UNM campus holds the Center of the Universe

According to the cosmological principle of physics, there is no center of the universe. But for Lobos, the Center of the Universe exists on the campus of The University of New Mexico. Standing between Mitchell and Ortega halls, the installation was commissioned in 1983 for $100,000 and was immediately met with controversy.

Artist Bruce Nauman was initially going to call the sculpture Abstract Stadium and the design called for concrete bleachers 15 feet tall. Fearing people would fall off, the university denied the proposal and a new sculpture was commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts. Nauman said the idea to call it Center of the Universe came to him midway through the project. The structure consists of unadorned concrete tunnels extending outward from a plaque in the middle and one reaching up toward the blue New Mexico sky.

The outrage began as soon as the sculpture was installed.

"TUNNEL VISION: Bruce Nauman's walk-through concrete art causes critical campus controversy," blared a headline in the Albuquerque Journal.

"A useless concrete behemoth. It's a great place for rapists to hang out," said one detractor.

"It's ruined a perfectly good bicycle parking lot," said another.

"It's much better to get a strong reaction than no reaction," Nauman declared, adding, "But I didn't make this to upset people. People want things to be pretty and relaxing - and in some situations that may be appropriate. But this is a university campus. People should be willing to be emotionally and intellectually challenged, be willing to be pushed a little bit."

Those who did approve seemed to mostly be other artists.

Nauman is an artist of worldwide renown, working in sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance art. He lives in Galisteo, N.M. An installation he created and similar to the Center of the Universe, Truncated Pyramid Room, is located in Germany. Nauman's work has been exhibited in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Paris, London, Germany, and New Mexico. He holds several accolades, including the Wolf Prize for distinguished work as a sculptor and his extraordinary contribution to 20^th century art. In 2001, one of Nauman's sculptures sold for $9.9 million to a French billionaire.

"It is great that the UNM main campus holds such a meaningful artwork by one of the most important contemporary artists of our time," said UNM Professor of Art Andrea Polli, herself a creator of large installations in public places. "It was installed before I came to UNM so I don't know much about how it was originally received, but seeing it here certainly influenced my impression of the campus when I first visited. While I knew of his work in my art history books, I got to know Nauman's work in person when I saw a major retrospective of his work at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and what still amazes me is the huge range of work he creates."

In the nearly 40 years since its installation, controversy over the Center of the Universe has died down. Many people in the Lobo community walk, jog, skateboard, bike, or scooter right through the structure, unaware of the hulllabaloo it once caused. Some take a contemplative moment at the brass plaque in the middle of the passage and, well, center themselves for the day.

The space still has its issues. Trash, bodily fluids, and items left behind by homeless people passing through campus must be cleaned up, noted Rich Schorr, manager of UNM Grounds and Landscaping.

"The biggest issue we have with the Center of the Universe is the graffiti. Everyone likes to put their mark on it. Luckily it is concrete and easy to paint or clean," said Joseph Lopez, Area 4 manager for UNM Maintenance and Construction.

However, many people enjoy their journey to the Center of the Universe. There is a tradition that students go in the center and howl for good luck on finals and use it as a set for lightsaber fights. And the Center of the Universe is one of the stops on the campus tour for new students and their families.

"When I have led tours, people get really excited about the piece," said Carlie Hornback, campus tours and events manager at the UNM Office of Admissions and Recruitment. "They really like the acoustics and enjoy hearing the history and mild controversy of the piece."

Joey Coring, student tour guide and a sophomore majoring in Elementary Education at UNM, recalled a tour group visit one day that showed off the installation's acoustics: "We went into the Center of the Universe and it was packed! As I was talking, one of the parents of the students sneezed loudly and it bounced off the walls. The sneeze was so loud and echoey that it scared a younger sibling of one of the students on the tourand caused her to scream and jump. Everyone got a kick out of it and the whole group started to laugh - which also echoed within the structure."

Brandon Bennet, multimedia marketing specialist at the UNM Communications and Marketing Department, occasionally uses the structure for photo shoots. "Taking photos of the Center of the Universe is a fun challenge. It's different than what someone would normally take photos of so finding a balanced composition can be a little funky, but it makes for some abstract lines throughout the image."

UNM graduate and digital media professional intern Kyler Kinzie recently accompanied Bennet to the installation on a photo shoot.

"Even though I'm used to seeing it now, when I first saw it in high school, I was a bit confused if I'm being honest," Kinzie commented. "It lives up to thename. It's so different from anything else on campus, it feels like an alien structure. It remains so iconic even though it's just a few rectangles. It's sort ofgiving off the energy of a cargo container in the Brutalist architecture style. However you interpret it, you sure as hell won't forget it."

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