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Two Cuts

Artist/Maker (American, 1939–2024)
Date1971
MediumHot-rolled steel
DimensionsOverall: 5 3/8 × 120 5/8 × 23 1/16 in. (13.7 × 306.4 × 58.6 cm)
Weight: 4626 lb. (2098.34 kg)
Overall (a): 1 5/16 × 120 5/8 × 12 7/16 in. (3.3 × 306.4 × 31.6 cm)
Overall (b): 4 3/4 × 120 × 12 1/4 in. (12.1 × 304.8 × 31.1 cm)
Overall (c): 5 1/4 × 120 1/4 × 12 1/8 in. (13.3 × 305.4 × 30.8 cm)
Credit LineNational Endowment for the Arts Museum Purchase Plan and funds from an anonymous donor
Object number1974.40
Status
Not on view
Copyright© Richard Serra / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NYMore Information
In Two Cuts, the enormous weight of the hot rolled steel (4,626 pounds), the act of cutting, and the force of gravity "are" the work. The thinner slab falls to the ground, unable to support its own weight, while the greater thicknesses of the two standing cuts are what permits them to stand. Among several aspects of Serra's work that distinguish it from those of other, process-based practices- those of Eva Hesse and Alan Saret, for example- is its insistence on exclusively industrial materials and procedures, and its focus on the endless workings and effects of weight. "Weight is a value for me," Serra wrote in 1988, "…not that it is any more compelling than lightness, but I simply know more about weight than lightness, and therefore I have more to say about it, more to say about the balancing of weight, the diminishing of weight, the addition and subtraction of weight, the concentration of weight....I have more to say about the perpetual and meticulous adjustments of weight, more to say about the pleasure derived from the exactitude of the laws of gravity."
Exhibition History
Group Exhibition, Joe Lo Giudice Gallery
  • Joe Lo Giudice Gallery, New York (November 28, 1971 - January 29, 1972 )
From Reinhardt to Christo: Works acquired through the benefaction of the late Ruth C. Roush
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 20, 1980 - March 19, 1980 )
Presence in Minimal and Postminimal Art: Selections from the Permanent Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (April 11, 1995 - May 29, 1995 )
Going Modern at the Allen: American Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1980
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 16, 2003 - July 27, 2004 )
New Frontiers: American Art Since 1945
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 29, 2006 - December 23, 2006 )
Modern and Contemporary Art
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (July 22, 2008 - September 13, 2008 )
Collections
  • Modern & Contemporary