The best.

Finally we come to what I consider to be the best in art today. For this we need to venture into the world of Andy Goldsworthy whose art I find thrilling and amazing. He really is my favourite artist.   His work embodies the type of living that I hold most dear. He is a sculptor, photographer and environmentalist who lives in Scotland. He produces site-specific sculpture and land art in both natural and urban settings. He can use natural and found objects to create works that are permanent. But he also often creates ephemeral works using his bare hands and found tools. His photographic skills help him capture these works at when he considers them to be at their most alive.

Goldsworthy prefers to make his art on-site, with the very elements of that particular spot.  He said that "A long resting stone is not merely an object in the landscape but a deeply ingrained witness to time," and then went on to say, "My work does not lay claim to the stone, and is soon shed like a fall of snow, becoming another layer in the many layers of rain, snow, leaves, and animals that have made a stone rich in the place where it sits." 

Goldsworthy at work

All of Goldsworthy’s works use only the materials in which were found in the place of creation. In doing this, he draws the attention of the people today back to the bare basics of nature and what really is important. Nothing is added into the environment and no waste is created. Some works stand only long enough to take a quick photograph of where as others rely on time and nature for it to slowly disappear back into the environment.  Choosing one of Goldsworthy’s works was very difficult. All of his works are outstanding and make you wonder how it is ever possible to construct them without any other materials other than the ones found at the scene.

“Rain Shadow 1984” by Goldsworthy playfully captures his goal which is to understand nature by directly participating in it as intimately as he can. To create this work he lay down on the earth during rain to create a shadow-like impression of his body.

"Rain Shadow 1984" by Andy Goldsworthy

The second work I would like to bring your attention to is “Incredible Serpentine Tree Roots”. Goldsworthy has used sand to create the roots of the two trees where the actual roots of the trees are under the surface. He has sculptured the sand so the two roots appear to intertwine with each other. To me this symbolises the strength and natural bond nature has. Both of these works have been created by using natural materials.  Goldsworthy’s works may seem simple and almost childlike but therein lies their power to take the viewer to a place of joy and appreciation of the wonders of our amazing, living breathing world. 

"Incredible Serpentine Tree Roots" by Andy Goldsworthy

My favourite quote from Goldsworthy is “I enjoy the freedom of just using my hands and found tools- a sharp stone, the quill of a feather and thorns. I take the opportunities each day offers: If it is snowing, I work with snow, at leaf-fall it will be with leaves; a blown over tree becomes a source of twigs and branches. I stop at a place or pick up a material because I feel that there is something to be discovered. Here is where I can learn.”

Alright, so if you have been following from the beginning of this topic you would have read through a post on the good, the bad and now the best. All of these artists and their art works mentioned over the last three weeks really express the lows and highs of art in today’s society.  I have alerted you to the fact that not all art is friendly to our beautiful planet. I would also like to leave you with these questions? But I warn you to think carefully before you answer them because the fate of our earth may depend on your answers. Should an artist’s work be considered art if it contributes to the pollution and clutter and eventual destruction of the planet we call home as I feel Ron Mueck’s does? Should our society redefine the definition of art to include only those works that use our waste and clutter to delight but challenge us as Pascale Marthine Tayou has as well as those that respect and play with the natural elements and objects of the earth as has Andy Goldsworthy?

Hope you enjoyed and that you have taken something away from this.
Your greenie with a voice,
Eartha24-7