Advanced Sculpture, 2014

Project 2: Place
ARTIST RESEARCH

Art Through Nature
                 

Andy Goldsworthy is an artist who expresses his artistic ideas by creating site-specific land sculptures. Some state, "Because he works outdoors with natural materials, Goldsworthy is sometimes portrayed as a modern Druid; really, he is much closer to a latter-day Impressionist" (Lubow). Goldsworthy is very interested in the environment, processes in nature, time, and how human beings interact with the land. In his process he goes walking and lets the land guide him in the artwork he creates.  He then documents his work through photography and continues on his way. Goldsworthy has a strong connection to ideas of nature and that drives him in his work, but there is also a strong element of time. In his process he often creates work which can last for days, while others last seconds.  This speaks to his ideas of the meaning of the impermanence of life and death in nature.

Goldsworthy opposes alteration of the land in his work but thinks of the land as a 'teacher'. He approaches his work with the mindset of intimacy. Because of this outlook he brings nothing with him to help him create his works, no glue, knife or rope. Goldsworthy uses all natural materials in is works.  He creates sculptures of living things, such as leaves, twigs, fronds, pinecones and flower petals.  Other creations entail intricately arranged non-living objects, such as stones, rock slabs, mud cracks, snow, and icicles.  He carves ridges in sand and shapes in snow.  While other times he intertwines leaves with roots, and snowballs with trees.  Goldsworthy loves to creates geometric shapes, such as circles, arches, spirals, towers and obelisks which is a repeating theme within his work. He states that he wants to, "explore the natural bonds and tensions that exist within the earth" (Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue). When using only natural materials and processes provided to him by nature itself, it is as if he is partnering with nature to create his pieces. He speaks about the interrelationship needed with nature before he can get a foundation about his work, saying, "When I began working outside, I had to establish instincts and feelings for Nature... I needed a physical link before a personal approach and relationship could be formed. I splashed in water, covered myself in mud, went barefoot and woke with the dawn" (Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue).  It is as if Goldsworthy is trying to connect with his primordial self to fully understand nature and to connect with the energy that is expressed in his work.

There is a strong element of time Goldsworthy's work that heavily influences and interacts with his process and work. He states, "Time and the notion of being temporary are aspects of life that the environment and every human has in common” (Krug).  Goldsworthy's deep connection to the land lets him observe time and how it interacts with nature. Goldsworthy links these notions of time and nature with those of life, death and rebirth.  Goldsworthy explains, "This is a cycle that is only bonded by time. Time, in turn, connects all living things... Life cannot continue without birth, death, and change” (Krug). Every piece of Goldsworthy's work is strongly influenced by time because once his work is documented there are no actions made toward preserving the piece in its environment. Goldsworthy leaves the work to be taken back into the environment in which it was created. Some critics of his work think that this is a barbaric act, but to Goldsworthy it is part of the process of creation. Pieces that speak to Goldsworthy’s philosophy of time are his ice sculptures. Goldsworthy is very meticulous when he creates with ice by using the natural forces of the ability of ice to stick together, and by using his own saliva. Examples of his process are his pieces, "Icicle Star" in which he created a circular shape with icicles supporting each other, and in "Dumfries" in which icicles were lined up on a rock to display a pattern. When completed, he then left his creations it to the elements, to be melted and lost forever.

                  Goldsworthy's unique relationship with the land, time and nature is seen very strongly through his artwork. His philosophy of the making of the work and the impermanence of nature is emphasized in his creations.

                  Binkly, Sheri. Intertwined Through Time: Andy Goldsworthy and His Master Pieces. Brookings: South Dakota State University, n.d. Print.
                  Lubow, Arthur. "35 Who Made a Difference: Andy Goldsworthy." Smithsonian. Smithsonian Magazine, Nov. 2005. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/35-who-made-a-difference-andy-goldsworthy-114067437/?no-ist>.
                  Krug, Don. "Art & Ecology:." Ecological Art Perspectives and Issues: Ecological Design: Andy Goldsworthy. Green Museum, 2006. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. <http://greenmuseum.org/c/aen/Issues/goldsworthy.php>.
                  "Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue: Selected Extracts." Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue: Selected Extracts. Crichton University Campus, 1986. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. <http://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/extracts/>.

