I thought I might have to give up art, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. Bruce Nauman More Quotes by Bruce Nauman More Quotes From Bruce Nauman If you really want to do it, you do it. There are no excuses. Bruce Nauman excuse-youno-excuseswant 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 shoulddoeart A good teacher is like a good artist. They go right to the most difficult part of whatever's going on. Bruce Nauman difficultartistteacher 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 aspectcapacitypeople 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 worryhandsinteresting If I was an artist, and I was in the studio, then whatever I was doing in the studio must be art. Bruce Nauman studiosartistart 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 figuresartschool The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths. Bruce Nauman artisthelpingworld In art, the only one who really knows whether what you've done is honest is the artist. Bruce Nauman doneintegrityart What I am really concerned about is what art is supposed to be - and can become. Bruce Nauman art-isconcernedart 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 donegonesometimes 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 drawingtryingthinking 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 knowingleave-me-aloneway I'm surprised when the work appears beautiful, and very pleased. And I think work can be very good and very successful without being able to call it beautiful, although I'm not clear about that. The work is good when it has a certain completeness; and when it's got a certain completeness, then it's beautiful. Bruce Nauman successfulbeautifulthinking If you choose the wrong questions and you proceed, you still get a result, but it's not interesting. Bruce Nauman resultsstillsinteresting It's interesting when you make things or do things that open up the possibilities for making more things, or different kinds of things. Bruce Nauman differentkindinteresting My videos always involve some idea of a human being in a unusual situation-and what happens. Bruce Nauman unusualvideoideas Learn to recognise when you need to know something. Bruce Nauman recogniseknowsneeds I'll talk. You'll listen. Bruce Nauman listen-to-your-heartheart 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 studiosfrustrationanger
