Andy Goldsworthy: Meet the Artist

Born in 1956 in Scotland, Andy Goldsworthy is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban settings. Let's begin with our video introduction to the artist's life and work.

If you'd like to see Andy Goldsworthy in action making his nature installations, you can also view: 

VIDEO: Rivers and Tides- Andy Goldsworthy

VIDEO: Andy Goldsworthy - Land Art

VIDEO: Making Goldsworthy Art

ON HULU: Leaning Into the Wind Documentary

Next, please read below for 3 fun project ideas you can try at home or on your next walk! 

PROJECT ONE: Create a NATURE “DRAWING”

Now that we have learned a little bit about Mr. Goldsworthy, it is time to create some art of our own.  Below you will find three different projects.  You can pick just one or do them all. We just want you to have fun and be creative!

*All of these projects can be completed anywhere: your back or front yard, while out on a walk, at the park, or on a hike.  Try to use only found materials and your hands, no glue, string, etc.

Step 1: Choose a location

1. The first thing you need to do is find a place to make your drawing.  
2. Think about how you want your drawing to look and interact with the space around it.  
3. Do you want your drawing to be out in the open where it is easy to see, or do you want your drawing to be hidden to surprise anyone who happens to discover it?

Step 2: Collecting your materials

1. Now that you have found a place to create your drawing it’s time to collect your materials.  
2. You can use anything you find outside: rocks, leaves, flowers, sticks, grass, Etc.  Think about your materials colors and textures.

Step 3: Creating your drawing 

1. It’s time to make your drawing! Think about the shape you want your drawing to be.  

2. Do you want to create a curved line or circle like Mr. Goldsworthy or maybe you have found your own pattern in nature you would like to make; for example, following the pattern of a flower, or the shadow of a tree.  

3. Also think about alternating materials to create contrast between them. 

Step 4: Documenting your drawing

1. Now that your drawing is finished it is time to document it.  

2. Take a photo so you have a record of your completed art piece.  

3. Remember your drawing is not meant to last forever.  It will change with time.  Maybe the wind will blow some of it away, maybe it will begin to decay.  

4. For an added challenge you may want to document your art piece multiple days in a row to see how it changes.

* Show us what you made! If you’d like, you can submit your photos to artsatvw@gmail.com and we’ll display them on our ArtsatVW Instagram! We can’t wait to see what everyone creates!

PROJECT TWO: SCULPTURE TIME!

Step 1: Choose a location

1. Like the nature drawing, your first step in creating your sculpture is to choose a location to build it.  

2. When choosing a location, you will want to consider what the ground is like: Is it flat, bumpy, solid?  You will need to think about the stability of the surface you choose.  

3. When looking at the ground for a location ask yourself if you would be able to build a block castle there, if the answer is no maybe try to find another spot.

Step 2: Planning your sculpture and choosing your materials

1. Now it’s time to think about materials and what you want your sculpture to look like.  

2. What do you want to make your sculpture out of?  Do you want to stack stone or make a structure out of sticks?  Think about your surroundings and what materials are readily available.  

3. Consider sketching out your idea on a piece of paper. 

Step 3: Time to Build

1. You have your idea, your materials, and your location, the next step is to build your sculpture.  

2. Keep in mind that Mr. Goldsworthy would often have his sculptures collapse in the middle of making them.  Don’t get discouraged if this happens, it is just part of the process.  Simply gather your materials and try again☺

Step 4: Documenting your sculpture

1. When your sculpture is finished it is time to document it.  

1. Take a photo so you have a record of your completed art piece.  Just like the nature drawing, remember your sculpture is not meant to last forever.  It might collapse or get knocked over, and it will eventually return to nature.  

2. For an added challenge you may want to document your art piece multiple days in a row to see how it changes. 

* Show us what you made! If you’d like, you can submit your photos to artsatvw@gmail.com and we’ll display them on our ArtsatVW Instagram! We can’t wait to see what everyone creates! 

PROJECT THREE: THE CHALLENGE

The challenge:  Your third assignment is to create a hanging piece of art out of grass, leaves, flowers, sticks, etc.  It can be something as simple as a string of leaves hanging from one branch to another or a more complicated hanging like some of the images above. 

Step 1:  Choose your location and gather your materials

1. Look for interesting locations to create your hanging; is there a tree that you love, is there a space between two bushes in your yard?  

1. When choosing your material think about how you are going to attach it together, remember no glue or string! 

2. You can attach leaves together by poking a small hole in the leaf and pulling the stem of another leaf through.  

3. You can weave grass and flowers in a similar way. Think about how you would attach sticks together?

Step 2: Create your hanging

1. Start out by testing how you will attach your materials together.  

2. Next you can either sketch out how you would like your hanging to look or just improvise and see what you can come up with.  

3. Think about how and where you will hang your art when it is completed. 

Step 3: Hang your art and document it

1. Once the body of your piece is finished, you can hang your art in the place you chose to complete the work.  

2. Take a picture of your finished piece from several different angles.  Try photographing it at different times of day.  Just like projects one and two consider documenting your piece over time to see how it changes. 

* Show us what you made! If you’d like, you can submit your photos to artsatvw@gmail.com and we’ll display them on our ArtsatVW Instagram! We can’t wait to see what everyone creates!

