Interior Space Occupied by a Wooden Box for Burning. Burning of the Object

Interior Space Occupied by a Wooden Box for Burning. Burning of the Object (Espacio Interior Ocupado por Caja de Madera Para Quemar. Quema del Objeto) belongs to the series Burning of the Object (Quema del Objeto), developed from 1957 to 1959 as a reflection on space, both at the conceptual level and in its translation into visual art, exploring the significance of the resulting emptiness after vacating a space. He gives it a metaphysical dimension, 'the presence of absence.' One of the formulas used to give rise to this concept was the creation of a sculpture which housed a wooden or cardboard heart in its interior, which disappeared when undergoing a burning ritual known as a happening. Despite being conceived with this goal, this sculpture was not burned by Serrano, likely because he wanted to show the spectator what the original configuration of this type of work was—with the wooden heart intact and its assembly in terms of its sculptural structure compared to the final sculptures after burning which this work has been exhibited alongside.