"But what does interest me is the notion that if you do a lot of work it means there's a potential for other people to understand that a lot of things are possible with a sustained effort and that the broadening of experiences is possible and I think that's all art can be"
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The subtext is almost political in its restraint. Serra’s not promising self-actualization; he’s talking about a shared cognition. Sustained effort, he suggests, expands the perimeter of the imaginable. In the late-20th-century context of Minimalism and post-Minimalism, that’s a pointed claim. His practice foregrounds process, material resistance, engineering constraints, and site-specific negotiations - the unglamorous realities that make the work harder to sentimentalize and easier to trust. Even his notorious controversies (public space, public consent, “Tilted Arc”) orbit this idea: art as an encounter that changes how a body navigates a world, not how a mind recites a lesson.
“I think that’s all art can be” is the kicker: a deliberate narrowing that feels expansive. Serra refuses art-as-message and settles on art-as-demonstration - a durable, physical reminder that experience can be broadened, but only through time, friction, and making.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Serra, Richard. (n.d.). But what does interest me is the notion that if you do a lot of work it means there's a potential for other people to understand that a lot of things are possible with a sustained effort and that the broadening of experiences is possible and I think that's all art can be. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-what-does-interest-me-is-the-notion-that-if-168355/
Chicago Style
Serra, Richard. "But what does interest me is the notion that if you do a lot of work it means there's a potential for other people to understand that a lot of things are possible with a sustained effort and that the broadening of experiences is possible and I think that's all art can be." FixQuotes. Accessed February 1, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-what-does-interest-me-is-the-notion-that-if-168355/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"But what does interest me is the notion that if you do a lot of work it means there's a potential for other people to understand that a lot of things are possible with a sustained effort and that the broadening of experiences is possible and I think that's all art can be." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-what-does-interest-me-is-the-notion-that-if-168355/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
