Located on the Kaipara harbor in New Zealand, 30 miles north of Auckland, Te Tuhirangi Contour is one of Richard Serra's latest site-specific works. The site is a vast open grass pasture with rolling elevations and curvilinear contours. The sculpture, made of hundreds of tons of steel, is located on one continuous contour, at a length of 843 feet. The particular contour was chosen for its location, differentiation, contraction and expansion in relation to the total volume of the landscape, and the elevation of the sculpture is perpendicular to the fall of the land, which generates its lean of 11 degrees. The work was first mocked-up full scale in wood to determine height and length. Serra's monumental sculpture is documented here in Dirk Reinartz's elegant black-and-white photography.
