River and Tides

             Andy Goldsworthy is a very interesting and devoted artist. He talks about how he wakes up early to do hard work to try and do something effortless. That is a complicated conundrum in itself. He could very easily sleep in and choose somewhere simpler to work, but his love for it truly shows. He speaks about how sometimes he is uncertain if his art will actually work, because of the fact that nature plays a catalyst in it, and sometimes nature is unpredictable.
            I think that time is a major part of Goldsworthy’s work. I think his created structures are just one part of the work but to fully see it manifest, time must take place. Goldsworthy was on the beach making stone sculptures. It was important that he got there early before the tide came in and ruined it. The first time it collapsed I felt anxious and disappointed. It was very chilling though to see how calm he was, how much of a tolerance he has for his type of work and realization that what he was doing took a lot of patience. The second time around, he definitely reached higher to success than the first time, but it also tumbled down. It reminded me of art projects throughout the year that take a couple times to work out. Of course, I am not building sculptures through trial and error, but patience is a key to succeeding. I think if Goldsworthy had succeeded his very first time in creating the sculpture, he would not be as devoted to it.
            “There are always these obsessive forms…” speaking about mountains, lakes, trees, rivers, etc. He is familiar with them but at the same time, he is “uprooted” traveling to a new place and must adjust to it, which I can personally understand. There will always be repetitions within nature, yet it will never quite be the same as the last place. It is easy to feel displaced in a new area, even if common “forms” are there. It’s not just the landscape, but the environment and people that also factor in.
            Goldsworthy is excited about his ice-sculpture and anticipates what nature’s mystery will do. He expected the sun to rise and hit one side of the sculpture rather than both sides. These little surprises excite Goldsworthy and give him inspiration for his current and future projects.
             “The very thing that brings it to life, causes its death.” Goldsworthy’s ice sculpture begins to melt under the hot sun and turns it into water, destroying it. He is not upset though because nature is a process of constant repetition. As humans, we must nourish ourselves to stay alive. We eat and drink to fill ourselves, but will have to eventually continue to do so to stay alive.
            Ephemeral works can be expected to mutate, shift, and evolve, and eventually destruct. This is a natural part of life. My cats brought in a dead bird the other day, and I became very emotional for the life of that bird. My cats couldn’t help it though; it is a natural part of animals to hunt for prey. I would consider it a natural occurrence rather than destruction. With ephemeral works, time is a huge subject. It will never stop, it will always consume and change. So it is a large variable that must be worked with, not against.
            Something that hit home for me was when he spoke about his uncertainty after Art College. I could not speak for everyone, but at least for me Art College is a safe haven where you grow and learn within an institution, where sometimes it is okay to make mistakes. Goldsworthy experiences the same thing and says that if he were not secure within, he would have nothing. I have not seen an artist make art such as he does so I would definitely be wary of hearing the concept before seeing it.

            “You are only as strong as your weakest image”. Life’s successes in my opinion are shaped by our failures. If we didn’t have them, we would never know the complete potential we have to grow and become better. This is with life in general, not just art. Sometimes they help us realize that something we may be doing is not working, and to change. These alterations may do wonders in the long run. Last semester, I trained for a half marathon. I was so determined to run no matter the circumstance, and I became ill 3 weeks before the race. I couldn’t keep training let alone get out of bed, and thus didn’t attend the race. I learned that because of my failure to take care of my body, I held myself back. When I retrain this summer, I will know to listen to my body when it is telling me it needs to rest.
            I think that Goldsworthy’s works being outside rather than in a museum really mark more of a journey for me. His works will never be permanent outside versus a museum, and a journey is about moving forward and not looking back. His subjects include natural environment and I do not think they could reach their full potential in a museum.
            Although stereotypes often exist for some reason or another, it is a shame that it can sometimes impact an opinion or experience. If everyone experienced something without a preconceived notion, it would be interesting to see how different life would be. The sheep is a major factor in the landscape. The landscape changes and thrives because of the sheep. Both subjects are important in the grand scheme of things.
            The “absence” of what once was, can often be recorded in landscape through visuals or emotion. If you visit a historical landmark, it can give off a certain emotion. I think photographer, Joel Sternfels’s work, “On This Site” speaks about this. He went to different areas throughout America where tragedies took place and photographed them. He would write captions next to the images describing what took place there. It is interesting how violent unhappy times can gather people together to grieve or think.
            Seeing those stone ‘eggs’ in different environments was really interesting to me. When he made them, they were so fragile. Nature takes its course and things fall and grow yet it seemed that his stone sculptures were holding up pretty well. Goldsworthy philosophized about his connections with nature and had he understood from the beginning, he would have had more successes than failures. He doesn’t believe that nature takes his art and ruins it, he thinks of it as a gift to nature, especially the sea and that it can do more than he has ever hoped for. His time lapses were beautiful watch. The stone being covered by water, and then all of a sudden vanished and became just a mere memory, was one of my favorite parts of the film.