Violins Violence Silence 1982

This neon piece by Bruce Nauman stacks the words violins, violence, and silence in a triangular form. I love to imagine his process, sketching out ideas, problem-solving the arrangement of the words to fit into this shape. The words glow in different colors, yellow, orange, pink, all of which are warm and inviting. The triangle almost looks like a warning sign, a symbol that tells us to be careful. He uses a playful medium to create this feeling of apprehension. Nauman's neon works often play with language and form. I can see echoes of other artists who also work with text, like Jenny Holzer, but Nauman brings a sculptural quality to it. Artists are constantly responding to one another, borrowing, expanding, critiquing – it’s one big conversation! Ultimately, the artwork embraces a complexity of feeling which allows for multiple readings and meanings. It resists being pinned down.