Richard Serra

This sculpture by Richard Serra, entitled Vortex, epitomizes his search for the line between balance and disorder.  The steel sheets are monolithic, and tower over their surroundings in a way that is almost precarious.  Looking at scale alone, this piece creates a conflict on a grand size.  Overall, the essences of this piece is organic, seeming to interact with itself in a dynamic, continuous way.  The chaotic notion evoked by the dynamism of the upward-spiraling faces is balanced, or at least contrasted when the sculpture is seen from the inside.  From this view, it is clear that the individual units are not in fact precarious perched on each other, but mathematically placed to ensure their stability.  The heptagon formed by the meeting of each sheet is seemingly precise.  This oculus onto the skies give this piece a heavenly importance (much like the oculus in the Parthenon).