“I am really interested in the different ways that language functions… When language begins to break down a little bit, it becomes exciting and communicates in nearly the simplest way that it can function: you are forced to be aware of the sounds and the poetic parts of words. If you deal only with what is known, you’ll have redundancy; on the other hand, if you deal only with the unknown, you cannot communicate at all. There is always some combination of the two, and it is how they touch each other that makes communication interesting.”

— Bruce Nauman

Source: Christopher Cordes, ‎John Yau (1989), Bruce Nauman, 1989 Bruce Nauman, prints 1970-89: a catalogue raisonné, p. xx: In answer of the question "How does your work reflect your views on the use of language today?"

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I am really interested in the different ways that language functions… When language begins to break down a little bit, …" by Bruce Nauman?

Bruce Nauman 2

American artist 1941

Related quotes

“They communicate, but their communication system is through touch, posture, looks – body language you could call it, but it goes a bit deeper than that. They can learn 400 or more signs in American sign language.”

Jane Goodall (1934) British primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist

Wanderlust interview (2009)

“You don’t realise how language actually interferes with communication until you don’t have it, how it gets in the way like an overdominant sense.”

Lily King (1963) American writer

Source: Euphoria

“A reason to have computers understand natural language is that it’s an extremely effective way of communicating. What I came to realize is that the success of the communication depends on the real intelligence on the part of the listener, and that there are many other ways of communicating with a computer that can be more effective, given that it doesn’t have the intelligence.”

Terry Winograd (1946) American computer scientist

Interview in Bill Moggridge, Designing Interactions (2007), ch. 7 http://www.designinginteractions.com/interviews/TerryWinograd

“In the moment you decide to publish, you hand them off. But it’s interesting how certain stories have remained present—how some were published over and over in different languages, which meant they always seemed close by, and I would change little things here or there.”

Samanta Schweblin (1978) Argentine writer

On her work being translated into several languages in “Samanta Schweblin: There’s No Place Like Home, Including Home Itself” https://lithub.com/samanta-schweblin-theres-no-place-like-home-including-home-itself/ in LitHub (2019 Jan 15)

“It's everything. It's the walk you take in the morning, it's the night before, the meeting with people, landscapes, the chats, all of that evolves in some way into melody, but I'm not sure how it's going to happen. I'm dealing with the unknown all the time and that is exciting.”

Enya (1961) Irish singer, songwriter, and musician

The Telegraph interview (2005)
Context: There is no formula to it because writing every song, for me, is a little journey. The first note has to lift you and make you go, 'What's this?' You play C, but why is it that one day it leads to G and it didn't yesterday? I don't know. It's everything. It's the walk you take in the morning, it's the night before, the meeting with people, landscapes, the chats, all of that evolves in some way into melody, but I'm not sure how it's going to happen. I'm dealing with the unknown all the time and that is exciting.