Bruce Nauman

I'll talk. You'll listen.

— Bruce Nauman

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

— Bruce Nauman

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

— Bruce Nauman

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

— Bruce Nauman

Learn to recognise when you need to know something.

— Bruce Nauman

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

— Bruce Nauman

The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths.

— Bruce Nauman

I thought I might have to give up art, but I couldn't think of anything else to do.

— 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

One of the factors that still keeps me in the studio is that every so often I have to more or less…

— Bruce Nauman

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

— Bruce Nauman

And sometimes the question that you pose or the project that you start yourself turns into something else, you know, but at…

— Bruce Nauman

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

— 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

But if you can find that spot - I suppose it's like running - I used to be a swimmer and swim…

— Bruce Nauman

Sometimes I just have a few people over to see the new work, and I think it works better than in a…

— 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…

— 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…

— Bruce Nauman

When I was in art school, I thought art was something I would learn how to do, and then I would just…

— Bruce Nauman

My work is basically an outgrowth of the anger I feel about the human condition. The aspects of it that make me…

— 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…

— Bruce Nauman

I'm surprised when the work appears beautiful, and very pleased. And I think work can be very good and very successful without…

— Bruce Nauman

And so I put down some of the things that he said, about keeping your tools sharpened and not letting them lie…

— 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…

— Bruce Nauman

What is it that an artist does when he is left alone in his studio? My conclusion was that if I was…

— Bruce Nauman

It's just strange to think about...whether I'll be an artist or what I'll be doing.

— Bruce Nauman

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

— Bruce Nauman

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

— Bruce Nauman

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

— Bruce Nauman

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

— Bruce Nauman

And the part about being a professional artist is that you can tell, and you can do it over again, even if…

— Bruce Nauman

I get the feeling that sometimes the ideas work very well when you're doing them in the studio alone.

— Bruce Nauman

In this case we're building a corner to stretch a fence and hang a gate. It had a real purpose in the…

— Bruce Nauman

It's interesting when you make things or do things that open up the possibilities for making more things, or different kinds of…

— Bruce Nauman

Did you stop because it was good enough, or could have done more - but then maybe ruined it too? Sometimes you…

— 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…

— Bruce Nauman

I like to combine different aspects in my work, to cover different areas, but I do see them as being separate.

— Bruce Nauman

I want to be in the studio. I want to be doing something. You just do whatever is at hand, and you…

— Bruce Nauman