Posted: Jul 02, 2014 3:07 am
by orpheus
We've covered this territory before, so I'm going to paraphrase something I posted elsewhere, because it's one of the best answers I can give to the question of the purpose of art:

Richard Serra has been a tremendous influence and inspiration for me. Here he pretty much says it, as far as I'm concerned, in this video. It's from an interview Serra did with Charlie Rose on the occasion of the big 40-year retrospective of Serra's work at the Museum of Modern Art here in New York. Serra is extremely intelligent, ferociously articulate, and in my opinion the finest sculptor working today. (He's also one of the most important American artists in any medium.) The crucial bit is from 15:15 – 18:45, but watch the whole thing.



By the way, the entire 2-part interview with Charlie Rose is very worthwhile. I haven't been able to find part one, but it's probably out there somewhere.

But here is another important interview with him. Thought-provoking, entirely apropos this thread,and I would think inspiring to any creative person. (Watch through to the end; Serra becomes passionate - almost combative - when discussing the function of art vs. architecture. Good stuff.)