Richard Serra, Torqued Ellipse I, 1996. © Richard Serra/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Richard Serra @ Dia Beacon

Richard Serra - Torqued Ellipse I & Union of the Torus and the Sphere & Scatter Piece

On February 16th, 2024, I took a day trip to Beacon, NY. Part of my trip included a visit to "Dia Beacon", an art museum. Check out more from the museum here.

I somehow almost missed what is probably the largest art installation in this museum. I saw that there was an upper floor of the museum and wanted to explore it. Lucky for me, I noticed these giant metal sculptures that were on the way to the next floor.

Richard Serra, *Torqued Ellipse I*, 1996. © Richard Serra/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The sheer magnitude of the sculptures in this room can't be expressed through these photos. There are 4 of these sculptures made of weatherproof steel. They all sit at around 13 feet tall or around 4 meters, with the widths being anywhere from 2 to 3 times that size. The way the sunlight was hitting these was beautiful to see in person. It really makes you feel a lot smaller than you are. You're allowed to walk around in these and in the piece "2000" the steel is bent in such a way that you can make a full loop surrounded by the metal. It disorients you in a somewhat indescribable way. Your size and height are dwarfed by this piece and it's wild to experience in person. The curves throw off your perception and it takes almost a minute to fully walk into "2000". Because of the way the light shines in this room, you move from dark spots to light spots. From the sun beating down intensely to one of the darkest shadows in the room. There's also some fan noise in the room as well probably from ventilation which also throws you off quite a bit. It truly is unsettling.

Richard Serra, *Union of the Torus and the Sphere*, 2001. © Richard Serra/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

"Union of the Torus and the Sphere" is similarly imposing. I only walked past this one and didn't try to squeeze through the little gaps, but now I wish I did. It's reminiscent of a ship's hull and much like the ellipses, it's a massive metal sculpture.

Richard Serra, *Scatter Piece*, 1967. © Richard Serra/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

"Scatter Piece" didn't stand out to me too much. I didn't even think it was the same artist. What initially looked like tree bark that may have been preserved in some way, it's actually just a collection of rubber.

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Richard Serra's Exhibition @ Dia
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