La Brea/Art Tips/Rat Spit/Tar Pits 1972

Bruce Nauman’s neon sign features a lurid color palette of pinks, reds, and greens. I can imagine Nauman coaxing the colors to glow and flicker, and working with language that has a raw, visceral quality. I can see him wrestling with the physicality of the medium, bending the glass tubes into shape. The text, arranged in a circular format, hints at the cyclical nature of language and meaning. It's like when I'm painting and a shape starts to emerge out of nowhere and I ask myself, where did that come from? Nauman probably thought a lot about what these words meant, especially 'rat spit.' That’s a really physical and evocative phrase and the way it contrasts with 'Art Tips' is kinda funny. It reminds me of other artists who experiment with language, like Ed Ruscha or Jenny Holzer. I like to think of artists being in conversation with each other. This piece emphasizes ambiguity and uncertainty. It’s open to multiple interpretations.