Work Comes out of Work

Richard Serra has called factories and steelworks an extension of his studio, referring to the processes required to bring his large-scale sculptures into being. Just as his works installed in public spaces leave the museum behind as the only possible site for display, so does the highly elaborate production of his sculptures shift their creation from his studio to the steelworks. The traditional solitary artistic craft of the sculptor is replaced by the energy- and labor-intensive processes at the heart of heavy industry. Unique works of art emerge from industrial collaboration, and for Serra it is not uncommon that his interaction with these working methods leads to new works: work comes out of work.

German photographer Dirk Reinartz (1947–2004) often accompanied the conception and construction of Serra’s sculptures, both in collaboration with the artist and on his behalf. Reinartz’s images go far beyond documentation and take on a pictorial quality all their own. His subtly graduated black-and-white photographs capture the unique atmospheres of the rolling mill, forge and final steel processing, without ever aiming for superficial effects. Reinartz records both the production of Serra’s individual sculptural elements as well as the finished installed works in compelling images, restrained and confident in equal measure.