Bruce Nauman
RAW/WAR
1975
Lithograph
Courtesy Jean Castelli
Bruce Nauman, born 1941, lives and works in Galisteo, New Mexico
“But, as with the idea of the object in sculpture, or the function of the body in Performance Art, [Bruce Nauman] goes off the beaten lexigraphical path. ‘It’s difficult to see what the functioning edges of language are,’ he has said: The place where it communicates best and most easily is also the place where language is the least interesting and emotionally involving – such as the functional way we understand the word ‘sing’ or the sentence ‘Pick up the pencil.’ When these functional edges are explored, however, other areas of your mind make you aware of language potential. I think the point where language starts to break down as a useful tool for communication is the same edge where poetry or art occurs.”
– Peter Plagens, Bruce Nauman: the True Artist, Phaidon, 2014