Visual Analysis of Richard Serra’s Two Cuts free essay sample

Richard Serra develops a visual language that breaks from the history of sculptural identity. His artworks reveal the methods of construction vital to the composition of his work and allow the viewer to become involved in the process of making. The steel is ribbed on the surface, which relates immediately to the process of cutting. Furthermore, his works are not pictorial or decorative in any sense but rather are large bold industrial slabs of steel, which demonstrate the artist’s interest in revealing material specificity. Serra’s Two Cuts rejects illusionistic and pictorial traditions of sculpture: the artwork is composed of raw industrial material and orients its viewer as to the artist’s process based on title and installation. His work has a strong presence that interacts with its site of installation; the art object’s expressive qualities arise from the communication between spaces and visibly apparent methods of construction. The Ellen Johnson Wing of the Allen Memorial Art Museum is a white walled gallery, which contrasts the bold slabs of rolled steel. One is polished while the other is transparent in its forms of construction and materiality. Two Cuts is composed of three slabs of hot rolled steel positioned on the ground one of which has toppled over due to the internal logic of steel, which emphasizes the properties of balance and heaviness that are inherent in the identity of this natural solid. Two of these planks are rigid rectangular slabs that rest parallel to one another on their narrow sides. These pieces of steel are wide enough to provide balance and support to the whole structure. They are approximately two fist lengths in width, nearly a foot in height, and about eight feet long. The third slab differs in width from the two standing slabs and is not stable enough to stand on its own. It is not stable enough because its width is too narrow in relation to its height. Instead, the third steel slat has seemingly fallen from its upright position; the object lies flatly on the floor. This third slab has the same length and vertical height as the other two slabs, yet the laws of gravity destabilize the material; it lies on its tallest side and appears wider and shorter than the others. The fact that the steel slab has toppled over due to a visible decrease in width speaks specifically to the weight of steel and factors that influence this sculpture’s equilibrium. The work overwhelms the human body due to the weight and volume of the steel. The work appears immovable; it is so heavy and commanding in its physical presence and material composition; it is rendered as a dominant and static intrusion on the gallery floor. This is an important element that impels the viewer to feel the intimidating bulk of the work in relation to his or her own body. In this way it becomes visually apparent that the work is resistant to being ordered or controlled in any way that works against the steel’s natural properties. It is the intention of the artist to enable the material properties of the work to inform the installation which is demonstrated with the third fallen plank. This establishes that Serra’s work is about the visual language of material and process rather than an illusionistic narrative. From a distance the sculpture appears as an industrial object but with closer inspection one is able to decipher the artist hand through the rough rippled surface of Two Cuts. These surface undulations are highlighted by the contrasting varnished and sanded museum space. In this way, his work extends beyond itself to interact with the space that its exists in. The installation and transparent display of construction becomes a focal point of his artwork and gives rise to a visual language of construction, which exists in contradiction to surrounding space. There is an incongruent relationship between Two Cuts and the Ellen Johnson Wing of the Allen Memorial Art Museum space that is immediately revealed through contrast in construction transparency verse opacity. This is because the planks are honest in communicating a method of construction or deconstruction (cutting) as well as various qualities of steel. This communication of material and weight, demonstrated in the balance of the planks, appears in contrast with the museum space because construction methods are unclear and various materials are presumably hidden beneath plaster, paint and varnish. The wooden floor, for example, is not a tribute to the material itself. There is nothing within the wooden floor that exhibits the natural splitting of wood, it’s authentic sheen, or texture. There is no a sense of an illusionistic human figure but instead raw industrial material and recognizable geometric forms, often used in construction. The surface of the work is cloaked in rigid vertical marks that demonstrate the effects of a cutting tool. Paradoxically, even though Serra is implementing industrial processes to cut the raw steel, the artist’s hand is visible in the imperfections upon the surface. There is no effort exerted upon the surface of the steel to make it appear polished. The work is unique in the way it straddles industry and art. From a distance the slabs appear to form a sleek composition of parallel lines and clean cuts but upon closer inspection there appears to be ridges and discoloration caused by rusting. The imperfections upon the work’s surface can be experienced visually and kinesthetically. Serra makes no attempt to hide the cutting process in his work because the transparency of industrial procedure is integral to the artist’s