richard serra

Winter Quarter 07 and 08
one year later... two works by Richard Serra.

A visit to "T.E.U.C.L.A." (Torqued Ellipse UCLA) at UCLA's Broad Art Center:

T.E.U.C.L.A. - Richard Serra (2006)

"Serra has eliminated the use of the body in sculpture and has pushed beyond to simply use an abstract shape: a torqued ellipse. The grand scale of the work, however, is what allows for interplay between the work and the viewer. Standing at ten feet tall, taller than any human, it overtakes the viewer’s sense of perspective and generates feelings of disorientation due to the warped space. In parts where the steel structure curves either forward and outward or backward and inward, the viewer is forced to reposition his or her body to be parallel to the structure. This settles the issue of the disorientation in visual perception, but the motion of tilting forward of backward will nevertheless cause some uneasiness. There will be a never ending “battle” of bodily and visual perception and play between the work of art and the viewer."
"At any given time, there are footprints and marks within the inside walls of the sculpture. The marks range from signatures to drawings to written messages created from the rubbing of dirt on the walls. The slightly porous walls of steel act as a semi-permanent creative space upon which people can express themselves freely. The inside of the ellipse, a “private” space, permits people to bring out their inner selves. As expected, the outside of the ellipse is completely bare. Serra’s experience of the ‘inner versus the outer’ is one left up to the viewer... "

- excerpts from my 'Art History 54: Modern Art' paper

A visit to "Band" at LACMA's BCAM:


Band - Richard Serra (2006)

"I think what art does is if you can change how people see you can change how they think, and if you can change how they think it can be a catalyst of thought in other directions, and if you change perception in some small way you may enlarge a certain referent.
...in some small way what it does is it adds to the pool of ideas and ideas always change and I think art is always an evolution and I think what's interesting is that the proposition is always left to unexpected youth to change the proposition."

- excerpts from a BBC interview with Richard Serra



NY Times articles:
Broad Contemporary Art Museum: Review
Sculpture and Nerves of Steel: Installing Richard Serra at MOMA