Bruce Nauman pinch neck

It is clear that Pinch Neck by Bruce Nauman relies heavily on video. Video is an extremely important part of this piece because one aspect that contributes to the concept is the way the subject is framed.  The viewer is only able to see the neck and lower facial features and those things are forced into being the focal point of the piece and the only thing that the viewer is able to see. The video makes it so that the viewer must examine the framed area as Nauman seems to have intended.

Having video as the media does indeed lend itself to being a video piece. This is the type of performance that is better carried out on video because it is the kind that is an experience that we otherwise would not see; at least not in the way it is framed, which serves as an important circumstance that makes the piece what it is. If this were a photo instead of a video, it would be more of something staged, done only for the sake of taking a photo rather than being a performance. Could it still be considered a performance if it was a photo?

Overall, video was the best choice of media for this performance.  This is because it is the only media capable of capturing the pulls and pinches and movement of the skin and that in itself is the basis of the performance. This concept could not be executed as well, and maybe not at all if it were done in another way.