My work, in general, is about boundaries: finding where the line is, and then gently crossing it.
I don’t actively court controversy, but there are those who find some of my subject matter challenging.
 
I’m an avid film fan, and for my pieces I select movie lines from films that have an edge, a darkness, a certain visceral appeal, like SQUEAL LIKE A PIG, BOY, from the rape scene in Deliverance. Or ME SO HORNY ME LOVE YOU LONG TIME, from Full Metal Jacket. Or ALL THE ANIMALS COME OUT AT NIGHT, from Taxi Driver. These are films that have worked their way into the national consciousness, as well as in everyday conversation. It is truly hilarious to watch people encounter the movie lines for the first time; invariably they end up acting out the scenes, complete with accents. That’s my definition of interactive.
 
The role of the gun in America is another one of my themes. This country was built on the gun, and here in Los Angeles it’s often still that way: I hear large-caliber gunshots on a regular basis and last week there was a wild shootout in my own neighborhood that left two men dead.  Movie posters often feature a gun-toting hero/villain. The gun is a national icon, as American as apple pie and adultery. I started making assassins’ guns (“Sirhan Sirhan”, “Squeaky Fromme”, “Son of Sam”, Dan White”, “Mark David Chapman”, etc), then moved on to movie and television guns (“Dirty Harry”, “Barney Fife”, etc), then onto political guns (Dick Cheney’s shotgun).  All of my guns are historically accurate and to scale. There are those who see the gun series and think I am some kind of gun nut, and others who see the guns as a very powerful anti-gun statement. I agree with them both.
 
Either way, I aim to provoke a reaction in the viewer, whether good or bad. I think all readings of my work are valid.

SELECTION OF WORKS AT ANALOG, Potsdamer Str. 100, 10785 Berlin

© Nora Novak

BUTCH CASSIDY # 4, 2016
found, cut and welded metal, 70 x 110 x 5 cm

THE END, 2013
found, cut and welded metal, 80 x 120 x 5 cm

YOUR MONEY IS ON THE DRESSER, 2012
found, cut and welded metal, 60 x 90 x 5 cm

ME SO HORNY, 2008
found, cut and welded metal, 140 x 240 cm cm x 5 cm

GERMAN REDNECK, 2011
found, cut and welded metal, 48 x 68 X 5 cm