Verbs To Die For (Raymond Johnson Project) - video/performance

The Raymond Johnson Project was a response to this historical event: “In November 1971, 34-year-old Raymond Johnson, a laborer installing Serra's Sculpture No. 3 at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, was crushed to death when a two-ton steel plate toppled over on him. A subsequent lawsuit absolved the artist and museum of blame.” Wikipedia.

A series of interventions to try and understand Mr. Johnson’s death and how that event operates in the wider art market/industry sometimes referring to Serra’s work – although it is not important in this.

Verbs to Die for responds to Serra’s work Verblist

“Serra envisions sculpture as the physical manifestation of transitive verbs. In 1967 and 1968 he compiled a list of infinitives that served as catalysts for subsequent work: “to hurl” suggested the hurling of molten lead into crevices between wall and floor; “to roll” led to the rolling of the material into dense, metal logs. Continuing his employment of lead, Serra utilized another transitive verb: “to prop.” Right Angle Prop is one of numerous lead constructions, the assemblage of which is dependent on leaning elements. Following the perilous choreography of propping, Serra engaged the verb “to cut” in a series of large-scale steel sculptures, variations of which he is still producing. Strike is essentially one tall, thin steel slice that, wedged into a corner, bisects the room and demands viewing from both sides. As one walks around the front of the piece, perception continually shifts: plane gives way to edge to plane again. This cut-steel sculpture is itself an implement for cutting space and, in this way, serves as an analogue for the sculptor himself, who stimulates vision by giving material form to the transitive verb.” Nancy Spector, Wikipedia.