I love Goldsworthy's work, although I have only seen it in books before now. I find his work unpretentious, thought provoking, beautiful, real. It's not often I go into an art gallery and and feel I don't want to leave, but the things Goldsworthy does with twigs and thorns, logs, stone and clay (to name just a few) just draw me in. There are pictures of the sculptures here, take a look, but I don't think they can quite convey the feeling of being in the room with those objects. The egg shaped Stacked Oak sculpture filled almost the entire entrance lobby, and squeezing round it to enter the gallery was an almost humbling experience, it's such an impressive structure, made entirely from logs wedged together, so strong and imposing. And in the next room a curtain made entirely from leaf stems and thorns, so delicate and fragile.
In fact I find it hard to pin down what it is I love so much about Andy Goldsworthy's work, I find my self amazed by each new piece I see, and thinking 'that's spot on that is'. I like the fact he works with natural things, things everyone has access to and can relate to. And then he does these amazing things with them, that seem so simple but in fact take and draw attention to the detail in nature, the repetition and pattern, the force of the weather and the passage of time. All the things that we might miss as we potter along in life. And he does this on such a grand scale, his output of work is prolific, so many ideas. I think it takes someone very clever to make something so simple and say so much. Spot on.
I think he sums it up best himself in this time lapse video of the construction and installation of the exhibition, worth a watch!
6 comments:
I've never heard of this artist so thanks for the intro. I love it!
You're welcome Sarah! He's one of my favourites so I'm glad you like him, perhaps pop over on the plane for the afternoon?!
ohhh... you are so lucky to see this in person! i am a fan of his work and you've described the appeal so well. the natural materials, altered to call attention to elements we might not ordinarily notice. exquisite and delicate and strong.
Ehh! Well i'm a year 8 student and we do art at school, as one of our subjects! And we are acually studying this artist at school- Andy Goldsworthy,so we have to do a presenation on his work + biography then do some drawing's in the style of his with actual leaves and twigs and then we have to start doing our own style after we've copyed his!! So to expand outr ideas -i think that he's really talented and didnt actually know you could do art with natural things!!
Hello Amber Elizabeth, I think it's great that you get to study Goldsworthy at school, and even better that you get to make your own work too! That's what I really like about Goldworthy, that anyone can do the things he does with natural objects and it's not elitist at all. I hope you enjoy your project!
Sarah, I don't know why I find your post about Goldsworthy when googling for buttonhole binding, but anyway: if you love Goldsworthy, definitely don't miss the movie "Rivers and Tides" that portrays Goldsworthy and his creative process. I guess I've seen it three times at the movies so far and own the DVD - it's magic.
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