Bruce Nauman: Performative Scepticism and the Aporia of Sense

To date, scholars explored Bruce Naumans oeuvre through various perspectives, concepts and premises, including linguistics, performance, power and knowledge, sound, the political and more. Amidst this vast and rich field, Naumans pieces have been regarded by critics in terms of systematic skepticism, tragic skepticism, skepticism of the medium, and linguistic doubt. This book methodically analyzes the notion of performative skepticism and its relevance to various dimensions of Bruce Naumans post-minimalist artistic practice. It is argued that Nauman performs the perpetual failure of perception, hence, demonstrating its doubtful validity to produce certain knowledge without allowing a resolution. This kind of skepticism, here called performative skepticism, exposes the impossibility of epistemological equipment to produce knowledge, and the impossibility of attaining certainty in bridging the gap between knowledge and the real. See more