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Of course, although American, the deeper resonances of Nauman's work
invoke Wittgenstein, Samuel Beckett and the migrant, Nabokov. There
are also wholly American links with the rhythm and cadence of Sam
Shepherd and even of Philip Glass. Johnnie Coltrane and the mostly
forgotten (and neglected) jazz pianist Lennie Tristano, play a part
much-lauded by Nauman. If one is seeking Nauman's European roots,
one is reminded immediately of Aristophanes' 'The Frogs (Ranae)' and
their refrain, 'Brekekekex koax koax', as repeated endlessly before
the shocked, ancient Athenian audiences sitting in the amphitheatre
at Epidaurus. Indeed, Nauman's roots can be truly validated to the
very genesis of European art and culture.
Nauman faced a difficult predicament this year at Tate Modern.
His last two predecessors in the Unilever Series (Anish Kapoor with
his massive 'Marsyas' and Olafur Eliasson’s series 'The Weather
Project') raised the stakes in the challenge of how best to address
the mega-space in this great emporium of emptiness. For Nauman,
the first significant, even brilliant component imposed upon the
unwary visitor is the progression down the ramp. The twinned speakers
start at the top and gravitate deeper and deeper into the hall.
The bands of sound scarcely overlap - it is more a question of the
viewer passing from one zone to another. There are 21 individual
sound pieces to this collage, disposed with a rigour that is typical
of Nauman.
The waves of sound created here do incorporate a retrospective,
self-referential sourcing of his past work, but this rigour can
prove intolerant. When Nauman first visited Tate Modern, the Turbine
Hall was full of Henry Moores and, as a result, he did consider
here an installation whereby all the sculptures might be suspended
from cranes.
Beckett seems closest in similarity, as evidenced in Nauman's previous
piece, 'Clown Torture'. Here, there is a video of men dressed as
clowns who stand one-legged, repeating ad infinitum:
'It was a dark and stormy night. Three men were sitting round a
campfire. One of the men said, "tell us a story Jack".
And so Jack repeats "it was a dark and stormy night…"
'
The ending of every sequence comes when the one-legged clown topples
over. This Nauman perplexes adults, but amuses any children around.
Nauman seems to have been inspired at Tate Modern to an extent
that no other artist has been, by the vaguely perceptible 'thrum'
of the still adjacent turbine in operation. The art critic Robert
Hughes is not pro-Nauman, for all the shock of this new work. He
feels the ruthless alienation of the viewer/visitor in Nauman's
thrall. However, there is a host of Nauman followers who welcome
this very conflict. On leaving Tate Modern and the Turbine Hall,
one is subject, for long after, to a haunting series of dream-like
thoughts and memories of this great space - void, but suffused by
cacophony.
Michael Spens
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