Robert Smithson: Land Artist

Robert Smithson was one of the most influential sculptors of his generation. "His complex ideas took root in many forms: drawings, projects and proposals, sculpture, earthworks, films and critical writings” (Goldberg). Smithson was an artist who explored and wrote about many ideas in art theory. His ideas were widespread in the art world, had a large impact during his time, and can even be felt today. Although Smithson was inspired by minimalist ideas and used minimalist concepts within his works, he was not strictly confined to one category of art. As an artist he experimented with using "mirrors, maps, dump trucks, abandoned quarries, hotels, contractors, and earth to produce his radical sculptures, photographs, films, and earthworks” (Goldberg).  As his work continued to evolve, Smithson increasingly created his art in the outdoors. Throughout his later years, Smithson experimented with the idea of earthworks and "land art".

Smithson was the first to coin the term "Land Art" in the late 1960’s.  Kanitra Fletcher stated in her biography of Smithson's life, "[This] gave birth to the movement by producing large-scale outdoor projects, or earthworks, that were no longer confined by the gallery." Smithson made nature his studio, and by doing so he "made sculpture out of the landscape as a rejection of the exclusivity of art institutions and art historical classifications” (Fletcher). From 1966 until his death in 1973, Smithson showed a great interest in "mapping on various geographical, geological, and imaginative scales; excursions into the realms of architecture, regional planning, ad industrial development; and sampling like an earth scientist” (Goddard). One of his most notable and most memorable works which is still highly revered today was Spiral Jetty, 1970. This work was said to be inspired by the Great Serpent Mound, a Pre-Columbian Indian monument in southwestern Ohio.  "Constructed in six days on the shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, the 1,500-foot-long and 15-foot-wide spiral formation is composed entirely of “mud, salt crystals, rocks and water,” Smithson states in the film that documents its creation (Fletcher).  Smithson's idea behind this piece is based on the American myth of whirlpools at the center of a lake that connects to the ocean. Jefferson stated that his spiraling form of the jetty is supposed to recall this whirlpool, but the work is also meant to be very static, as a constant and impending natural force rather than the temporary natural phenomenon that we might associate with whirlpools. It is stated by art critics that this work embodied one of Smithson's goals which was to "place a work in the land, rather than situated on the land". This one work was said to "define an entirely original notion of landscape” (Goldberg). After the creation of Spiral Jetty,Smithson noticed that he had created the jetty when the water level was "unusually low", and afterward the water level returned to normal and the jetty was submerged, until a drought in 2002 when the jetty appeared occasionally over the next ten years.

When unexpected events such as the water level in relation to Smithson's Spiral Jetty occurred, this did not phase the artist. Smithson stated that to be very interested in "explor[ing] his ideas involving decay and renewal, chaos and order” with what came to be known as his Nonsites and Earthworks. Smithson spoke at great length in interviews and essays about entropy and his notion of time” (Goldberg). The idea of the jetty disappearing and reappearing fit with his philosophy of desiring to make something of the land. Another of his works that was similar in the notion of unexpected results was his piece titled Woodshed, in which the artist buried an abandoned wooden shed with earth until it cracked.  "This work is a prime example of Smithson's visualization of entropy and time, leaving it to be 'subject to weathering, which should be considered part of the piece'” (Goldberg).

Even after his death, Smithson has had great influence in the art world. He was an artist, critic, and art theorist in his writings. He revolutionized the idea of "land art" and the compelling ideas behind his work, even when some of it was by oversight.  As a land artist he was very successful in blending nature into his earthworks.  "[Smithson] rejected the notion of the eternal... Smithson designed his earthworks to be consumed in time and nature... he aimed to show not only nature's fragility in the face of industry, but also its ability to defend itself against such an invasion” (Fletcher).  Smithson's work continues to direct and inspire countless artists even today.

                  Fletcher, Kanitra. "Robert Smithson." Landworks. The University of Texas at Austin, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. <https://landmarks.utexas.edu/video/robert_smithson>
                  Goldberg, Elyse. "Robert Smithson." Robert Smithson. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. <http://www.robertsmithson.com/introduction/introduction.htm>.
                  Goddard, Donald. "Robert Smithson." Robert Smithson- Review by Donald Goddard. New York Art World, 2005. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. <http://www.newyorkartworld.com/reviews/smithson.html>.
                  Jefferson, Esteban. Robert Smithson: Metaphorical travel between art and writing. Retrieved from <http://www.estebanjefferson.com/essays/smithsonsmall.pdf>