I chose to focus on Bruce Nauman’s Having Fun/Good Life, Symptoms. The work is not a painting, but rather two overlapping spirals made out of flashing neon lighting on a raised white background. The lights form words, and each phrase is “written” in two colors (one on top of the other). Each phrase is done in different colors. The left spiral is a sequence of opposites: “FEVER AND CHILLS DRYNESS AND SWEATING NORTH AND SOUTH EAST AND WEST OVER AND UNDER FRONT AND BACK UP AND DOWN IN AND OUT.” The right spiral reads, “I LIVE THE GOOD LIFE I’M HAVING FUN YOU LIVE THE GOOD LIFE YOU’RE HAVING FUN WE LIVE THE GOOD LIFE WE’RE HAVING FUN THIS IS THE GOOD LIFE THIS IS FUN.” The phrases flash in different patterns, and the spirals are not synchronized, although they are symmetrical. Each spiral contains eight phrases, so in that sense it is balanced. The entire work gives off an annoying buzzing sound from the neon lights.
I chose this piece because there was something haunting about its message. The repetition of being told that we are having fun seemed so mechanical and impersonal, and the contrast between the idea of being happy and the way it was presented was intriguing.
This piece is very different from the works that we’ve studied in class in that it changes constantly. Different parts of it light up at different times. The entire piece made me uncomfortable. There were too many opposites and I found the flashing lights and buzzing sound obnoxious. The second spiral (on the right) reminded me of hypnotism due to its shape and repetitive message that it seemed to be forcing onto someone. The two spirals reminded me of two eyes just staring at me.
One thing I didn’t notice immediately were the shadows of the words on the white background. The shadows didn’t resemble the words. Similarly, when I stepped to the side of the work, the written words were no longer readable. A change in perspective resulted in a loss of meaning.
The work reminded me of The Great Gatsby. The shapes looked like the giant eyes mentioned in that text, and the flashiness and bright colors reminded me of the novel’s party culture.
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Below I've included two views of the work from the side. The two images
show how the colors of the phrases change as well as how the words
become hard to read as I change my perspective. The shadows on the wall
are also visible.
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Product:
I used Photoshop and a Wacom table to create a .gif file to represent my experience of the piece. My work is a set of colored concentric circles that move as if the viewer were falling down through a tunnel. At the center of the piece are two bright orange eyes that stare straight ahead and occasionally blink.
I was trying to capture both the uncomfortable feeling Nauman’s work gave me as well as the idea of hypnotism that his work put into my head. I think the moving concentric circles do a good job of conveying the idea of hypnotism, while the orange eyes create an uncomfortable feeling. I don’t think a static image would have captured the same experience, which is why I chose to make a .gif. Having multiple frames allowed me to create the sense of being sucked into a colorful tunnel and made the eyes seem more lifelike by allowing them to blink.
Below are the eight frames of the file, in case the link doesn't work:
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Reflection:
I learned that recreating an experience is easier for me than recreating an actual piece of art because I can rely on my own interpretation and my own experience of the piece. I don’t think I would have done much differently if I were to do this project again; I think I was able to really capture my experience in my work. I was able to capture what I associated with the piece (eyes, discomfort, hypnotism, balance) without actually including the main shapes of the original piece (spirals) that conveyed these ideas. The only thing I would think about changing is perhaps adding sound to my work. The annoying buzzing sound was something I was very aware of in the original work, and I think my piece could have used either music or a laughing sound effect.
