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With peals of thunder akin to a calving glacier, one of Richard Serra’s carefully balanced sculptures came tumbling down at MoMA on Friday night. As the galleries were closing, "1-1-1-1", 1969 (click through to 3rd image), a piece composed of four vertical lead plates held in place by a single pole, succumbed to the indefatigable patience of gravity.
With fresh-proved accuracy, Serra himself describes the piece as “hair-triggered balanced” in the audio accompanying “1-1-1-1” at MoMA’s excellent on-line exhibition site.
Nature exacted her due before a full crowd in the final weekend of Serra’s show, Sculpture: 40 Years. The piece stood out-of-reach in a central grouping of four works bordered by thick plexiglass. Despite the quaking echo and jarring shake, Tinsquo (who were on the scene) can vouch that no one was injured and apparently no one triggered the collapse.
A source inside the museum informed Tinsquo that this was actually the second time a piece had fallen during the course of the exhibition, the first occurring during off-hours.
Posted by tinsquo at September 7, 2007 10:12 PMGreetings Mark, et al,
I remember marveling at the balance of that Serra piece. I supposed that the pole that lay atop the four panels was the lead component and that its mass was greater than the steel panels' precariousness. I enjoy your description "succumbed to the indefatigable patience of gravity". At the moment, after four days exploring and sharing art in Los Angeles, I am ready for a nap and am willing to succumb to horizontality. Soon, I'll be upright and moving again.
Peace,
Denis
Posted by: Denis Kelly at September 14, 2007 02:28 PM