Nan Hoover, Light Dissolves, 1975
Nan Hoover
Light Dissolves

Nan Hoover (*1931 †2008, USA, Germany) studied in Washington, DC, before she moved to Amsterdam in 1969 and became a Dutch citizen. She taught video and film at the Kunstakademie Düs- seldorf from 1987 to 1997. In 2005, she moved to Berlin, where she died in 2008. Along with Nam June Paik and Wolf Vostell, Nan Hoover was one of the pioneers of video art in the 1970s. Her first light performance was held in Berlin in 1976, and from 1991 onward, she created spectacular light installations in public spaces. Her video works are contemplative explorations of the body, movement, light and shadow, creating abstract but also very sensual landscapes.

In this early performance piece, Hoover uses her body to experiment with light and shadow. The video begins with Hoover in stark silhouette against a white background. An abstracted form materialises in front of the silhouette, moving with the play of light. It reveals itself as her hand, which cuts through the picture plane and occupies the space in front of her. The sound is dramatic and evocative: a continuous humming, almost a Buddhist chant. A flash of light – and suddenly a transition in light – reveals a different composition altogether; more vertical and geometric, minimal and simple. Light Dissolves is a collection of picture planes for which the artist performs the compositions, each of which is separated by the dissolving light. JE

Courtesy Nederlands Instituut voor Mediakunst & Nan Hoover Foundation

Document media
Video, b&w, sound, 18:22 min

Issue date
1975

Tags
abstraction, fragmentation, in/visibility, sound

A
Ebtisam Abdulaziz
Marina Abramović
Helena Almeida
Eleanor Antin
Arahmaiani
Malin Arnell
Oreet Ashery
Augusta Atla
Margarita Azurdia
B
Antonia Baehr
Maja Bajević
Anne Bean
Anat Ben-David
Renate Bertlmann
Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz
Nisrine Boukhari
Marijs Boulogne
Tania Bruguera
Nancy Buchanan
Maris Bustamante
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Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
Ève Gabriel Chabanon
Helen Chadwick
Chicks on Speed
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Paul Clarke
Mary Coble
Colette
Cooltūristės
Corpus Deleicti
Nieves Correa
Laura Cottingham
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen
D
Katrina Daschner
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Carola Dertnig
Teresa María Díaz Nerio
Disband
Ines Doujak
Orshi Drozdik
Yingmei Duan
Kirsten Dufour
Fabienne Dumont
E
Silvia Eiblmayr
Diamela Eltit
Rose English
VALIE EXPORT
F
F.F.F.F.
Factory of Found Clothes
Esther Ferrer
Les filles Föllen
Rose Finn-Kelcey
Angelika Fojtuch
Simone Forti
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G
(e.) Twin Gabriel
Regina José Galindo
Anna Bella Geiger
Rimma Gerlovina and Valeriy Gerlovin
Patrycja German
Ghazel
Kate Gilmore
Trine Mee Sook Gleerup
H
Mona Hatoum
Lynn Hershman
High Heel Sisters
María Teresa Hincapié
Nan Hoover
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Icelandic Love Corporation - Gjörningaklúbburinn
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Elżbieta Jabłońska
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Nicola L
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Jinoos Taghizadeh
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Mierle Laderman Ukeles
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Valie Export Society
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The Waitresses
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Nil Yalter
Yeni & Nan