DAILY LOBO new mexico
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monday October 22, 2012
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Graffiti a problem at the center of the universe by Antonio Sanchez news@dailylobo.com
Aaron Sweet / Daily Lobo Graffiti is a recurring problem at“The Center of the Universe,”a sculpture by Bruce Nauman installed on the west side of Ortega Hall in 1988. According to professor of contemporary art and art history Libby Lumpkin, Nauman ranks among the most important artists of the last 60 years.
Since its creation, the piece of art titled “The Center of the Universe” has been a magnet for graffiti and vandalism. Artist Bruce Nauman created “The Center of the Universe” in 1988. The structure, located just west of Ortega Hall, has a crosssection of tunnels that people can walk through as well as one that projects up and down. Gary Smith, the associate director of environmental services for the Physical Plant Department, said he sends maintenance workers at least three times per week to check for graffiti. Maintenance for the structure costs about $850 per week without the cost of supplies, such as paint and paint brushes. “We have a policy here that we don’t allow an artist or others to modify the artwork here on campus and that would include graffiti. We certainly try and keep that off as quickly as we can,” Smith said. “We’re over there at least three times a week, our labor rate for grounds is $47.28 an hour, we’re over there probably 25-26 hours a week, so you can see that will add up. The sad part is that will divert resources that we could use for other things here.” Smith has been in charge of
Transferring credits a fickle enterprise by Antonio Sanchez news@dailylobo.com
Graduation for UNM transfer student Kelsey Flint-Martin will be a bittersweet occasion. While Flint-Martin will be able to move on to graduate school, she said she’s tacked on an extra $2,500 in school expenses — a semester’s worth of tuition she did not expect to pay. According to Admissions and Recruitment Services, Flint-Martin is one of 1,300 undergraduate transfer students attending UNM this fall, many of whom have experienced similar credit transfer issues. Flint-Martin transferred to UNM in fall 2010 from Wells College in New York. She said the difficulties she encountered when transferring credits held her back from graduating within four years. “It took over a semester to get my transfer credits in the system correctly, so I couldn’t take simple things like the right English and math classes,” Flint-Martin said. “I have to graduate a semester later; they had me take extra classes that they ended up using my transferred credits for afterwards.” Flint-Martin said that aside from credit issues, she was brushed aside when approaching advisers
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with questions. “They (advisers) were slow on getting back to me; any questions I had they were just really, really slow,” she said. “All of the advisers I saw were dealt for freshmen, never for transfer students. I felt pushed aside.” UNM student Michelle Dyer Peterson transferred to the University in 2008 after studying for two semesters at Brigham Young University-Idaho. Peterson said that because her previous school was religion-based, a few credits she had earned couldn’t be used for credit when she transferred. Peterson said that while she understood why a few religion courses were not considered, she said her world religions credit was wrongly dismissed. She said she tried to use the world religions course she took at BYU-Idaho as an equivalent course to the course offered at UNM, but was unable to. “I was basically denied of having that backed up because it was from a religious school, they said there was a religious slant to our curriculum,” Peterson said. “I told her that wasn’t the case, that ‘No, this was a class where we learned about other religions, not ours.’”
environmental maintenance since 2000, and said graffiti often peaks at the start of every new school year and near graduation. He said his department often receives complaints about graffiti at “The Center of the Universe,” even though he often tries to clean the site early each morning. “We’re here early in the morning so we usually see it first, but if we don’t get it removed by the time people get here for work and school, we usually get calls and that really is more so if there’s inappropriate wording, or a racial slur, but we usually see it first and remove all of it — it’s very common for people to call and tell us of the inappropriate things that are over there,” he said. Professor of contemporary art and art history Libby Lumpkin said having a piece by Nauman is worth the cost of maintenance. “I think if you made a short list of the most important artists of the last half of the 20th century, he (Nauman) would be near the top of that list,” Lumpkin said. Lumpkin has been teaching contemporary art at the University since 2010, after serving as director for the Las Vegas Art Museum from 2005 to 2008. Lumpkin said Nauman’s art has been hailed throughout the past few decades, often pushing the
idea of creating art. Lumpkin said Nauman approached the sculpture from a nontraditional point of view. While most statues are featured upon a platform, “The Center of the Universe” occupies the same space as the viewer. “It’s a major breakthrough in sculptures and for us to have it is truly astounding and a wonderful teaching moment,” she said. Lumpkin said Nauman’s intention was to create anxiety among his viewers. Anxiety is a reoccurring theme with the artist — his multimedia piece “Clown Torture,” a video of the artist dressed as a demented clown, is indicative of that. She said that because of this anxiety, students often respond through graffiti and vandalism. “Throughout history, there have been cases of anxiety felt towards works of art,” she said. “I think this really expresses their power, when you have someone not able to deal with anxiety in a safe way, it’s just one of the hazards of art.” Nauman’s studio manager Juliet Myers spoke on behalf of the artist, who declined an interview with the Lobo. Myers said the University has done what it can to keep up with the
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Adria Malcolm / Daily Lobo Senior Jordan Craig runs through Wyoming goalie Courtney Merkle in a 2-1 comeback victory on Sunday at the UNM Soccer Complex. UNM went undefeated at home this season, posting a 4-0-1 record, and is in sole possession of second place in the MWC standings. See full story on the Back Page.
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