Bruce Nauman quotes

I don't work that way. Part of it has to do with an idea of beauty. 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 such a frustrating part of human history. (Bruce Nauman)

I am really interested in the different ways that language functions... When language begins to break down a little bit, it becomes exciting and communicates in nearly the simplest way that it can function: you are forced to be aware of the sounds and the poetic parts of words. If you deal only with what is known, you'll have redundancy; on the other hand, if you deal only with the unknown, you cannot communicate at all. There is always some combination of the two, and it is how they touch each other that makes communication interesting.

Bruce Nauman

If you really want to do it, you do it. There are no excuses.

Bruce Nauman

I like to use my hands and make things... It might seem pretty stupid or pointless but that doesn't matter... some of the most interesting work is the stuff that starts like that - out of a raw need for activity.

Bruce Nauman

Generalised anger and frustration is something that gets you in the studio, and gets you to work - though it's not necessarily evident in anything that's finished.

Bruce Nauman

And then what makes the work interesting is if you choose the right questions.

Bruce Nauman

The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths.

Bruce Nauman

In art, the only one who really knows whether what you've done is honest is the artist.

Bruce Nauman

What I am really concerned about is what art is supposed to be - and can become.

Bruce Nauman

If you choose the wrong questions and you proceed, you still get a result, but it's not interesting.

Bruce Nauman

And I don't have any specific steps to take because I don't start the same way every time. But there is a knowing when it's enough and you can leave it alone. (Bruce Nauman)

I don't like to think about being an influence. It's embarrassing.

Bruce Nauman

I think humor is used a lot of the time to keep people from getting too close. Humor side-steps and shifts the meaning.

Bruce Nauman

But if you can find that spot - I suppose it's like running - I used to be a swimmer and swim laps, and you just have to be there with what you're doing.

Bruce Nauman

I'll talk. You'll listen.

Bruce Nauman

But part of the enjoyment I take in it is finding the most efficient way to do it, which doesn't mean the corrections aren't made. I like to have a feeling of the whole task before I start, even if it changes.

Bruce Nauman

In the studio, I don't do a lot of work that requires repetitive activity. I spend a lot of time looking and thinking and then try to find the most efficient way to get what I want, whether it's making a drawing or a sculpture, or casting plaster or whatever.

Bruce Nauman