![]() ![]() ![]() The installation was highly controversial, and often appeared in newspapers. Photo taken for the Albuquerque Journal, Vol 11 No 19, Facility Planning #028 The Center of Whose Universe? The Center of the Universe under construction in 1988. ![]() However, once the plans were public and the sculpture was complete, that’s when the controversy began. The artist admitted that it was not originally going to be called the Center of the Universe this idea just happened upon him midway into development of the structure. With a wallet full of a hundred thousand dollars and a dream, Nauman began to plan his work. The organization offered up a whopping fifty thousand dollars, which was somehow matched by private donors and the UNM Foundation. Out of fear that people might fall off, UNM denied the initial proposal, and a new sculpture was commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts. Nauman was first commissioned for a sculpture at UNM in 1983, which was initially going to be titled Abstract Stadium, and would be a set of concrete bleachers that were sixty feet long and fifteen feet high, located by the Zimmerman Library. The Big BangĪn original sketch for the sculpture by Bruce Nauman, 1988. Yet, despite all that’s happened to it over the thirty one years since its completion, the Center of the Universe continues to stand tall between Mitchell and Ortega hall. This tower of concrete that juts out above, below, and to all sides and is lit only by halogen lamps has seen so much anger and outrage, that sometimes it’s hard to believe. From the moment the Center of the Universe was conceived by artist Bruce Nauman, it was met with controversy. The Center of the Universe: Controversy in Concrete ![]()
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