Peter Wegner

Monuments to the Future, My Projects for Stanford

It all started with a simple question: Would it be possible to make a monument to things that hadn’t happened yet?

At first glance, it seemed paradoxical. But instinctively, I felt it was correct. I also thought this orientation might resonate with the Stanford Graduate School of Business. As an institution, it’s focused on change and innovation. You might say the future is their particular area of expertise. 

They were interested. In fact, I was the only artist they considered. 

It would not be easy to pull this off. Time was short. Their new campus was already under construction and would open in 18 months. In that same time period, I’d already committed to a major gallery exhibition in LA and two projects for a new museum in Colorado. And a book. 

But the opportunity at Stanford proved to be irresistible. 

I proposed four artworks that together now constitute my campus-wide project, Monuments to the Future. These epic installations all share the same conceptual underpinning but use different materials to speak in different registers.

Monument to Change As it Changes quickly established itself as the campus focal point. Its palette of colors is in perpetual motion, with no two moments alike over the course of an entire day. It's become the obligatory backdrop. Students, professors, visiting dignitaries, the occasional celebrity, members of the community–all drop by to view it and take their picture in front of it. New images are posted online with stunning frequency.

Ways to Change is a text-based work in glass, steel and LEDs. It’s also known around campus as The Adverb Wall. Sited across from a cafe, its 300 adverbs are revealed in configurations that constantly change. Their focus is not on any particular goal, but on the process of attaining it. Another artwork that has gone on to have a much wider following in the community at large, both online and IRL.

Monument to the Unknown Variables gives metaphorical purpose to functional seating. Two sets of benches are dedicated to the mathematical variables X and Y. They occupy a quiet courtyard surrounded by the offices of quants–in this case, economics and finance professors. A favorite place to sit and take a quick meeting.

Monument to the Future of Dreams is an architectural cornerstone in the main courtyard inscribed with my line: DEDICATED TO THE THINGS THAT HAVEN’T HAPPENED YET AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DREAM THEM UP. Campus tours invariably conclude here. Every year at graduation, the cornerstone is thronged by hopeful graduates, their friends and families, all jockeying for a photo in front of it.

Countless visitors have come specifically to view these artworks that now grace the Stanford campus.