Historical and Cultural Context -
Andy Goldsworthy - Beneath the Surface Appearance


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E-Mail Doug at mrdoug@aznet.net or Melissa at melissa.granadatreehousestudio@gmail.com

Seven Elements of Visual Art - Line | Shape | Form | Space | Value | Texture | Color

 


“As with all my work, whether it's a leaf on a rock or ice on a rock, I'm trying to get beneath the surface appearance of things. Working the surface of a stone is an attempt to understand the internal energy of the stone.” http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/andy_goldsworthy.html



http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian/issues97/feb97/rainshadow_jpg.html
Lying on a rock during a shower in 1993, Goldsworthy left his "rain shadow," photographing it before it faded.
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Seven Elements of Visual Art

Line - An identifiable path of a point moving in space. It can vary in width, direction, and length.


http://hebert.kitp.ucsb.edu/sand/andy_goldw.jpg
Fine dry sand, 1989



http://image24.webshots.com/24/3/72/44/49937244QFreNj_ph.jpg
Cherry Leaves
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http://www.hainesgallery.com/Main_Pages/Artist_Pages/AGOL.image_8.html
Torn lines through elm leaves held to stone with water, 2002



http://courses.albion.edu/Archived_Fall2001/la101enviroart/images/goldsworthy-pepples.jpg
Broken Pebbles
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“As with all my work, whether it's a leaf on a rock or ice on a rock, I'm trying to get beneath the surface appearance of things. Working the surface of a stone is an attempt to understand the internal energy of the stone.” http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/andy_goldsworthy.html



http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424197914/andy-goldsworthy---4--dandelion-line-storm-king-sculpture-park-new-york.html
Dandelion line. Storm King Sculpture Park, New York.
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http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424197845/andy-goldsworthy---2--foxgloves-threaded-onto-stalks-laid-on-bracken-scaur-glen-dumfriesshire.html
Foxgloves threaded onto stalks laid on bracken, Scaur Glen, Dumfriesshire, 1997


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Shape - A two-dimensional area or plane that may be organic or inorganic, free-form or geocentric, open or closed, natural or of human origin.

A line defines the inside or outside edge of a shape.


http://stephan.barron.free.fr/technoromantisme/images/goldsworthy_allonge.jpg
Lying down on dry earth while rain begins


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Form - A three-dimensional volume or the illusion of three dimensions; related to shape (which is 2-D).


http://image24.webshots.com/25/4/35/27/49943527WReoAD_ph.jpg
North Pole Minaret



http://tachedesanglot.hautetfort.com/album/andy_goldsworthy_land_art/goldsworthy-boulder.3.jpg
Boulder covered with flower pedals and leaves
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Space - The emptiness or area between, around, above, below, or contained within objects. Shapes and forms are defined by the space around and within them, just as spaces are defined by the shapes and forms around and within them.


http://www.jorr.it/_attachment/goldsworthy.jpg



http://community.webshots.com/photo/49936365/49936898niNJnD
Dandelions
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Value - Light and dark; the gradations of light and dark on the surface of objects


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“Ideas must be put to the test. That's why we make things, otherwise they would be no more than ideas. There is often a huge difference between an idea and its realisation. I've had what I thought were great ideas that just didn't work.” http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/andy_goldsworthy.html


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Texture - The surface quality of material, either actual (tactile) or visual. - http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/art2/guide/glossary.html

 
http://image24.webshots.com/25/3/72/26/49937226HiKbiu_ph.jpg
Blue and Red Stones


Color - I love Goldsworthy's work, but this link explores color on a broader scale.


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"I enjoy the freedom of just using my hands and "found" tools - a sharp stone, the quill of a feather, 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." http://www.applebyheritagecentre.org.uk/html/andygold/andygold.html


Historical and Cultural Context | Site Map | Rules of Thumb | On-Line Resources | Glossary | Quotes | WordList | Co-Teachers - Doug and Melissa | Gallery | Top
E-Mail Doug at mrdoug@aznet.net or Melissa at melissa.granadatreehousestudio@gmail.com

Melissa and I would like to
thank znet for
making a commitment to
education and WriteDesign.