Bruce Nauman

“The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“I'll talk. You'll listen.”

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

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

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