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Site-Specificity in Richard Serra's Steel Sculptures

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BA Liberal Arts and Sciences Major Humanities: European History and Culture Bachelor Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Kathryn J. Brown SITE-SPECIFICITY IN RICHARD SERRA'S STEEL SCULPTURES Kitija Vasiljeva 477986 Word count: 14819 July, 2011 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the different ways in which site-specificity functions in sculptures by American artist Richard Serra. Serra is known for his large scale steel sculptures that he develops for a variety of environments, both open and closed spaces. In the first part of this thesis, it is explored how Serra’s interest shifted from the creation of an object to the use of material to reorganize space and make an artwork integral to its site. This is analyzed through a variety of “processes” that are argued to be central to Serra’s work – the process of creating a sculpture, the process of transforming material, the process of organizing space, and the process of viewing a sculpture. In the second part of this thesis, the concept of site is further investigated. It has been argued that Serra is mainly concerned with physical elements of the site and how the work relates to it when developing the sculptures. However, this is a rather simple classification, and to further explore the functioning of a site, three different environments - museum/gallery space, rural landscape and urban public spaces - that Serra develops his works for are examined. The framework of analysis is developed by answering the three following questions in each of the sites: how site affects the development of a sculpture, how it works with a sculpture once it is located there, and how it affects the perception of the viewer. It is concluded that there are many similarities between rural landscape and museum work in the first category and between rural landscape and public spaces in the second. In the third category, it is found that each of these sites affect the conceptual and perceptual experience of the viewer in unique ways. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 4 2. Towards Site-Specificity ....................................................................................................................... 6 Process of Creating a Sculpture ............................................................................................................ 8 Process of Transforming Material ...................................................................................................... 10 Process of Organizing Space .............................................................................................................. 11 Process of Viewing a Sculpture .......................................................................................................... 13 From Processes to Site ....................................................................................................................... 14 3. Site-Specificity in Serra’s Sculptures ................................................................................................... 16 Closed Spaces: Museums/Galleries .................................................................................................... 18 The Matter of Time , 1992 – 2005, Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain ......................................................... 19 Richard Serra Sculpture: 40 Years , 2007, Second Floor, MoMA, New York ...................................... 21 Promenade , 2008, Grand Palais, Paris ............................................................................................ 23 Open Spaces: Sculptures as Rural Landscape Works .......................................................................... 26 Pulitzer piece: Stepped Elevation , 1970-71, St.Louis, USA ............................................................... 28 Snake Eyes and Boxcars , 1993, California, USA ............................................................................... 30 Te Tuhirangi Contour , 2000-2002, Kaipara, New Zealand ............................................................... 32 Open Spaces: Sculptures in Urban Public Spaces ................................................................................ 35 Tilted Arc , 1981 (removed 1989), Federal Plaza, New York City ...................................................... 37 Fulcrum, 1987, Liverpool Street Station, London ............................................................................ 40 Influence of Site................................................................................................................................. 43 4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 45 5. Notes ................................................................................................................................................. 47 6. Reference List .................................................................................................................................... 48 3 1. INTRODUCTION “I use steel to organize space” Richard Serra The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the different ways in which site-specificity functions in sculptures by American artist Richard Serra. Serra is known for his large scale steel sculptures that are created for variety of environments – museum/gallery spaces, rural landscapes and urban public spaces. “Site-specific works deal with the environmental components of a given places. The scale, size, and location of site-specific works are determined by the topography of the site, whether it be urban or landscape or architectural enclosure. The works become part of the site and restructure both conceptually and perceptually the organization of the site. ... The specificity of site-oriented works means that they are conceived for, dependent upon, and inseparable from their location. ... A new behavioural and perceptual orientation to a site demands a new critical adjustment to one’s experience of the place,” Serra explains (1994, p. 202-203). Thus, Serra’s sculptures are developed in relation to the characteristics of a given site and once installed in the site they alter and give it a new relevance. Nevertheless, each of these sites creates its own unique context that influences the artwork and our perception of it. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the three aforementioned environments that Serra uses for his works and to understand how each of these sites affects different phases in the "life" of a sculpture. Serra started his artist career in the late 1960s in New York. In his early years he was interested in the process of creating a sculpture and experimenting with variety of industrial materials to learn about their qualities. Gradually Serra’s sculptures grew in size and scope and the spaces that they occupied became relevant to the work and, later, an integral part of it. Serra was interested in the potential of a sculpture and he wanted to create sculptures that were more than just observable objects; he wanted to use space as an communicative element in its own right and to rearrange space and the way we inhabit it through his sculptures. Thus, Serra’s sculptures can be compared to architectural forms; however, the main difference is that Serra has no functional aims of his sculpture in mind. The viewer plays a crucial role in Serra’s work and through his work the artist is interested in creation of an active 4 participant who is willing to explore his sculptures through the motion in space (Beardsley, 2000, p. 5). Thus, the “space, time and the body are bound in a knot that cannot be undone: space-time is unavoidably bodily and the body inescapably spatial-temporal” (Taylor, 1997, p. 44). In order to investigate how site-specificity has come to play a central role in Serra’s sculptures, the first chapter of this thesis is structured around ideas of ‘process’ that have been important to Serra. I shall argue that there are four main types of ‘process’ in Serra’s works – the process of creating an artwork, the process of transforming material, the process of organizing space and the process of viewing a sculpture. The second part of this thesis will analyze site-specificity by taking examples of specific sculptures from three environments (gallery spaces, rural landscapes, urban public spaces) revealing contrasts and similarities that exist between them and the effects that they produce. The influence of site is analyzed by taking three steps that are relevant to the sculpture – development of the sculpture, working of a sculpture once it is installed and the impact on the viewer once he or she perceives the sculpture. 5 2. TOWARDS SITE-SPECIFICITY Serra was born in 1939 in San Francisco. His mother was remarkably supportive of his choice of becoming an artist while his father’s profession as a pipefitter at the shipyards allowed Serra to become acquainted with the production of steel at an early age. Serra often recalls the launch of an oil tanker at the Marine Shipyard in San Francisco on his fourth birthday as a foundation for his art – the horizontal curve made by the ship’s hull and the contradictory lightness and speed once the ship got off impressed and fascinated Serra then and still does when reviving the image (Rosie, 2007). Serra studied English literature at University of California, Berkeley for his bachelor, and to financially support himself in this period
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