A current project I’m working on took me to Switzerland last month where stars aligned for the chance to see a ginormous exhibition of one of favourite artists – Bruce Nauman – in one of the most ideal places to view almost any kind of art – the Schaulager on the outskirts of Basel.
A comprehensive survey spanning five decades of the American artist’s odd oeuvre, Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts is a beast of an exhibition and one I believe is worth a visit to Basel in its own right.
I never quite know if I ever really “get” most contemporary art. But I reckon getting it isn’t really the point. If I enjoy something or am moved by it – or it somehow resonates with me – then I assume mission accomplished on behalf the artist and me as the viewer. So, in that sense and to that end everything I’ve ever come across by Bruce Nauman has been a raving success.
His art tends to make me shudder or guffaw (usually the latter followed by a fit of giggles) or a mix of both. Case in point for a mix of both is his multichannel video installation Clown Torture (1987). Featuring a video of a circus clown taking a dump in a public toilet, another of the same fella going berserk and yelling “NO! NO! NO!” and other memorable clips, the installation is an endurance test and an askew hoot.
I was familiar with Clown Torture and a handful other pieces in teh exhibition. Seeing them alongside and amid Nauman’s earliest and latest art was a joy. The dude’s as prolific and profound as his work is perversely ponderous. Some of it is maybe a bit too conceptual for my time but the vast majority of art on view in Disappearing Acts – particularly his naughty neon works and mesmerising videos – is pure gallery gold.
A Word about Visiting Schaulager
This was not my first time to visit Schaulager, and I suspect it won’t be my last. Opened just over a decade ago under commission of the Laurenz Foundation
and designed by local architect superstars Herzog & de Meuron, Schaulager is a colossal art facility. It’s an amazing space to behold inside and out even without the art on view and really is one of my favourite spots to view art.
That said, the museum’s policy regarding photography (even taking pics with one’s phone of information not actual artwork) is antiquated, boring and draconian – especially considering its own motto, “If art is not seen, it is not alive. Without care, art is endangered.” I can appreciate the no cameras in the gallery rules, but c’mon and catch up. Schaulager could be a social media hit reaching so many more people and turning them on to exceptional architecture and art.
Anyway, the photo at the top this post is a download from the press section of the Schaulager website.
Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts runs until 26 August at Laurenz-Stiftung Schaulager. just outside Basel city limits but still easily accessible by public transportation at Ruchfeldstrasse 19, 4142 Münchenstein. Find out more at schaulager.org.
