Re - Impression

Bruce Nauman
"One Hundred Live and Die" 1984
Neon tubing mounted on four metal monoliths, 118 x 132 1/4 x 21 inches
Collection Fukake Publishing Co., Ltd., Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum, Kagawa, Japan
Courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York, © Bruce Nauman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York



Title : Ocean Without a Shore

Of the work Bill Viola states, “Ocean Without a Shore is about the presence of the dead in our lives. The three stone altars in San Gallo become transparent surfaces for the manifestation of images of the dead attempting to re-enter our world.” “The video sequence describes the human form as it gradually coalesces from within a dark field and slowly comes into view, moving from obscurity into the light. As the figure approaches, it becomes more solid and tangible until it breaks through an invisible threshold and passes into the physical world. The crossing of the threshold is an intense moment of infinite feeling and acute physical awareness. Poised at that juncture, for a brief instant all beings can touch their true nature, equal parts material and essence. However, once incarnate, these beings must eventually turn away from mortal existence and return to the emptiness from where
they came.”