The Shrem

Bruce Nauman, Blue and Yellow Corridor, 1970-71/2018, fluorescent light, two video cameras, two video monitors, and painted wallboard

On February 2, 2019, I took my daughter, Maggie, to the Manetti Shrem Museum.  There were a lot of really amazing exhibits but we went there primarily to see Bruce Nauman’s famous Blue and Yellow Corridor.  I liked it, but she absolutely loved it!  Walking through the corridors is pretty uncomfortable for an adult though. The corridors are very tight.  Just to get through the back wall you have to walk side ways. The yellow lights are on the two side corridors and the blue is through the middle.  While walking through the blue corridor I began to feel a little light headed and discombobulated. 

It was interesting because my daughter was running through it over and over again like it was a ride at an amusement park.  For me, I experienced it a few times, and that was enough.  There begins the spinning of the wheels. 

Why create an installation like this?  

 I think Nauman’s concept behind this piece was to take people out of their comfort zones. He wanted to push the person who was experiencing his installation into a world were they may have felt that they didn’t belong in.  Perhaps this was to make us rethink the definition of comfort.  What is comfort?  What does it mean to us as individuals?  It’s easy to say “When I sit in my comfy chair at home, I’m comfortable.”  But that’s too easy.  I think Nauman is challenging us as a society and the notion of living comfortably. This work makes me think of all the people out there that don’t have beds, food, or any comfort in their lives at all.  This installation is powerful in that way and that’s what art is all about. 

(Maggie and I in front of the Blue and Yellow Corridors)