I started working for Bethlehem Steel when I was about 16 during the summers. Richard Serra More Quotes by Richard Serra More Quotes From Richard Serra I consider space to be a material. The articulation of space has come to take precedence over other concerns. I attempt to use sculptural form to make space distinct. Richard Serra sculpture space use What interests me is the opportunity for all of us to become something different from what we are, by constructing spaces that contribute something to the experience of who we are. Richard Serra different space opportunity Play is a necessary ingredient in art because there is a kind of wonder that goes on when you play. You're directing your activity toward a conclusion that isn't prescribed by a particular method. Richard Serra ingredients play art Everything we choose in life for its lightness soon reveals its unbearable weight. Richard Serra lightness unbearable weight Your eye is a muscle, you have to keep it in shape and the more you draw, the more you see. Richard Serra muscles shapes eye Art for the most part, is about concentration, solitude and determination. It's really not about other people's needs and assumptions. I'm not interested in the notion that art serves something. Art is useless, not useful. Richard Serra determination people art The viewer becomes aware of himself and of his movement through the plaza. As he moves, the sculpture changes. Contraction and expansion of the sculpture result from the viewer's movement. Step by step the perception not only of the sculpture but of the entire environment changes. Richard Serra expansion perception moving Time and movement became really crucial to how I deal with what I deal with - not only sight and boundary, but how one walks through a piece, and what one feels and registers in terms of one's own body in relation to another body. Richard Serra pieces movement sight To see is to think, and to think is to see. Richard Serra thinking If you reduce sculpture to the flat plane of the photograph, you're passing on only a residue of your concerns... You're not only reducing the sculpture to a different scale for the purposes of consumption, but you're denying the real content of the work. Richard Serra different real passing-on Basically, what you really want to do is try to engage the viewer's body relation to his thinking and walking and looking, without being overly heavy-handed about it. Richard Serra walking-away trying thinking I think you always have to find where the boundary is in relation to the context in order to be able to kind of articulate how you want the space to interact with the viewer. Richard Serra space order thinking Art is not democratic. It is not for the people. Richard Serra democratic people art Work out of your work. Don't work out of anybody else's work. Richard Serra work-out I was in analysis and I told my analyst I wanted to be the best sculptor in the world and he said, 'Richard, calm down.' Richard Serra calm analysis world Most of what you see in architecture are watered-down ideas of sculptors who have come before. Richard Serra sculptors architecture ideas But what does interest me is the notion that if you do a lot of work it means there's a potential for other people to understand that a lot of things are possible with a sustained effort and that the broadening of experiences is possible and I think that's all art can be. Richard Serra mean art thinking But I'll try to immerse myself in as many of the formal characteristics of site as possible in the landscape. Richard Serra landscape characteristics trying It could be that people want to consume sculpture the way they consume paintings - through photographs... I'm interested in the experience of sculpture in the place where it resides. Richard Serra sculpture want people When I moved into making sculpture, I could handle steel the way it had been handled in the technological revolution. I could use it the way bridge builders used it; I could use it the way they used it in industry and building and not the way it had been used in art. Richard Serra bridges way art
