Visual Analysis of Richard Serra’s Two Cuts

Visual Analysis of Richard Serra’s Two Cuts 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