Sunday, July 15, 2007

I Heart Richard Serra

My trip to New York this month was filled with wonderful things. In addition to various hot dog activities, there was a recording session with the Badgers and Ewald made bacon-wrapped figs dipped in chocolate. The music was rough and I learned that attempting to play Duran Duran's "Rio" on ukulele is harder than I thought. And good lord. Figs. Wrapped in bacon. Dipped in chocolate. Incredible.

On my last day in New York, we went to the MOMA to see the Richard Serra retrospective. His work is so amazing and I think he might be my favorite sculptor. To be in the presence of one of his works is just thrilling. Serra creates these magestic metal torqued ellipses and spirals that have subtle bends and twists. I feel like you have to spend a good five or ten minutes with one of his pieces to "get it." Upon first glance, the sheer size and material of his works can be very intimidating. But the closer you get, the more inviting they become. Walking in and around them is dizzying and mezmerizing. They manipulate sounds as well as your perspective and balance. Heck, I can't describe his works. I lost the art history lingo when I graduated 14 years ago. But if you have the opportunity to see Richard Serra's work, I highly recommend that you go.


All the pictures from our Richard Serra experience can be found here.

3 comments:

pinky pinkerson said...

We saw some Richard Serra pieces in a gallery in NY a year or so ago - they were HUGE and very impressive. I would have loved to see just how they got them inside.

Charlotte said...

If you click here, and go to the menus, you can see them installing the pieces in the garden and in the second floor gallery. It's really neat.

Anonymous said...

Did you know that a Serra once toppled and killed someone? That's pretty rough. Far rougher than badger sessions, which can sometimes be numbing but almost never fatal!