AUDIAnauman - Jerome Joy website

B I U S link image code HTML list	Show page Syntax
!!!Music {br}''Music plays a role in a lot of my work... even when there is no music''. — (Bruce Nauman) {br} ---- \|t {cap}'''NAUMAN - PLAYING VIOLIN'''{/cap}{br}{br}{small}{cap}Nauman’s ''Violin Film #1 (Playing the Violin as Fast as I Can)'' (1967-68) and ''Playing a Note on the Violin While I Walk around the Studio'' (1967-68) feature the artist engaged in repetitive, banal activities. Both works evoke the monotony of rudimentary instrumental practice and, at the same time, contemporary minimalist compositional tendencies — (Seth Kim-Cohen, In the Blink of an Ear - Toward a Non-Cochlear Sonic Art, New York - London : Continuum, 2009, p. 213){br}{br}« ^[In^] the Violin film, I played the violin as long as I could. I don’t know how to play the violin, so it was hard, playing on all four strings as fast as I could for as long as I could. I had ten minutes of film and ran about seven minutes of it before I got tired and had to stop and rest a little bit and then finish it. ^[…^] My fingers got very tired and I couldn’t hold the violin anymore. — (Bruce Nauman, quoted in Willoughby Sharp, Nauman Interview, Arts Magazine, March 1970){br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}Nauman blurs distinctions between music and noise, and again poses the question of where practice ends and performance begins. In ''Playing a Note on the Violin While I Walk around the Studio'', 1968, his original intention was « to play two notes very close together so you could hear the beats in the harmonics. ^[…^] The camera was set up near the center of the studio facing one wall, but I walked all around the studio, so often there was no one in the picture, just the studio wall and the sound of the footsteps and the violin » (Bruce Nauman, quoted in Willoughby Sharp, Nauman Interview, Arts Magazine, March 1970, p. 27). {br}The sound is fast, loud, distorted, and out of sync, but it is noticeable until the end of the film. Nauman quietly walks out of the frame in the knowledge that, as John Cage put it, « There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear » (John Cage, from Silence : Lectures and Writings by John Cage, Middletown Conn. : Wesleyan University Press, 1976, p.8). It was again Cage who made Nauman aware of the possibilities of playing with sounds « that are notated and those that are not ». In his book ''Silence'', Cage explained that « those that are not notated appear in the written music as silences, opening the doors of the music to the sounds that happen to be in the environment » (Cage, from Silence). When Nauman steps outside the frame, the viewer’s sense fo his own environment is height-ened, while the action in the film is reduced to « white noise », vaguely present in the background ; the involvement of the spectator with the performance is nearly broken.{br}{br}When he made this film, Nauman did not know how to play the violin, which he had bought only a month or two earlier. « I play other instruments, but I never played the violin during the period of time that I had before the film I started diddling around with it ».{br}^[... Nauman knew Reich’s ''[Violin Phase\|PENDULUM5]'' (1967), in which « one basic pattern is played simultaneously by several violonists in a variety of different phase relationships ». This piece, and Stockhausen’s experiments with fast-paced tempi, had a particular impact on the two works (''Playing a Note…'', ''Violin tuned D.E.A.D.'') ...^]{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br} A year later, during the winter of 1968-69, Nauman made the videotape ''Violin Tuned D.E.A.D.'' « one thing I was interested in was playing ^[…^] I wanted to set up a problem where it wouldn’t matter whether I knew how to play the violin or not. What I did was to play as fast as I could on all four strings with the violin tuned D, E, A, D. I thought it would just be a lot of noise, but it turned out to be musically very interesting. It is a very tense piece ». (Bruce Nauman, quoted in Willoughby Sharp, Bruce Nauman, Avalanche 2, Winter 1971, p. 27){br}{br}Nauman felt strongly that the important thing in doing these performances was to « recognize what you don’t know, and what you can’t do », and as a amateur never to allow himself to slip into traditional music, theater, or dance, where he would put himself in the position of being compared with professional performers in those fields. Nauman believed that if he chose the right set of circumstances and structure, was serious enough about his activities, and worked hard art at it, his performance would have merit. His intentions and attitude would turn the performance into