Richard Serra born in San Francisco, California in 1939 is most known for his massive sight specific steel sculptures that rely on gravity and knowledge of how the steel interacts with space.
Inspiration
One of his early memories as a kid was watching a ship being launched from a shipyard with his father. He was mesmerized by how something can be so massive and industrial can then transform into a weightless object. You can see how this moment greatly affects his later works and how one physically relates to the steel sculptures.
Serra also grew up drawing as a form of getting attention from his parents. He would draw everything, if his father and brother were working on the family car Serra would be drawing all of the parts they were using. He still draws greatly saying that it allows him to keep in touch with every day life. He says it also keeps his hand eye coordination in check due to him using it every day.
Early Work “Verb List Compilation: Actions to Relate to Oneself”
OF TIME
OF ENTROPY
OF GRAVITY
TO SPLIT
TO LIFT
TO FLOOD
Richard Serra. Verb List. 1967–68. Graphite on paper, 2 sheets, each 10 x 8" (25.4 x 20.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist in honor of Wynn Kramarsky. © 2011 Richard Serra/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
On two pages written in pencil Richard Serra wrote 84 verbs as well as possible contexts. In an Art21 interview Serra talks about how artists are continuing to try and see things a new. So this list became a tool for doing so through taking these actions to multiple mediums. Taking an action and then making a work creating a collection of work.
An important work that came from this series was "Splashing" 1968. In this piece he would heat up lead into its molten state then taking a ladle and throwing small amounts into the corner of where the wall and floor connected, the Gutter. He did this work first in his studio. The art of this piece was the action not the end creation. The image above is him working on the piece. He later did it again at the SF MOMA. He had a whole crew and it was created again later on in his career. They would have to work on it at night so that the toxic fumes wouldn't get in contact with the museum goers. He ended up using a total of 15,000 pounds of lead and created many molds of the gutter in the gallery space. It took around 15 people to move the metal off of the wall and then to flip it due to its immense weight.
What I find important to take from this list of verbs is that small exercises you give yourself can change a materials potential. Giving you no boundaries but an action to practice with. Also never throw away anything! Just kidding! But it is crazy to think about now how important those peices of paper are to his work and within art history.
Serra's first version done in his studio
The second version done at SF MOMA