Square Depression Archive

Whether it’s video installations, sculptures, or architectural projects, most of Bruce Nauman’s works focus on physical and psychological experiences, as well as the relationship of individuals to their environment. This is also the case in Square Depression, a work that exists in the space between sculpture and architecture. It was first designed in 1976 for the Skulptur Projekte in the following year, but couldn’t be realized until 2007.

The edges of this inverted concrete pyramid are 25 meters long. The depression is deep enough that a person standing in the middle will be approximately at eye level with the outer edge. Anyone who goes into the center of the gleaming white surface will have a very individual experience, perceiving the outside world from this unusual low vantage point.

At the same time, any visitor on the empty white surface is vulnerable, exposed, and easily observed by viewers outside of the square. As such, the artistic-architectural field enables a “confrontation of private experience and public display” (Bruce Naumann 1977).

Additional information: www.skulptur-projekte.de