COLLECTION NAME:
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
mediaCollectionId
ArtArtHiAAH~7~7
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
Collection
true
Image Record ID:
aahi0001176
image_record_id
aahi0001176
Image Record ID
false
Work Title (display):
Self-Portrait as a Fountain
Image Title:
full view
Work Dates (display):
1966
Work Dates type:
creation
Image Date (display):
2007-12-04
Work Creator (display):
Bruce Nauman (American, born 1941)
Work Creator gender:
male
work_creator_or_agent_gender
male
Work Creator gender
false
Work Creator notes (display):
American sculptor, photographer and performance artist working with video. He studied mathematics and later art with Italo Scanga (b 1932) at the University of Wisconsin (196064). At the University of California at Davis (19656) his teachers included William T. Wiley (b 1937) and Robert Arneson (b 1930). Upon graduation (MFA, 1966) he exhibited enigmatic, fibreglass sculpture. Nauman himself was already the subject of his art. Although he was a formidable draughtsman, Nauman's neon works, films, videotapes, performances, installations, sculpted body parts and word plays at first seemed frustratingly art-less. His was an art of exploration: he used himself, his person and his witty brand of inquiry to examine the parameters of art and the role of the artist. This questioning elicited strong emotional, physical and intellectual responses, and it often resulted in objects of formal beauty. Neon Templates of the Left Half of my Body, Taken at Ten Inch Intervals (1966; priv. col., see 1972 exh. cat., no. 17) and the colour photograph Self Portrait as a Fountain (1966; New York, Whitney) show him first extracting strangely compelling neon forms from the contours of his body and, in the latter, whimsically challenging preconceived notions of the 'fountain'. Interested in new forms of music and literature, Nauman used the evocative power of language (in drawings, video scripts and neon installations), dismantling linguistic structure, creating puns and oxymorons, and linking contradictory words in alliterative sequences, as in Violins Violence Silence (neon tubing, 1.58×1.66×0.15 m, 19812; Baltimore, MD, Mus. A.). Using flashing neon signs, he stripped words and, later, actions of their conventional meanings, as in Welcome Shaking Hands (1985; see Silverthorne and others, pp. 523), leaving disquieting ironies and moral dilemmas. (Grove Art online Accessed 2006-07-25)
Work Style Period:
20th century
work_styleperiod
20th century
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
Contemporary
work_styleperiod
Contemporary
Work Style Period
false
Work Subject:
Duchamp, Marcel (French painter, sculptor, and writer, 1887-1968)
subject
Duchamp, Marcel (French painter, sculptor, and writer, 1887-1968)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
Dada
subject
Dada
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
humor
subject
humor
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
artists (visual artists)
subject
artists (visual artists)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
self-portraits
subject
self-portraits
Work Subject
false
Work Worktype:
photographs
work_type
photographs
Work Worktype
false
Work Worktype:
performance art
work_type
performance art
Work Worktype
false
Work Category (VRC classification):
photographs
work_category__ucbaahvrc_classification_
photographs
Work Category (VRC classification)
false
Work Category (VRC classification):
performance
work_category__ucbaahvrc_classification_
performance
Work Category (VRC classification)
false
Image Source Reproduction citation:
Honour, Fleming, 1991 (unconfirmed).
image_source_copy_from_print_name
Honour, Fleming, 1991 (unconfirmed).
Image Source Reproduction citation
false
Image Rights (display):
unknown
Image Rights fair use checklist:
1) use of this image is for education and educational research; 2) access is restricted to University of Colorado and Auraria Higher Education Center communities; 3) the original photographer is credited if known; 4) the image is published; 5) the amount of the work in relation to the whole is needed for education or educational research; 6) the number of derivatives is the minimum required for education or educational research; 7) the image has not been found to be reasonably available for sale; 8) duplication of the image does not violate preexisting contracts.
Work Rights (display):
© Bruce Nauman
Terms of Agreement and Conditions of Use:
YOU AGREE: Luna Imaging's Insight Software and the digital image collection associated with it (the Software) are being provided by the University of Colorado under the following license. By obtaining, using, and/or copying this work, you (the Licensee) agree that you have read, understood, and will comply with the following terms and conditions. 1. The Software contains the University of Colorado's Department of Art and Art History's implementation of a digital image collection; 2. Any images obtained through use of the Software will be used only for non-profit, educational purposes; 3. The use of images obtained through the software will only be used while the Licensee is either: a) an employee of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver, or b) an enrolled student at the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver; 4. When the Licensee is no longer an employee or student of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or Community College of Denver, either by an action of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or the Community College of Denver or due to actions of the Licensee, the licensee will cease to use any images exported from the Department of Art and Art History's digital image collection; 5. The Licensee agrees to indemnify the University for claims and liability arising out of the use of the Software or for any violations of this license; 6. THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO SUPPLIES THE SOFTWARE WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
CU Copyright Statement:
The contents of the University of Colorado Digital Library are available for your use in research, teaching, and private study. Some of these items are protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) and some items may have additional restrictions. If you use the items in this collection, make sure you abide by any restrictions stated in the descriptive data window. The nature of these collections often makes it difficult to determine the copyright status of an item. We have made every effort to provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions in the descriptive data window. Ultimately, however, it is your responsibility to use the item according to the terms governing its use. If you are a copyright holder and the information is either not listed or listed incorrectly, please let us know so that we can update the information on our site.
Holding Institution:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Collection:
Art and Art History Visual Resources Center
Collection info and contact:
For information about this collection, see