Event Date
The museum has made the difficult decision to cancel the On the Slant — A Mini-Symposium on March 4 in recognition of ongoing health and safety concerns related to COVID-19 that continue to affect events and travel.
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In 1965, William T. Wiley discovered, and eventually bought, an odd wooden object resembling a step stool at a Mill Valley thrift store. Wiley and his MA student at UC Davis, Bruce Nauman, treated it as both a muse from which to take inspiration and a subject in need of a biography. A series of Slant Steps were subsequently made during that first moment of excitement around this mysterious object, inspiring work from their peers as well. It collectively resulted in a 1966 exhibition at San Francisco’s Berkeley Gallery, which in turn built a cult following on a national scale for the curious Slant Step.
On the Slant – A Mini-Symposium brings together artists, scholars and experts to examine this iconic object from a variety of angles with sessions that focus on different ways of seeing The Slant Step and the responses this ambiguous object inspires.
This symposium is held in conjunction with the exhibition William T. Wiley and the Slant Step: All on the Line on view from January-May 7, 2022, at the Manetti Shrem Museum. For the schedule of events and to register for the livestream, please click here.