“Sunsets, flowers, landscapes: these kinds of things don’t move me to do anything. I just want to leave them alone. My work comes out of being frustrated about the human condition. And about how people refuse to understand other people. And about how people can be cruel to each other. It’s not that I think I can change that, but it’s just such a frustrating part of human history” -Bruce Nauman.

Known locally as “The Stairs to Nowhere,” “Stadium Piece” is one of the most highly interacted with pieces in the campus sculpture collection. Students often view this piece as more of a bench than a highly intellectual commentary on the human condition. Nauman illustrates, by taking common objects and repurposing them, the way in which humanity runs around itself in search of answers that are both fundamental and elusive. Repurposing stairs, an object commonly associated with leading one elsewhere, and having the piece lead from one plane back into itself symbolically represents the cyclicity of the human experience. This piece is susceptible to both deep contemplation and lack of contemplation entirely which, in and of itself, reflects the way in which humanity has the ability to accept ideas without questioning and to question these ideas deeply. The piece is highly subjective to the viewer and since Nauman has neglected to put out an artist’s statement, the interpretations of this piece are boundless.

Post created by:

Cole Sandhofer

Lara Haines