Richard Serra, renowned for his challenging and inventive work, is widely considered to be one of the greatest sculptors of the contemporary era. "The Matter of Time" documents Serra's recent commission by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao of seven monumental sculptures for the largest gallery of the museum. Together with "Snake" (1994-97), the work that Serra created for the museum's grand opening, the sculptures create a permanent, site-specific installation of a scale and ambition unrivaled in modern history. Through a revealing interview-essay by noted critic Hal Foster, and writings and statements by the artist about his recent series "Torqued Ellipses" and the present, unprecedented commission, the book discloses the last 25 years of this sculptor's oeuvre and the evolution of his sculptural vocabulary as it relates to this installation. Other writings by Carmen Giménez and a chronology by Kate Nesin help contextualize Serra's work.