BRUCE NAUMAN, GOOD BOY BAD BOY, 1985

Bruce Nauman, Good Boy Bad Boy, 1985, Video, 2 monitors, color and audio (mono), 60 min., 52 sec.

In Good Boy Bad Boy, two monitors are displayed at head height on pedestals. The head and shoulders of a young black man appear on one; on the other is an older white woman. They both speak the same one hundred phrases, which are the repeated conjugation of the verb 'to be' linked with the term 'good boy': 'I am a good boy. You are a good boy. We are good boys…' and so on. They each go through the sequence five times, beginning in a flat neutral tone, and becoming increasingly animated and intense until by the fifth recitation they appear very angry. Their techniques of delivery are quite different, and result in a slippage of time, so that played on a continuous loop, the two tapes become out of sequence. 'Because they are actors, it's not autobiographical, it's not real anger, but pretending to be angry and they are pretty good at it, but maybe not really convincing.' (Nauman quoted in Bruce Nauman 1998, p.104.) Nauman exploits the different levels of reading experienced by the viewer who, coming in part way through the piece, will be confronted by a barrage of contradictory accusations. Despite the straightforward recitation of basic grammar, the actors' direct eye contact to the camera (and therefore the viewer) and the mounting emotional intensity of their delivery together suggest aggression and attack rather than education. As in much of Nauman's work, attraction and repulsion operate equally to disturb and disorientate the viewer. (Tate)