Goldsworthy Lesson Transcript

Today we are going to create art inspired by the artist Andy Goldsworthy, a British sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist.  Let’s start by learning a little bit about Mr. Goldsworthy.

Andy Goldsworthy was born on July 25, 1956 in Cheshire, England.  While he was a young child he moved with his parents Allin and Muriel to a suburb outside of Leeds.  At the age of 13 he started to work on a farm as a labourer on the weekends and during summer breaks.  He became interested in the repetitive and meditative nature of the farm work.

In his youth Mr. Goldsworthy was certain he would become a farmer or a gardener and that art would simply be a hobby.  This may be in part because he was rejected from many art schools during the application process.  However, in 1974 he was accepted into the Bradford college of art and design, where he did his foundation year.  After one year at the college he realized it was not the right fit.  He went on to complete his education at Preston Polytechnic in Lancaster.  It was in art school that Mr. Goldsworthy realized he could not stand to work confined to a studio and where he began to venture into nature.

Andy Goldsworthy is best known for his site-specific installations made from leaves, twigs, snow, ice, stones, flowers, etc.  A site-specific installation is a piece of art that is created especially for a particular location.  Each piece he makes is a collaboration between himself, the material, and the environment around him.  So, what exactly does that mean? Watch the videos below and then we will take a closer look at some of Mr. Goldsworthy’s ideas and art.

VIDEO: Rivers and Tides- Andy Goldsworthy

VIDEO: Andy Goldsworthy - Land Art

As you can see from the videos above Mr. Goldsworthy’s work is what we call ephemeral.  This means his work is fleeting. He does not make his work to last forever.   Goldsworthy says “My sculpture can last for days or a few seconds- What is important to me is the experience of making.  I leave all my work outside and often return to watch it decay.” The experience of how an art piece changes over time in its environment is just as important as creating the piece itself.  He is working with the idea that nature is always changing, that life is always changing, and that this change is beautiful.  He will often make work with materials like ice, which he knows will melt, or he will intentionally build a sculpture on the shore where the tide is sure to engulf it.  

Here are a few examples:

• This is a piece titled Ice Arch that was built in a field in Brough, Cumbria December 1-2, 1982

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• Here you can see Mr. Goldsworthy creating the piece Ice Ball, which was made on a riverbank in Hampstead Heath, London in 1985.

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• This is a work titled Stones Sinking into Sand. 
• It was created on the shores of Morecambe Bay, Lancashire in March 1976.  
• You can see in the first picture that this work was created at low tide.  
• In the third picture you can see the tide coming up over the work.

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• This is a piece titled West Coast Cairn it was made between high tides at Pigeon Point in the Bay Area in August 2001.

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Location and material play a significant role in Mr. Goldsworthy’s work.  It is essential to him that the materials he selects to create his work have a connection to the chosen location.  This simply means he uses found materials, for instance if Mr. Goldsworthy is out in the woods, he may build a sculpture from fallen branches he finds, or if he is on the beach he may build a sculpture out of sand.  It is important to note that when assembling his outdoor installations that he only uses the materials that he finds around him.  He does not use glue, nails, string, etc to complete his works.  You might see him shaping stone with a rock, gluing ice together with water, weaving grass, or simply creating a piece by laying various materials on the ground to create a pattern.  

Here are some examples:

• These pieces were created with dandelion flowers pinned with thorns to rosebay willow herb stalks. 
• Here is an excerpt from Mr. Goldsworthy’s diary about the circle piece above. 

Diary: 4th June Swindale Beck wood.

Sunny - occasional haze of cloud. Bluebells

at their peak - amazing - knockout.

Wanted to work with them without

treading on them too much. A few dandelions

about - not enough - made a

framework of rosebay willow stalks

thin end of one up wide end of another.

Bent with wind - attached dandelion

heads to stalks with thorns - collected

and made back at the lodge where

more dandelions which we past 

those best - just enough

Took yellow circle back in can

Judith helped me lay it in bluebells

supported with thin twigs

about 1' above ground

when put in place - stood back 

& I couldn't believe it!The most amazing colour - wild.

For Common Ground- 

from-https://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/image/?id=ag_03288&t=1

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• Here are 3 pictures of colored leaf patches made between 1980-1984.
• Read Mr. Goldsworthy’s diary entry about the Red Cherry Leaf Patch.

Diary: 4th Nov Swindale Beck-

back to cherry tree - 
made cherry red patch
very difficult - not many
very red leaves - but
managed - I think I am
pleased but might try again
next year - when colour
might be fuller - cold again
calmer - easier to work leaves
(held with thorns) wet but
not raining until now.
drizzle.

From-https://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/image/?id=ag_03127&t=1

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Another Important aspect of Mr. Goldsworthy’s work is documentation. Since the majority of Mr. Goldsworthy’s art is not permanent, he uses photography as a way to document his work.  He will often take pictures of the same piece at different times to capture its essence and beauty in different stages.  

Take a look at a few examples below:

• Here is a before and after shot of Hogweed Stalks Floating on Pond.

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• Here are two pictures of Mr. Goldsworthy’s piece Storm King Wall 1997-1998 photographed at different times.

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