Pinch Neck, from 1968, is a video by Bruce Nauman. In this video Nauman pinches and pulls at the skin of his neck and face to create sculpture from the body. Every shape that is made is new and different sculpture from the last. The focus of this work is the body and what can be created using the minimal amount components.

Nauman and his contemporaries were champions of the postmodern period. This period is known for artists move away from commoditized objects and towards art that only exists in the realm of the intellect. This type of art could only be bough or sold if a person acquired a copy of the performance. The performance or art object only belongs to the artist; the only thing that can be bought is a copy, for the original only exists as long as Nauman’s actual neck is alive.

Although Nauman is using his own body, his work is not pacifically about his own body or even the generalized body. According to Willoughby Sharp, a well known and respected artist and art critic; “In body works, the body per se is not as important as what is being done with the body”. The body in this case is a site in which art is created. The body is the medium, not the work of art. When the artist pushes and pulls at the skin, the molded shape he creates is the art object, and this object only last as long as the artist holds the position.