Thinking the line through Serra's sculpture

pp. 313-413

in: Samuel B. Mallin, Art line thought, Berlin, Springer, 1996

Abstract

Everything begins when Serra makes a line in space, especially in the case of his large outdoor works, which are the ones that will concern us. Each of the works that we shall discuss is a kind of drawing, for it rigorously articulates its meaning through the laying out of a line, whether in a heavy industrial gauge of steel or concrete. Yet, it is even more a sculpture, for the space in which it works is the actual space of the world and not that merely of the wall, paper or pedestal-bound space of the representational and fictional plane. Furthermore, the line itself is sculptural, for like the industrial materials and construction techniques through which it exists, it stands out as an actual part of this world. It is, thus, not the almost disembodied line that one expects to find on paper or perhaps hidden within a painting' mere contrast of colours. Serra's sculptural gesture is, however, deceptively simple, for by concretizing a line within actual space, he opens up for us an astonishing range for philosophical thought and insight. Most centrally, he allows us to begin to understand how the line with its own peculiar logic is foundational for creation in the visual arts, construction in the cultural world (buildings, machines and so on), and also how the visual arts and mundane building are essentially related through the line.