All my thoughts revolve only around the war. Despair, terror and nightmare are just a few of the things I feel. The most difficult is the moral loss of my family. I can survive the stupidity of other people, but not my closest parents and sister. After trying to convince me of the rightness of this war, I cut off all contacts.
Emptiness.
Loneliness.
Irretrievability.
Silence.
In this state, I experienced this silver colour. All these words in grey, with thin high sound, reflective surface filled my entire body. I wanted to convey this feeling to others, those who do not feel it. Who continues to think that this is all fake and there is no war.
To find a solution to the physical embodiment, I went to the monument to Richard Serra in Dillingen.
"Viewpoint" Richard Serra (2006), steel, 9 m. height, 13 m. width Dillinger Hütte, Saarland, Germany
I live in this region of Saarland, Germany, and it's only 30 minutes by car from my home.
Before I saw the sculpture itself, I passed the steel mill where Serra was casting the parts for this work. I did not plan to visit this plant, but the road to the monument led along this path. I was captivated by the feeling of power and strength of this production. I made a short video about my feelings. The sound of this process alone... harmoniously complements the colour of the building itself.
And then I went into the monument. It was exactly like I would "entered" the monument, or it penetrated my whole body.
Because as soon as I plunged into this volume, I felt a wave of energy enveloping me. This size totally impressed me. Also, I did not expect that this metal construction would have such an amazing texture.
It seems that someone deliberately scratched the material, and under the influence of natural forces, it began to corrode.
guggenheim bilbao, RICHARD SERRA March 27, 1999 - October 17, 1999 [on line] At: https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/exhibitions/richard-serra-2 (Accessed 05.05.2022)
Remembering other forms of his sculptures, I especially enjoy the simple lines and massive dimensions.
My first work "wave" was inspired by Serra's ideas that it is not only a visual experience of space but also a physical, bodily one.
Analyzing Serra's sketches, one can notice the same simplicity of lines as in the final works. He rather focuses on the overall feeling he wants to convey in the sculpture.
Richard Serra (American, b. 1939) Notebook: Tilted Arc, 1988 Charcoal on paper; sheet: 18 x 24 in. Collection of the artist © Richard Serra Photo: Rob McKeever [on line] https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2011/richard-serra-drawing/photo-gallery (Accessed 25.05.2022)
Figure 2. Richard Serra, Untitled (Preliminary Drawing for L.A. County Museum), 1971 Graphite on paper, 17 3/4 x 23 1/3 inches (45.1 x 59.7 cm) © 2012 Richard Serra / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York [on line] At: http://notations.aboutdrawing.org/richard-serra/ (Accessed 25.05.2022)
Line drawing Clara Clara I, 1984 RICHARD SERRA (1938) Charcoal on paper, 107,5 x 79 cm [on line] At: https://krollermuller.nl/en/richard-serra-line-drawing-clara-clara-i (Accessed 25.05.2022)
I thought about creating a form that would completely immerse a person in its colour. At the same time, the form should be absolutely simple so that the focus remains on color and material.
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