Melissa Doyle – Goldsworthy’s Common Crafts

My name is Melissa Doyle and my work is called Goldsworthy’s Common Crafts. I will license under CC BY-SA.

Introduction

The work of Andy Goldsworthy captivates an audience with his temporary environmental art that celebrates the common materials in life. A majority of his work is created with easily accessible materials and he vows never to change, paint, or destroy materials in order to get the exact piece he needs. Goldsworthy uses what he finds and makes it work in his favor. His view of nature allows the audience to see the importance of the environment and the so-called mundane things that surround us. He used to work with materials that would convey collapse and decay but later found ways to create art that showed the beauty of nature.

Themes

Ordinary can be beautiful

His vision creates a world of art. Goldsworthy paints a picture of complexity but such simplistic materials. Like in the images above, the final product shows a near-perfect circle cut out of the leaves of a chestnut tree and the cut out is drastically dark. In the process of making this piece, Goldsworthy used blades of glass to sew these leaves together around the edges to create this negative space. By only using the leaves and grass, he was able to create a striking image that seems fake at first glance but shows a different and real side to nature.

Nothing is permanent

A majority of Goldsworthy’s art is created outdoors with natural materials such as branches, rocks, leaves, flower petals, etc. With natural weather occurrences, much of Andy’s work was affected when left alone after completion.  In an article called “Magical Land Art by Andy Goldsworthy”, he explained how he “got up early one morning ahead of an incoming tide and covered a boulder in poppy petals. It was calm and the sea slowly and gently washed away the petals, stripping the boulder and creating splashes of red in the sea” (Dainius). That particular piece of artwork was only seen by him due to the nature of his surroundings and the sea that took his materials away. There on that beach, he created that was beautiful because it was temporary, and could appreciate it more that it wouldn’t have stayed forever.

Analysis

Andy Goldsworthy is a sculptor, photographer, and environmental artist who is best known for his artwork created with materials from nature. Andy, born and raised in England, came to know nature very well at a young age. He worked on a  farm instead of attending school. His experiences with agriculture and nature formed great knowledge about the world around him. Down the line, Goldsworthy went to school and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Central Lancashire in the 1970s. After his education, he traveled to different countries such as Ireland and Scotland, and began working with other environmental artists. In the 1980s, Goldsworthy started to blossom in his art and create only using natural materials for his works. Due to the lack of permanence in land art, Goldsworthy was also able to use his skill in photography to perfectly capture his art.

Application

I chose this artist because many of his works are striking in color and material which I found very interesting. I was inspired when looking at his work by the things he sees as potential crafts I would not think twice about when walking past them outside. His artwork is so striking and captures your eye so easily due to its complex nature, but in reality, it couldn’t be more simple. Andy Goldsworthy is showcasing the importance of nature and its physical elements and the uniqueness of the world around us. He uses mundane materials that people would often walk over when taking a stroll on the street and transforms them into something spectacular. His artwork brings forth a feeling of peace and acceptance when viewing beauty in all things, even when they are temporary.