Richard Serra in 1967–68 produced a piece of work entitled ‘Verb List’ and as the name suggests it is indeed a list of verbs. It is a decisive list of process words associated with Serra’s process of producing work and the actions he implements. Made up of 84 verbs —to roll, to crease, to fold, to store, etc.—and 24 possible contexts—of gravity, of entropy, of nature, this list provided Serra with an important list of actions integral and apparent in his work. Looking as his large steel pieces mentioned in a previous post several of these verbs highlight his intentions and focus, such as to bend, to twist and to curl, and they show his early intention to interact with material, space and process.
Richard Serra said in comment about the list, ‘I really just worked out pieces in relation to the verb list physically in a space.’ As this is evident in his own work, I feel that it is evident in my own. Working with the rope in particular and curling the rope around continually and in repetitive motions my action is ‘to curl’, and physically acting out the verb in my studio space gives the rope a purpose, a means of becoming a visual and physical item of work, and to become a piece of process art.
