Richard Serra "Hands Scraping" 1968

Another video art piece by minimalist artist Richard Serra is the above, “Hands Scraping”, which was created in 1968. This work shows another function of the hands with yet another metal, steel. Metal, as we have found out from scientific research, can be manipulated in many ways. It can be solid, liquid, hot or cold. Human hands can function in multiple ways as well. In the previous video, Serra simply catches a block of lead over and over. In this video, Serra and composer Phil Glass utilize their hands to pick up shards of steel on the floor. Picking things up is another function of the hands that most forget about because it comes naturally to us. As Americans, we think, why not sweep up the mess and use a man made dustpan; as this would be the easy way out. Indeed this would be easier but we have forgotten about all the tasks we are capable of without simple man made objects. Our hands were given to us for a reason and the movements that we can make them make are extraordinary. You cannot get those movements from a dustpan, nor is it readily available depending on where you are. Also, as we watch, we can continuously see different forms of the metal that each hand molds as it moves it out of the frame. The viewer is forced by the video to only look at the hands and the pile of steel. The video suddenly becomes more interesting than seeing someone next you picking up dust.