DOHA: American minimalist sculptor Richard Serra has responded to critics’ reactions on his ‘East-West/West-East’ installation unveiled on Tuesday at Brouq Nature Reserve neat Zekreet.
Some people on social media questioned the relevance of the sculpture in the middle of the desert and whether it was worth the cost.
“I actually think that that piece is making a cultural contribution to the country.
“And to think otherwise and ask questions about just the nature of the steel and whether you are just looking at steel plates is to misunderstand your own sensibility in relation to what you are looking at what the piece does,” he said reacting to a question at a press conference at Al Riwaq exhibition space yesterday.
Serra said the piece creates a connection between the viewer, the rhythm of one’s body as he walks through and the landscape itself.
It also gives the person a sense of direction in what would have been a non-directional space and brings the east and west sides of the peninsula together, he added.
“I think for people to react and say why someone is spending that kind of money to build something they see is useless, well I can understand that.
“I think if people have a prejudice about not wanting to understand something, they won’t understand it.
“I think for people to want to reduce the work to four slabs of steel they are unwilling to experience the potential of what’s there to be seen, to be understood and to be emotionally felt,” he said.
The Peninsula
