this work he has transformed a straightforward, almost mundane action into a prolonged essay on human vulnerability.
I was interested in this work because I have always found artwork focused on process to be fascinating. I am drawn to work that involves the body and Nauman, as an artist, involves the body in manipulations in order to demonstrate its limits.
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