Bruce Naumann, Square Depression (1977/2007), skulptur projekte münster 2007, photo: www.artdoc.de
The inverted pyramid by the artist Bruce Nauman (*1941) was one of the artworks presented at skulptur projekte münster 2007. Thousands of visitors descended into the Square Depression, experiencing the unique sensation of standing on a sunken stage. In 2020, the artwork had to be dismantled as the University of Münster is constructing a building for the natural sciences on the same site. A feasibility study is now being carried out to identify potential future locations for the artwork on the university campus. The aim is to rebuild Square Depression in 2028/29 and make it accessible to the public once again.
Nauman designed the work for the first Skulptur Projekte in 1977. Twenty-five metres long and wide, and made of white-painted concrete: this was how the artist envisoned the work. The white inverted pyramid was to be erected at the University of Münster’s Natural Sciences Centre (NWZ) on Wilhelm-Klemm-Straße. However, this did not come to pass, and the work was not realised until thirty years later.
Together with the curatorial team and its Artistic Director Kasper König, the Project Manager of Skulptur Projekte 2007, Dr. Christine Litz, succeeded in persuading the artist to erect the work at the originally planned location. Even the reservations of the state building authority at the time gave way to the compelling commitment of the Skulptur Projekte team. Thus, the 2.3-metre-deep sculpture was cast in concrete at its original site, just like the artist had planned thirty years earlier.
Following its demolition six years ago, Prof. Dr. Johannes Wessels, Rector of the University of Münster, Dr. Hermann Arnhold, Director of the LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Dr. Marianne Wagner, Curator, and the Bruce Nauman Studio in New Mexico met to discuss the reconstruction of the artwork. The reinstallation of the work on the university campus was subsequently established as a construction project in a major architectural competition. A feasibility study is now being carried out to identify locations on campus that meet Nauman’s artistic specifications regarding the relationship between the site, the artwork and the viewer.
In 2009, the LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur acquired the work with the support of Sparkasse Münsterland Ost and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. With Square Depression, Skulptur Projekte’s Public Collection gained an extraordinary work that explores spatial perception. The sculpture made of cast concrete encapsulates the history of Skulptur Projekte like almost no other work, as its history spans the entire duration of the exhibition. Nauman’s works are often not self-contained objects. Instead, they are situations that only come into being through the movement and presence of the viewer. In his work, spaces become fields of experience: narrow passageways, repetitive structures or disorienting perspectives alter one’s sense of direction and trigger both physical and psychological reactions. The space is not neutral, but active – it influences how people move, feel and perceive.
Further information is available in the original LWL Newsroom press release.