body and light

Neon Templates of the Left Half of My Body Taken at Ten Inch Intervals is a self-portrait in absentia.  The shapes of the neon tubes were molded against the contours of the artist’s body...

...Due to the sculpture’s popularity and fragility, the practice of fabricating replicas for temporary exhibitions was developed.  Loan agreements required potential borrowers to meet four criterion.  First, artist Bruce Nauman required that the original neon must be in existence and in working order.  Second, the current owner of the artwork must agree to the loan before a replica exhibition copy is fabricated. Third, the credit line for the loaned artwork would specify that the work on view is an exhibition copy and acknowledge the owner of the original.  The final criteria required the destruction of the copy at the conclusion of the exhibition.  Borrowers were asked to provide photographic documentation that the destruction had taken place.  

Excerpt from:  

The Conservation of Bruce Nauman’s Neon Templates of the Left Half of My Body at Ten Inch Intervals (1966) via The Glass House