The Class on Oct.3: Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy (born 1956, in Cheshire) is an English artist and photographer living in Scotland who produces site specific sculpture and land art situated in natural settings. His art involves the use of natural and found objects to create temporary sculptural pieces which both appear naturalistic and create stark contrasts with their surroundings.

His media often include twigs, thorns, stone, mud, snow, icicles, brightly coloured flowers and leaves. He often uses only his bare hands, teeth, and found tools to prepare and arrange the materials, although more recent works like Moonlit Path and Chalk Stones (Petworth, West Sussex - 2002) have also used heavy machinery.

Goldsworthy is a subject of a 2001 documentary feature film Rivers and Tides directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer. (ASIN: B0002JL9N6). He received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford in 1993, and was appointed OBE in 2000. He is the son of F. Allin Goldsworthy, 1929-2001, professor of applied mathematics at the University of Leeds.
(wikipedia)


He makes transient sculptures as opposed to the permenance of more conventional art forms. "I am still with it" says he talking about one of his works, and adds "but I can't see it... It is given to the sea as a gift. Sea made more out of it." He is by no means the final authority of his work. Nature is unpredictable. The material he is given, the way his work is destroyed... all is determined by the nature itself.
Therefore, he makes use of photography to document "the essense of his work".
How should we call him: a sculptor, an environmental sculptor’ or a ‘sculptor/photographer’? He forces us to reconsider what art is primarily, and how do we (or should we at all) locate the borders between different branches of art. Lastly, as soon or later most of his (final)work disappears, does the "idea" of his work matter more than its physical identity?

for more information about Andy Goldsworthy:
Artcyclopedia, Andy Goldsworthy
What is Art? What is an Artist?
Andy Goldsworhty: Tbe Beauty of Creation