Berlin presents retrospective of works by US 'experience architect'

An exhibition of what is termed "experience architecture" opens Friday in Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof gallery for contemporary art. Under the title "Dream Passage," the exhibition is a retrospective of American artist Bruce Nauman's work.

At the end of the 1960's, Nauman began constructing corridors and rooms that visitors could enter. Nauman says these artworks were designed to evoke the dual sensation of being entrapped and debarred.

Among them was the complex piece entitled "Corridor Installation" from 1970, in which visitors, recorded on video camera, are confronted by their own image as they pass through. "Dream Passage" also includes an architectural sculpture, "Room with My Soul Left Out, Room That Does Not Care" from 1984. The Berlin National Gallery accepted the piece as a gift and plans to erect it permanently in the museum in accordance with the artist's instructions.

The exhibition is Nauman's first major retrospective in Berlin. It is hosted by the National Gallery and runs until October 10, 2010.

Author: Peter Zimmerman
Editor: Kate Bowen