92 - GRAFFITI SCULPTURE

GRAFFITI SCULPTURE

10 ⅝ x 17 ⅜ inches

(Bench near Architectural Hall at UNL)

This bench has graced the UNL campus for over one hundred years. As an art student, I appreciated its comforting presence while I sat in the surrounding grassy areas, sketching for drawing classes—peaceful pleasant memories. For decades though, I have had a curiosity about the bench’s history. Now covered with graffiti, it is surrounded by notable outdoor sculptures in the campus garden.

Although not formally celebrated or recognized as a piece of sculpture, the artistic curve and proportions of this bench are significant enough to be recognized as art.

Graffiti Sculpture projects the passing of time through the eclectic array of markings and weatherworn surfaces—it has become a canvas painted by perpetual, random brush strokes of visitors. Over the years, many have marked the bench and enjoyed its primary pleasure: a place to sit, a place to tarry.