art. John Cage’s ''Pieces for Prepared Piano'' of 1940 gave Nauman additional insight into the reinvention of how to play the violin. For this piece Cage had changed the sound of a piano in order to produce music suitable for the dancer Syvilla Fort’s performance of ''Bacchanale''. First Cage had placed a pie plate on the strings, but it bounced around because of the vibrations. Nails, which he had placed inside the piano as well, slipped down between the strings ; however, screws and bolts worked out. In this way, Cage wrote, « two different sounds could be produced. One was resonant and open, the other was quiet and muted » (Cage, quoted in Empty Words : Writings 1973-1978 by John Cage, Middletown Conn. : Wesleyan University Press, 1981, p. 8){br}{br}By playing the notes D, E, A, D, on the violin as fast as he could, Nauman created a rhythmic structure and notational pattern that, because of its repetition, provided a certain monotonous continuity, ^[such as, « pacing and rhythmic stamping around the studio »^]. Because of the frenetic tempo, the performance was very intense ; Nauman’s screechy manner of playing lacked any melody inflection, and the sounds picked up by the cheap equipment gave the piece a harsh electronic character. Nauman got the idea of playing as fast as he could from the aleatoric directions in certain musical compositions by Karlheinz Stockhausen, especially his 1955-56 ''Zeitmasse'' (« Tempi ») for woodwind quintet. ^[…^]{br}^[... ''Violin Tuned D.E.A.D.'' enacts a jumbled cross-reference of the code of Western notation with the code of the English alphabet. Instead of tuning the violin according to harmonic logic, Nauman tunes it according to linguistic logic, facetiously declaring the instrument and, by association, the tradition of Western music embedded in the violin, to be dead — (Seth Kim-Cohen, In the Blink of an Ear - Toward a Non-Cochlear Sonic Art, New York - London : Continuum, 2009, pp. 213-214) ...^]{br} In ''Violin Tuned D.E.A.D.'', Nauman created a specific kind of environment through sound, and at the same time turned the act of playing into a physical activity that is itself interesting to watch. By turning the camera on its side and his back to the camera, in a static, medium-long shot of the studio, Nauman portrayed himself as an anonymous figure floating horizontally across the screen in defiance of gravity.{br}The performance in ''Violin Tuned D.E.A.D.'' would have been a continuous activity were it not for the unintentional mistakes, accentuations, and moments of faltering and tiredness that slowed the tempo from time to time. {/cap}{/small}{br}{small} — (Coosje van Bruggen, Sounddance, In Bruce Nauman, Edited by Robert C. Morgan, Baltimore Mar. / London : The John Hopkins University Press, 2002, pp. 50-52){/small}---- {br}{br}{br}[../files/articles/nauman/1981_violinsviolence_400.jpg\|../files/articles/nauman/1981_violinsviolence.jpg]{br}{small}Bruce Nauman, Violins Violence Silence (Exterior Version), 1981 (The Baltimore Museum of Art){/small}{br}{br}{br}[../files/articles/nauman/1981_violinsviolence2.jpg]{br}{small}Bruce Nauman, Violins Violence Silence, 157.80 x 166.10 x 15.20 cm, 1981-82{br}---- In this work the neon words ‘VIOLINS’, ‘VIOLENCE’ and ‘SILENCE’ each appear twice, once forwards and once backwards, in a triangular composition on the wall. ‘VIOLENCE’ crosses in the centre to create two sides of the triangle; ‘SILENCE’ forms the base; and ‘VIOLINS’ produce two arms rising upwards at either side. The three words have a united rhythm that invites the viewer to speak them aloud. Here, as in so much of his practice, Nauman requires his viewer to be an active participant in the work. The flashing neons present varying combinations of the three words that confuse and blur the relationship between them. {/small}\|t \|t \|t \|t \|t \|t \|t \|t [../files/articles/nauman/1968_video_playingfast2.jpg]{br}{br}[../files/articles/nauman/1968_video_playingfast.jpg]{br}{small}Bruce Nauman, [Violin Film # 1 (Playing The Violin As Fast As I Can)\|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCeCxE_S5es], (video stills){br} 1967-68, 10:54 min, b&w, sound, 16 mm film on video{br}'''^[[Play the video\|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCeCxE_S5es]^]'''{br}---- (the soundtrack to this film was included in [Nauman's Record (1969), a limited-edition vinyl-LP\|https://www.discogs.com/fr/Bruce-Nauman-Soundtrack-From-First-Violin-Film/release/4051811], published by Tanglewood Press ‎– Seven objects){/small}{br}{br}---- {small}'' ''Violin Film # 1 (Playing The Violin As Fast As I Can)'' est une des nombreuses vidéos réalisées en 1967-68 présentant l'artiste en train de jouer du violon. A l'image de ce qui se passe dans ''Bouncing Two Balls between the Floor and Ceiling with Changing Rhythms'', l'artiste joue le plus vite possible afin d'atteindre la limite de contrôle de son action.''