Collection of Various Flexible Materials Separated by Layers of Grease with Holes the Size of My Waist and Wrists 1966

Curator: Let's turn our attention to Bruce Nauman’s "Collection of Various Flexible Materials Separated by Layers of Grease with Holes the Size of My Waist and Wrists," created in 1966. It's an intriguing, somewhat confrontational piece, made with mixed media. Editor: Confrontational is right. My immediate impression is…vulnerability encased. The dark colors and rough textures evoke a feeling of something being exposed, perhaps even violated, despite being presented formally. Curator: I agree. Holes in art, especially body-sized holes, almost always speak of absence or negative space made physical. And I'd say this one specifically references archetypes of the body in art—specifically how female bodies are represented—with the scale of its "waist" and "wrist." Is he critiquing traditional roles? Editor: Undoubtedly, that is precisely what is intended. Nauman made this artwork during a period of intense questioning of social and artistic conventions. He seemed invested in upsetting formal and conventional themes and forms in ways that challenged notions of identity, social structures, sexuality, or any other structure for that matter. I also read it as commenting on consumerism, as our lives are increasingly designed by products that define our relationship to them. Curator: Fascinating. The work also contains an element of ritual, wouldn’t you say? Materials bound by grease, set on a foundation…this reminds us of funerary art or other ceremonial presentations. It's like presenting an object of reverence. Editor: Yes, like relics displayed. Maybe this signifies how even within these constraints – these waist-and-wrist-sized restrictions, people nonetheless carve their own identity in this process of making one's mark in a material or cultural substance. Curator: Interesting. A person’s physical identity imprinted on a medium. Ultimately this gives us more room to consider not only the symbolic meaning, but the lived reality of those it impacts. Editor: Absolutely, and understanding this context enhances the artwork’s meaning—perhaps the layers of grease could evoke all that gets in the way and makes change so messy, despite our attempts to work our way through the holes. It really emphasizes how contemporary artworks build a broader awareness to advocate and give voice to more equity across human expression. Curator: And now, every time I encounter artwork I find myself revisiting it through both its historical lens as well as how it resonates with our current discourse on individual identity and structural justice. Editor: Exactly, reflecting on art means taking on an evolving historical trajectory!