Research: Andy Goldworthy

   

Andy Goldsworthy (born 1956)
English

Black Stone, Dumfriesshire and Red Pool, Scaur River, Dumfriesshire, 1994/95
cibachrome print photographs
each photograph 33 3/4 x 32 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches (framed)

"At its most successful, my 'touch' looks into the heart of nature; most days I don't even get close. These things are all part of a transient process that I cannot understand unless my touch is also transient-only in this way can the cycle remain unbroken and the process be complete." -Andy Goldsworthy

              Andy Goldworthy is an environmental sculptor in which his use of the natural surroundings create an art form. He explores and experiments with various natural materiel such as leaves, grasses, stones, wood, sand, clay, ice, and snow. The seasons and weather determine the materials and the subject matter of his projects. With no preconceived ideas about what he will create, Goldsworthy relies on what nature will give him. Goldsworthy "feels" the energy from nature and transcends that energy into an art form. His transient sculptures contradict the permanence of art in its historical pretense.

               Because of this mortality of nature, Goldsworthy uses the photograph as a form of documentation to capture the essence of his work. "Each work grows, stays, decays- integral parts of a cycle which the photograph shows at its height, marking the moment when the work is most alive. There is an intensity about a work at its peak that I hope is expressed in the image. Process and decay are implicit."-Andy Goldsworthy.

               In the form of a triptych, Black Stone, Dumfriesshire; Black Stone/ Red Pool; Red Pool, Scaur Rover, Dumfriesshire, we see two photographs of Goldsworthy's depiction of art within nature separated by a piece of paper on which the artist's hand records the colors of the materials used, black peat and red sandstone.

               The stone in Black Stone, has been covered in black peat. The stone stands alone in solitude and silence, its blackness and shape stands out from it's serene surroundings. The rolling hills in the background are almost completely covered by fog which rests in the valley.

               The photograph Red Pool was created by adding pigment to the water from the sandstone. This image draws ones eye directly to the red pool for its contrast between the surrounding blacks, green, and browns of the environment.

               Andy Goldsworthy was born in 1956 in Chesire. He studied at Bradford Art College and Preston Polytechnic. Thereafter, he toured the world and experimented with the world's alternating climate and different geographical materials available. In 1986, he moved to Dumfriesshire, Scotland where he maintains his residency.

               Goldsworthy's artwork reinforces the relationship of human existence within nature. His work shows that we as humans have some ability of controlling nature, but eventually, in the end, nature controls us.

http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/artartists/photoandy.html

Andy Goldsworthy Sculpture, Stone River, Enters Stanford University's Outdoor Art Collection

Andy Goldsworthy, Stone River, 2001. Sandstone. Given in honor of Gerhard Casper, President, Stanford University, 1992-2000, by the Robert and Ruth Halperin Foundation

Stanford, CA, Sept. 4, 2001—In late August, British artist Andy Goldsworthy (born 1956) completed Stone River, a 320-foot sculpture on the campus of Stanford University. Constructed of sandstone from university buildings destroyed in the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, Stone River is the largest work of outdoor art at the university. In addition to Goldsworthy, a team of eight professional dry-stone wallers from England and Scotland worked 11 hours a day, six days a week, for three and a half weeks (1848 hours) to complete the sculpture on schedule.

Stone River is a wall-like serpentine sculpture set in about three acres of land to the northeast of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts. It is about 3 1/2 feet high and about 4 feet wide at its base. It is made of more than 6,500 stones, including about 700 triangular coping stones weighing between 20 and 50 pounds each that top the sculpture. Each coping stone was individually shaped at a different angle to fit the wall precisely. The total weight of the piece is about 128 tons.

Goldsworthy first visited Stanford over a year ago to choose the site and consider the project. It was his vision to employ stone that had a relationship to the university. He commented: "I strive to make connections between what we call nature and what we call man-made. I hope that the sculpture will reside somewhere between a building and a quarry. It will bring together the stone's geological and social nature. Many of my stone sculptures incorporate previously worked stone. I like the relationship to the past life of a material—of one hand placed upon another."

Set in a trough in the earth, the sculpture gives the appearance of an archaeological excavation. Over time, the land around the work will return to its natural state and animals will settle into the site. The stone has traveled full circle: quarried initially for Stanford University buildings, it now returns to the earth in another form.

Goldsworthy has explored the serpentine shape in different media for over a decade. About the configuration he noted: "I describe the form as a river and prefer it not to be referred to as a snake. It is not a river either, but in calling it one I hope to touch on the movement associated with a river. A river to me is not bound to water. It is the flow, not the water, that is important—a river of wind, animals, birds, insects, people, seasons, climate, stone, earth, color. . . And yet when I see a snake I am fascinated by its form and movement. . . It is the essence of line, movement, and form. The effortless way in which [it] travels, reveals an acute feeling and understanding of [its] surroundings. The perfect sculpture. Perhaps I do not make snakes in the same way that Brancusi didn't make birds or fish."

The sculpture is a gift to Stanford University from the Robert and Ruth Halperin Foundation in honor of the presidency of Gerhard Casper (1992-2000). The Halperins are long-time supporters of the university and the Cantor Arts Center, and are also collectors of Goldsworthy's works.

Thomas K. Seligman, the Freidenrich Director of the Cantor Arts Center, stated: "Stone River is one of the most importantgifts to the Cantor Arts Center's collection. Andy Goldsworthy has created a sublime and beautiful sculpture that will intrigue viewers as it raises questions about the purpose and place of art and about humankind's relationship to the past and the land. The graceful undulations and richly hand-worked stones evoke and interact with the environment in an elegant and engaging way. We are very grateful to Andy, his team of wallers from England and Scotland, and the Halperins for this extraordinary work of art for Stanford."

For more then two decades, Goldsworthy has created works of art from natural materials such as leaves, grass, branches, snow, ice, and stone The works made from these natural materials interact in different ways with the environments from which they were made. As Goldsworthy notes, "Movement, change, light, growth, and decay are the life-blood of nature, the energies that I try to tap through my work." To Goldsworthy, nothing is certain but change, "My sculpture can last for days or a few seconds—what is important to me is the experience of making. I leave all my work outside and often return to watch it decay." The artist was particularly pleased with Stone Riverand the changing appearance of the work as the sun shifts overhead during the course of the day.

Stone River joins some two dozen other outdoor works in addition to the B. Gerald Cantor Rodin Sculpture Garden at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. Cantor Arts Center docents lead visitors on an Outdoor Sculpture Walk on the Stanford campus the first Sunday of each month, at 2 p.m. The tour, which is free, takes an hour and a half, and is offered rain or shine. The tour begins at the Main Quad entrance where The Oval meets Serra Street, not at the Cantor Arts Center. 

http://museum.stanford.edu/news_room/archived_acquisitions_goldsworthy.html