intention. This is also evoked in the title of the work, Two Cuts. By titling the work Two Cuts, Serra illustrates how the act of cutting is integral to the piece and indeed in many ways is the piece. Process is integral to the work and visually expressed by the vertical ridges left un-sanded along the surface of the work. These demarcations are a portal into the procedures of fabrication and allow the viewer to experience each individual cut that was made into the steel slabs. By giving the viewer access to the construction process the artist is intentionally demystifying and de-idealizing the work. The elevated status of that artist is reduced when the construction methods are revealed. Furthermore, the installation on the floor breaks from the precious display of art objects on pedestals or in decorative frames. There is no frame surrounding this work just simply the material. The placement on the floor without any additional display modes creates an intimate atmosphere of interaction. The various marks upon the surface of this sculpture make it experientially unpredictable so that the viewer must move around the object to see its different sides. By requiring the viewer’s movement for the total viewing of the work, Serra incorporates temporality and spatiality in his work. The immense size of Two Cuts, unpredictability of texture, and susceptibility to rusting allow the work to exist in real space and time. The three dimensional slabs require investigation of all four sides. While the viewer is moving around the work it is unfolding to him or her in real time and space. A photo would not permit an individual to understand this work because movement is an integral experiential element. The work continues to exist in real time because it is accruing signage of time in the form of rust and discoloration. Furthermore, the placement of Two Cuts on the floor creates a large division of space over three meters in length (5 3/8 x 23 1/16x 120 5/8in). This challenges the viewer’s movement in the gallery and creates disorientation regarding the discernment of ‘front’ or ‘back’ of the objects. Unlike many works in a gallery space, Two Cuts is installed on the ground. Giant hunks of metal rest on the ground and have very little intention of growing in a vertical direction, which confirms the object’s natural affinity to the ground and visually highlights the weight of the material. Because the subject of the work is material, gravity, and weight, it is appropriate that the work should be displayed on the ground without supports. The work illustrates how the laws of gravity and entropy effect the materialization of the sculpture. The transparency and materiality in this work is also supported by the lack of illusionistic space and sense of figure. Long horizontal slabs of metal reject the illusion of a human figure because they are rigid, straight, and symmetrical, rather than organic, illusionistic, and vertical. The figure is further rejected from the work because the sculpture is about natural material used in everyday, industrial spaces. The three steel pieces are self-referential in the way that they are what the work is about. Although Serra regards his work as sculpture, he breaks from the tradition of the practice with his installation, intent and use of materials. The evolving texture and color feature of the art embraces its inherently temporal existence. Because the steel is unprotected and susceptible to the elements, it is embellished with grooves, rust, and corroded nooks. What might have once been a monochrome earthy grey is now a completely varied rusted surface. There is never a stagnant moment for this work because it exists in real time and openly offers itself to the influence of the elements. This demonstrates the interest of the artist in the material nature of his art and its ephemeral manifestation. The varied surface parallels the multiple viewing angles available in experiencing this work and brings forth another evolving aspect of this sculpture. The viewer can never grasp the piece in its entirety because it is larger than him or her and constantly changing with the viewpoint within the gallery. The parallel planks of the work can be seen as extending lines reaching into the distance. There are an infinite number of viewpoints. The lines can be seen with space separating them but then with a shift the beams visually overlap. The surface of the work oscillates depending on the distance one perceives it from. In the distance it appears as though the sculpture is a stagnant color but on closer examination, there arises a varied spectrum of colors and textures ranging from lead grey to rust red upon a cat tongue like surface. The color and texture and infinite viewing locations prolong the continuing creation process of this art. Serra’s Two Cuts confronts a viewer with a composition about weight and the identity of steel. In the same way that the viewer must interact with space and time to walk around the piece in order to see the way it shifts in perspective, the piece itself is continuously interacting with space and responding to the elements of its surroundings that cause chemical changes to alter the surface of the steel. The transparency of construction in the work demonstrates Serra’s interest in removing himself from the elevated realm of the ‘artist’ as creator. This allows the viewer to focus on the material, form and physical nature of his art. The construction of the work and its relationship to the natural laws of gravity and its own materiality becomes integral aspects of the work and also carry the intention of the artist.