Collaborative Presentation

Title of exhibit: Inside out: works of captured consciousness
Artists: Bruce Nauman and Charles Cohen
Theme: A moment or idea is captured in time, creating some type of conscious or subconscious meaning. The two artists' works are visually appealing to draw in the viewers, and then address things largely ignored, considered unimportant, or left unspoken. Cohen’s “that” series, for example, includes photographed billboards from the side, so that the advertisements are out of view. The viewer only sees the side of the sign, as if seeing it as he drives by on a highway. Few people would consider this moment important, but easily recognize it. Nauman’s “The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths,” on the other hand, seems to capture a random thought that entered the artist’s mind while reflecting on his profession. A thought is an internal entity, often ignored by the general public. Nauman, however, captured his idea and transformed it into light and words. The piece was then exhibited in his studio window for the appraisal of the general public. Essentially, it was a thought on display, an element of captured consciousness. These everyday worldly subjects take the viewer to a moment or place him somewhere that is otherwise unappreciated.

Links to artists' sites:

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/nauman

http://www.promulgator.com/

http://rhizome.org/discuss/view/23105

http://www.tate.org.uk/research/tateresearch/majorprojects/nauman/work_2.htm