‘Art in Theory’ is a book by Paul Wood and Charles Harrison, first published in 1992 by Blackwell, Leo Steinbergs text talks deeply about ways of working and the how everything was shifting and making people look at different aspects of creating work during that period of time. Explaining artists were moving away from maybe more traditional ways of working and starting to use new mediums, also looking at painting in way that wasn’t so conventional. Steinberg goes on to say that the boundaries of what was accepted as art was changing, ‘ There is no law against hanging a rug on a wall,’ indicating that artists were holding themselves back from possibilities due to what was classed as art and what was not, fear of judgment therefore staying in a safer zone which was known to be accepted.

Richard Serra on the other hand focuses his text mostly on site specific work within his own practice doing sculpture, suggesting that if work is to be placed in a specific area, that’s where it should be created if that is the space it has been sculpted for. Serra talks about his work and personal choices within that, whereas Steinberg concentrates towards practice itself and ways of working, not pointing towards a right or wrong in particular. Serra also explains ‘My works never decorate, illustrate or depict a site’ rather than creating a work then placing it wherever it may end up, Serra is suggesting that his works are created for the soul purpose to just exist in the place of where the work was created for.