Slat is made up of five steel plates, each weighing 25 tonnes and rising to a height of 12 metres. From the outside, the sculpture is composed of 4 disjointed trapezoidal plates. Entering the sculpture through one of the two entrances, a fifth plate appears, outlining two unequal parts. The discovery of the work is inseparable from the movement of the viewer, who moves around and within the sculpture without ever being able to apprehend it in its entirety.

Erected in 1984 at La Rose de Cherbourg, the work had been vandalized by illegal billposting and graffiti, and had been dismantled and stored for almost 20 years. The developer decided to reinstall it on December 15, 2008, in the presence of Richard Serra, at a new, more suitable location: the carrefour de la Folie.

Born in San Francisco in 1939, Richard Serra studied art at Yale University. In 1966, he moved to New York and created his first sculptures using unconventional materials such as rubber and neon. A member of the Minimalist movement, his best-known works are probably his abstract, monumental steel sculptures. His internationally acclaimed work has been exhibited in the most prestigious museums: Tate Gallery in London, Guggenheim in Bilbao, MOMA in New York.