From the inventive minds that introduced Milwaukee to its first rock 'n' roll science fair, "Weird Science," in August 2005, comes "Bruce Nauman 101," the second multi-media artistic venture from Milwaukee's presenter of creative little events, Cedar Block.
Coordinated by WMSE Promotions Director and Cedar Block co-founder Brent Gohde, the event coincides with the Milwaukee Art Museum's current exhibit, "Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works With Light." Unique to the Museum, the event challenges dozens of Milwaukee-area creative thinkers to learn about the Museum's exhibition and present their findings at MAM on Friday, Feb. 17.
In early December, Gohde sent out one of 10 assignments -- each based on one work in "Elusive Signs" -- to 80 painters, filmmakers, musicians, designers, writers and photographers in the area inviting them to participate in his event. The final results yielded 38 participants creating 34 projects in a multitude of media, including oral presentation, performance, sound recordings, film, visual art, table displays and clothing design.
"I found a quote attributed to Nauman which read, 'Art is a means of inquiring an investigative attitude,' and led off each homework assignment with those words," says Gohde. "The assignments range from physics to philosophy to history to sociology. I tried to cover most subjects you might have in any classroom curriculum."
A few of the featured presentations are:
Peter Morateck -- Settling the "free will versus determinism" debate once and for all by documenting his hours of playing the '80s arcade video game "Burger Time."
Fashion Ninja -- Presenting non-traditional or subversive notions of beauty in our everyday life with a runway fashion show.
Evan Gritzon -- Giving a PowerPoint lecture on the causes of the black plague in 14th century Europe.
Tate Bunker -- Reading attendees' minds with the aid of a pre-recorded video.
Anna Helgeson -- Revealing "mystic truths" by leaving envelopes throughout the space addressed to those in attendance.
Seth Crawford -- Proving his existence with the help of his myspace.com profile.
"Bruce Nauman 101," Gohde says, works as a fitting tribute to Nauman, since he has worked in so many different artistic media.
"It's not an art reception, it's not a concert, it's not a lecture -- it's all of the above," he explains. "The reason I do these Cedar Block events is to spotlight the amazing number of creative individuals who don't have a true artistic medium or outlet. I hope that those who stop by will be excited to meet these creative friends of mine, and hopefully are inspired to find their own way of expressing themselves. I love providing a place for these people to shine. And the fact that the Milwaukee Art Museum is opening their doors to those people and welcoming them into their institution should not go unrecognized."
"Bruce Nauman 101" starts at 8 p.m. and goes until midnight. "Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works With Light," which runs through April 9, will be open all night and is included in the $5 admission price.
Cedar Block's Web site it cedarblock.com.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
