I recently went to London and the Tate Modern to see the collection of minimalist work that they have including the work of Donald Judd, the focus of my dissertation. Although I have seen the work of several of the artists there a number of times, it is still great work to see in person. A lot of the work there was incredibly interesting in relation to my own work, seeing the veracity and similarity of materials and the use of materials in different sculptural ways.
One of the first artists that I took significant note of is that of Richard Serra and his large steel piece entitled Trip Hammer (1988). Two large steel plates, one standing upright and the other balanced precariously on the top, both looming over the viewer and threatening to fall. Although I am not using steel, the positioning and arrangement of the work and its evocation of threat to the viewer interested me when looking at the work. Using a simple and raw material in a very simple way and still being able to achieve an emotional and physical response in the viewer.
A lot of Richard Serra’s work involves the use of space, material and presence and he often uses only a couple or singular materials to create an effective use of space, and also creates a great atmosphere between the sculpture and the viewer, much like is grand sculpture pieces shown in the ‘Forty Years’ show at MoMa in 2007 [1]. Large and curled steel sheets that again, overwhelm the viewer and evoke significant emotional and atmospheric presence to the viewer.
A second artist in one of the main rooms was Susumu Koshimizu who had a large collection entitled ‘From Surface to Surface’ consisting of tall wooden planks with geometrically carved out patterns. Cutting away the wood to reveal the surface of the wood and explore its form. Much like my minimalistic shapes this is partly my interest, in the manipulation of the material and exploring forms that are considered, by me as the artist or the viewer, to be interesting to engage with.
Alongside Koshimizu was an artist with visually similar work is Kim Lim with the piece ‘Intervals II’ (1973) which consists of two symmetrical wooden objects that stood parallel to each other, but also can be assembled together, overlapped and interlocked to create a new visual. Like Koshimizu the piece visually explores the pine material, but also are an exploration of space, exploring the space between the wall and the floor – ‘the tension set up by the vertical, horizontal and the angle’.
The pine structures explore a small area of space against the wall they rest on, and emphasizing the space around it. This is something my work will do if I chose to occupy a region of floor space, and indeed it already does explore the surface of the floor with the coils of rope winding round it. Also involving the viewer will also allow them to explore the space the work sits on too.
[1] MoMA, Richard Serra, Sculpture: Forty Years http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2007/…
