Serra’s Verbs

Finished videos should be turned in here:

https://www.dropbox.com/request/OIegtU747QtFEaoXtCME

Make sure to name your videos time_name_serraandwurm

Serra famously said, “Drawing is a verb.” In Verblist, he compiled a series of what he called “actions to relate to oneself, material, place, and process.” Serra has talked at length about the central place this language-based drawing occupies in the development of his early sculptural practice. This work on paper suggests a common ground underlying Serra’s practices in all mediums ”from early sculptures to later monumental works, which not only twist and curve but also enclose, surround, and encircle. It shows Serra’s debt to action painting and his proximity to Conceptual and performance practices; the list was published in the journal Avalanche in 1971 and testifies to the artistâ€™s close relationship to dancers like Yvonne Rainer and Simone Forti, with whom he shared not only a milieu but a commitment to carrying out verbs.
Gallery label from
From the Collection: 1960-69
, March 26, 2016 – March 12, 2017.

Richard Serra, “Verb List Compilation: Actions to Relate to Oneself”
[1967-1968]

to roll
to crease
to fold
to store
to bend
to shorten
to twist
to dapple
to crumple
to shave
to tear
to chip
to split
to cut
to sever
to drop
to remove
to simplify
to differ
to disarrange
to open
to mix
to splash
to knot
to spill
to droop
to flow

to curve
to lift
to inlay
to impress
to fire
to flood
to smear
to rotate
to swirl
to support
to hook
to suspend
to spread
to hang
to collect
of tension
of gravity
of entropy
of nature
of grouping
of layering
of felting
to grasp
to tighten
to bundle
to heap
to gather

to scatter
to arrange
to repair
to discard
to pair
to distribute
to surfeit
to compliment
to enclose
to surround
to encircle
to hole
to cover
to wrap
to dig
to tie
to bind
to weave
to join
to match
to laminate
to bond
to hinge
to mark
to expand
to dilute
to light

to modulate
to distill
of waves
of electromagnetic
of inertia
of ionization
of polarization
of refraction
of tides
of reflection
of equilibrium
of symmetry
of friction
to stretch
to bounce
to erase
to spray
to systematize
to refer
to force
of mapping
of location
of context
of time
of cabonization
to continue

This list exemplifies the adage to “show, don’t tell.” When making a work, what the work is “doing” is as important as the subject mater or imagery in the piece. In this project, you will explore this arena by creating 4 videos that show Serra’s verbs. Fist watch this short clip that explains some of the principles ofc conceptual art. Note how the actions in the works are as important as the other aspects.

Here is more information about these ideas and a short video about the work “To Lift”

https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2011/10/20/to-collect/

Serra to Lift audio.mp3

Instructions:

Look at the list of verbs ( 1:30 class go here, 4:30 class go here) and pick four to perform. Use your phone (in landscape orientation!) to film yourself (or a friend) exemplifying those verbs. You can use just your self, or you may introduce objects or props.

Digging Piece by Vito Acconci is a good example of a work that might exemplify one of Richard Serra’s verbs. Note that it not only exemplifies “to dig”, but “to hole”, and “to shorten” could fit as well. Expand your definition of these words. When you expand on what is known and push on the boundaries of what is expected, you are creating something that is engaging and a work that can be interpreted by the viewer, rather than one that is dismissed as cliche.

Important!!!! Your goal with this assignment is not to simply illustrate. Your goal is to interpret creatively. Your solutions should be surprising, off the wall, funny, surreal, dark, stupidly complex or absurd.

Be Creative, keep your videos short and look for surprising solutions.
Each verb should have its own video, Do not use music or add titles. We will do that next week when we start exploring the video editing software.

The artist Erwin Wurm is a sculptor whose works dovetail with these ideas of Serra. In a series of works called 1 Minute Sculptures worm provides objects and instructions for viewers to interact with. The sculptures are made when the viewers are performing them. They perfectly illustrate a method for engaging the body and mind of the viewer while also being whimsical and ambiguous. Each one may be thought of as illustrating verbs as well! Use these for inspiration.

Wurm bd 1