module 5

 

Bruce Nauman, The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths, 1967, neon and clear glass tubing suspension supports; 149.86 x 139.7 x 5.08 cm (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

https://smarthistory.org/nauman-the-true-artist-helps-the-world-by-revealing-mystic-truths/

This piece was on the Smarthistory website. It is a very simple piece of art, it consists of only three colors, the black background, the red spiral light, and the blue words that sit on the inside of the red spiral. This limited amount of colors makes the audience focus on the words of the image. The statement in the artwork says, "The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths." The artwork itself is not complicated in any way, so it focuses on the meaning behind the words of the artist. I think that Bruce Nauman at the basis of his statement talks about what it means to interpret art. As someone that looks at art, we are supposed to figure out what the author means behind the display of art. It makes the viewer think about deeper meaning behind art, it makes us question our reality and the way we view the world. As we question the meaning behind things it puts different ideas and truths in our heads and lets us question what we believe. Then as we think and question these ideas and ideals it begins to reveal mystic truths. Mystic in this statement to me means truths that we don't think about during our daily lives, but truths that we question ourselves when we go deep into thought and meditation. The main argument of the artist in my eyes is that when art is created, it should make the audience question the existence of the piece, and allow the viewer to go into deep thought about the meaning of artwork. Without that important aspect from art, artwork loses the deepest and most important reason for its existence. Art isn’t just to look at, but it needs to be taken in at a spiritual level.

Comments

  1. Jake WMay 5, 2021 at 7:44 PM

    Hey Daniel,

    You did a really great job of describing the artwork and then delving deeper into what the focus of this piece is as well as what it really means. I appreciated that you put your own interpretation of these words into your analysis. Does this artist make a lot of deep thought-provoking art? Do you enjoy pieces of art like this that push you to think deeper? Keep up the good work!

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