Richard Serra at MoMA

Richard Serra did a quick interview on my local public radio station in which he talked about creating some of the works exhibited at his MoMA retrospective as a means of reconfiguring an architectural space into a sculptural space. Whatever. What the show is, is fun. You wouldn’t think giant slaps of steel would be so much fun, but here it is.

The work truly pulls you through and into itself. I kept walking as fast as the crowds would allow -- hugging the walls and dreaming of vertical skateboarding -- and occasionally loosing balance and falling into the sculpture. (Which is a little scary since they are entirely freestanding and only 2 inches thick.) Other works lead you into little sanctuaries that made me want to nap, or picnic, whichever. And then there were the two pieces out in the courtyard which we got to late in the afternoon --the steel retained the heat from a day in the sun creating a cozy force field around it. (A big “Thank you” to the guard that was particularly polite about telling us not to touch.)

There are few shows that engage the viewer as much as this. Sure, you can talk about scale and balance and integrity of materials but the real fun is in giving yourself over to it and letting it take you for a walk...or just wishing you could nap inside of it.