Excerpt from the Visit to Richard Serra's 2008 Monumental Exhibition "Promenade"

The exhibition scene of "Promenade," resembling a human theater. The artist stated: "Initially, I did not know; after design, I decided that three or four were possible. (...) I wanted volume and steel plates to resonate. Then I considered the spatial height; the balcony in the Grand Palais is approximately 13 meters high, and I believed it should be higher than this to demonstrate superior space. The sculptures are slightly tilted on their axis and tangent lines, thus appearing in their height and creating an illusion with the space as people wander through them. When viewed from afar, they seem static; when approached, they appear to lean toward people, or recede depending on your footing, swaying according to your perception. Such tall sculptures in this space will prompt your perception and bodily sensations as you walk through. (...) There is a real possibility in understanding the relationship between these elements and verticality. Then I began to experiment; three did not work in this space, four created a very static rhythm because I used the main axis line. Five was most appropriate as it allowed constructing a rhythmic passage through the entire space. The works allow the walker’s body to traverse the space into the main longitudinal axis, thereby allowing the repetition of image-space, and viewing and rethinking in other ways." Finally, Serra emphasized the characteristics of the Grand Palais as a "public" space, comparing it to a train station hall, saying: "I wanted to choose the works to reflect the background of the overall space on the single main axis line. I reinforced this public characteristic, clarifying my desire, which I want to say does not hinder personal private experience: No, what I mean is that people will enjoy a personal private experience together with the crowd in the public space. It will simultaneously be a unique individual experience walking with other strollers. The theme I chose there is presented in collective relationships, where viewing, moving, and looking at each other become the experience of the work. (...) Opening up the sculptural scene, constructing a structure where the audience moves, views, and experiences being in this state of unease, these strong feelings of tilting, these prolonged transitions, resulting in uncertainty until the final opening. Challenging architecture, such unparalleled concession to substantial effects, making the sculptural object a question until there fully overlooks the art world, as Reinhardt said, 'This kind of thing, people stumble backward to admire a painting.'" (From new manuscript for Richard Serra "Promenade" exhibition)