Entre 1967 y 1968, Richard Serra recopiló una lista de verbos (vaciar, plegar, salpicar) que pudieran asociarse con el proceso de esculpir. A partir de dicha lista creó esculturas como Splashing (Salpicadura, 1969). Ésta fue realizada en el almacén de la galería de Leo Castelli en Nueva York arrojando plomo derretido contra una pared y el suelo para que el metal se estrellara antes de solidificarse.

"When I first started, what was very, very important to me was dealing with the nature of process. So what I had done is I'd written a verb list: to roll, to fold, to cut, to dangle, to twist...and I really just worked out pieces in relation to the verb list physically in a space. Now, what happens when you do that is you don't become involved with the psychology of what you're making, nor do you become involved with the after image of what it's going to look like. So, basically it gives you a way of proceeding with material in relation to body movement, in relation to making, that divorces from any notion of metaphor, any notion of easy imagery. "

Richard Serra (entrevista Art 21 http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/serra/clip1.html)