Torn Notebook - Lincoln, NE - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

Torn Notebook is a large sculpture made by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. It is located outside the Sheldon Museum of Art in the Madden Garden at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 12th and, R St, Lincoln, NE 68588.

The story of the creation of the piece can be found here with an excerpt below:
"During the drive from Kansas City to Lincoln, Oldenburg and Van Broogen wrote down their observations. Coosje’s notations were mostly lyrical phrases, such as “falcons atop flagpoles” and “crows on the butte.” Claes wrote primarly the names of things, such as “barbed wire” and “roller skate.” When they returned to their New York studio, the artists realized that a sculpture about the process of collecting observations would be a good fit for a university. The final design of “Torn Notebook” was inspired by Claes’ habit of tearing his spiral-bound pocket notebooks in half.

“Torn Notebook” is in three pieces — a primary notebook structure and two other pages that look to be blowing away in the wind. The primary structure is 22 feet tall and 35 feet long. The sculpture is made of stainless steel, steel and aluminum, all painted with polyurethane enamel. While the structure is strong and anchored deep within the ground, campus visitors are asked not to climb on it to avoid damage to the sculpture or injury to climbers.

The pages of “Torn Notebook” include some of the actual words and phrases written down by the artist during their journey through the Missouri River Valley. One of the upright pages reads, “Wind clouds straws in the sand.” Another reads “barbed wire L-bow.”

TITLE: Torn Notebook ARTIST(S): Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen DATE: 9/6/1996 MEDIUM: stainless steel, steel and aluminum, all painted with polyurethane enamel CONTROL NUMBER: IAS 74730019 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Sheldon Museum of Art University of Nebraska-Lincoln 12th and R Sts. Lincoln, NE 68588 DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: None noted

Visit Instructions:
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Date Logged Log   06/27/2023 173Carver visited it