{"data":{"id":"31751","type":"artwork","attributes":{"id":31751,"topgoose_id":3204,"portfolio_id":null,"tms_id":31751,"title":"Prop","display_artist_text":"Richard Serra","display_date":"1968, refabricated 2007","accession_number":"69.20a-b","dimensions":"Overall: 89 1/2 × 60 × 54 in. (227.3 × 152.4 × 137.2 cm)","medium":"Lead antimony and steel","department":"collection","classification":"Sculpture","credit_line":"Purchase, with funds from the Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc.","is_virtual":false,"is_portfolio":false,"portfolio_tms_id":null,"portfolio":null,"edition":null,"publication_info":"Cast by D'Huart Industrie","description":"\u003cp\u003eRichard Serra, \u003cem\u003eProp\u003c/em\u003e, 1968, refabricated 2007. Lead antimony and steel, overall: 89 1/2 × 60 × 54 in. (227.3 × 152.4 × 137.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc. 69.20a-b. © Richard Serra / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York\u003c/p\u003e","object_label":"\u003cp\u003eIn the 1960s, Richard Serra used industrial materials to explore the physical conditions of making and viewing sculpture. In 1967, he began composing a list of verbs: “to roll, to crease, to fold, to bend.” He then subjected various pliable materials such as lead, latex, and vulcanized rubber to these verbal actions, examining the results to see which turned out to be a viable work of art. He was particularly interested in the behavior and logic of his material—most often lead—and described his working method as “figuring out what lead does.” For \u003ci\u003eProp\u003c/i\u003e, Serra rolled an 8 x 8 foot sheet of lead into a pole form, which he then used to prop a 5 x 5-foot square lead sheet against the wall. The work relies on the perpendicular supports of the floor and wall for its construction, creating a tenuous balance of thrust and counterthrust. This sustained tension and possibility of collapse imposes on viewers a heightened awareness of their physical environment and personal vulnerability.\u003c/p\u003e","ai_alt_text":"A long metal pole leans diagonally against a square metal panel mounted on a white wall.","alt_text":null,"visual_description":null,"on_view":false,"created_at":"2017-08-30T15:44:23.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-02-06T11:59:36.680-05:00","images":[{"id":108905,"url":"https://whitneymedia.org/assets/artwork/31751/69_20a-b_vw2_cropped.jpg"}]},"relationships":{"artists":{"data":[{"id":"1202","type":"artist"}]}}}}