{/small}{br}{br}{br}{br}---- ----- [../files/articles/nauman/1968_video_playing2_400.jpg]{br}{small}Bruce Nauman, Playing a Note on the Violin While I Walk around the Studio, (video still){br} 1967-1968, 10 min, b&w, sound, 16 mm film on video{/small}{br}{br}---- {small}'' ''Playing a Note on the Violin While I Walk around the Studio'' est l'enregistrement d'un projet de performance qui ne sera jamais jouée en public. Nauman marche dans l'atelier en jouant de façon répétitive deux notes sur un violon, instrument avec lequel il n'est pas familier. La caméra est placée au centre de l'atelier, en position fixe, tandis que Bruce Nauman sort parfois hors champ. Le son du violon persiste tout au long du film.''{/small}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}{br}---- ----- [../files/articles/nauman/1968_video_playing3_400.jpg\|../files/articles/nauman/1968_video_playing3.jpg]{br}{small}Bruce Nauman, [Violin Tuned D.E.A.D.\|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMYgZJBNsm0], (video still){br} 1969, 60 min, b&w, sound, mono, 4:3, 16 mm film on video{br}'''^[[Play the video\|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMYgZJBNsm0]^]'''{br}---- In a closed space, his studio, which could be the whole world as a backdrop, {br}Bruce Nauman, fixed horizontally to the floor-wall, plays the chords D.E.A.D.{br}on a violin, creating reverberations which course through the meanders {br}of the mind and collide with the walls of the cell. This escalation of sound, a{br} vast echo chamber, evokes one of his sculptures, produced in 1981: [Diamond\|http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/97411] {br}[Africa With Tuned Chair D.E.A.D.\|http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/97411]. A musical chair is turned upside down on the {br}ceiling : a reprise of the video ''Violin Tuned D.E.A.D.'', now with the legs of the chair{br} (and not the strings of the violin) tuned to these notes that sound{br} a death knell with a geopolitical significance that we are made of{br} to be very much aware of : the legs of the suspended cast-iron chair sound{br} the same notes when struck.{br} Isolated, imprisoned, it is also capable of playing its own funeral march. {br}In a way, Bruce Nauman uses his body like the chair, as a material which he can {br}manipulate and around which the sound spreads out, extending between life {br}and death, in revolution. — (Stéphanie Moisdon){/small}{br}{br}---- {small}''Un an après ''Playing a Note on the Violin While I Walk around the Studio'', Bruce Nauman enregistre la bande intitulée ''Violin Tuned D.E.A.D.'' En jouant les notes D (Ré), E (Mi), A (La), D (Ré) aussi vite qu'il peut, l'artiste crée une structure rythmique qui en raison de la répétition engendre une continuité monotone. Le tempo frénétique rend la performance très intense. Par le cadrage et le positionnement de la caméra, Nauman, qui joue de dos, se montre comme une figure anonyme.''{br}— — ''Dans un espace clos, son studio, qui pourrait être le monde entier comme fond de {br}décor, Bruce Nauman fixé au sol-mur à l'horizontale fait vibrer les accords de la {br}M.O.R.T sur un violon. Réverbérations qui parcourent les méandres de l'esprit et qui {br}se heurtent aux parois de la cellule. Cette escalade sonore, vaste chambre d'échos, {br}renvoie en résonance à l'une de ses sculptures réalisées en 1981 : ''Diamond Africa {br}With Tuned Chair D.E.A.D'' (Afrique Diamant Avec Chaise Accordée Ré Mi La Ré, où la {br}succession des lettres en anglais compose encore une fois le mot DEAD : MORT). {br}Une chaise musicale est renversée au plafond. Isolée, emprisonnée, elle est également {br}capable de diffuser son propre hymne funèbre. D'une certaine manière, Bruce {br}Nauman se sert de son corps comme de la chaise, comme d'un matériau qu'il {br}peut manipuler, autour duquel le son se déploie, s'étend entre la vie et la mort, en {br}révolution.'' — (Stéphanie Moisdon){/small}{br}{br}[../files/articles/nauman/1985_violinsviolence_400.jpg\|../files/articles/nauman/1985_violinsviolence.jpg]{br}{small}Bruce Nauman, Violins Violence, 1985{br}See also : [VIOLINS VIOLENCE SILENCE\|http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/nauman-violins-violence-silence-al00223] (1981-1982) and [Violins Violence Silence (Exterior Version)\|http://bmoreart.com/2014/10/violins-violence-silence-is-back-at-the-bma.html]{/small}\| {br}{br}{br}{br}
Password Summary of changes		↓ ↑

[Edit] [History] [UP] [List of all pages] [Create page] [Erase cookies]