Nauman Quotes & Sayings

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

I had a total revelation with the feminist moment, with Carolee Scheeman and Marina Abromovic and of course Joan Jonas; that was a big breakthrough with me. And through them, [I was introduced to] Chris Burden and Bruce Nauman and Vito Acconci. You can almost call it a gang, because the works are always talking together. That stuff had a huge impact on me, but other than that, my interest had always been old paintings. — Ragnar Kjartansson

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

I've always been interested in what happens in the studio. — 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

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

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

My videos always involve some idea of a human being in a unusual situation-and what happens. — Bruce Nauman

I want to be in the studio. I want to be doing something. You just do whatever is at hand, and you don't even worry about whether it's going to be interesting or not interesting to anybody else-or even yourself. You just have to make something. — Bruce Nauman

Opinions are based on experiences and experience is always connected with emotions. Anything linked with emotions is always biased. — Nauman Khan

In this case we're building a corner to stretch a fence and hang a gate. It had a real purpose in the ranch here. I needed to do this. But at the same time, it made a beautiful structure. — Bruce Nauman

One of the factors that still keeps me in the studio is that every so often I have to more or less start all over. — Bruce Nauman

When I was in art school, I thought art was something I would learn how to do, and then I would just do it. At a certain point I realized that it wasn't going to work like that. Basically, I would have to start over every day and figure out what art was going to be. — 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

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

And the part about being a professional artist is that you can tell and you can do it over again, even if you can't say how you got there exactly. — Bruce Nauman

A good teacher is like a good artist. They go right to the most difficult part of whatever's going on. — Bruce Nauman

Did you stop because it was good enough, or could have done more - but then maybe ruined it too? Sometimes you finish because you've gone too far. — Bruce Nauman

Pete and Repeat were sitting on a wall. Pete fell off. Who was left? Repeat. — Bruce Nauman

The little dove, in her nest, in my kitchen window, still awake, all scared, waiting for the storm to pass and we humans are sleeping peacefully, believing that our concrete houses will save us... — Nauman Khan

they say every living thing requires proper nutrition to survive, they also say music is food for the soul, if that was true i would hav been long dead, hence proved that the soul which survive on music is not a soul but a desire and desires don't die until killed, we should be concerned about the soul which will be held accountable after our deaths, we should make sure our soul is not on dieting now a days — Nauman Khan

Learn to recognise when you need to know something. — Bruce Nauman

My work is basically an outgrowth of the anger I feel about the human condition. The aspects of it that make me angry are our capacity for cruelty and the ability people have to ignore situations they don't like. — Bruce Nauman

Most of the things I achieved in my life are through trying something which others and I thought won't be possible. — Nauman Khan

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

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

There should be a device which can detect when the person is getting angry and should not let that person speak till he/she calms down. This will solve so many problems. — Nauman Khan

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

If I was an artist, and I was in the studio, then whatever I was doing in the studio must be art. — Bruce Nauman

What is it that an artist does when he is left alone in his studio? My conclusion was that if I was an artist and I was in the studio, then everything I was doing in the studio should be art ... From that point on, art became more of an activity and less of a product. — Bruce Nauman

Wars bring the best out of men, it can b good for some, bad for others but it is the best that man can offer — Nauman Khan

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 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

Even if 1000 people test something and come up with the same conclusion, I can be the 1001st person to bring out a different result — Nauman Khan

It took me some time to sleep last night, I lowered the temp of AC that it might help but still it took a while, while coming back from Fajr I saw a street sweeper sleeping on the road near the wall of a big house behind a parked car, it was 29C without any breeze and he was in deep sleep with snoring loud enough to be audible 10 feet away, surely our perception of things which will bestow us with peace is clouded — Nauman Khan

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

The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths. — Bruce Nauman

Just now at Magrib Salah, a very old man was standing next 2 me, he was exactly behind the imam so he must b the 1st one in the masjid, it was difficult for him to stand but he stood with shivering hands and feet using the support of a stick, while saying takbir he only raised 1 hand coz the other hand was on the stick, supporting him in standing, while in ruku, he placed the handle of the stick near his shoulder and supported his whole body on the stick, if he coming to masjid to offer salah in my time, what excuse will I give to Allah? — Nauman Khan

And so I put down some of the things that he said, about keeping your tools sharpened and not letting them lie on the ground where they get hurt or get abused and dirty and can't find them. And some thoughts about how his father used to do things. — Bruce Nauman

History repeats itself but without a parity bit — Nauman Khan