This film by Thomas Reidelsheimer was a great insight into Goldsworthy's work and how his passion for his work materialises.
His main focus is to learn about the place or situation he is in and pick inspiration from its surroundings. He always strives to make something look effortless by spending most of his time on the details of a piece. It was also interesting to note that whilst studying at Lancaster University he used to spent lots of his time on Morcambe beach (A place I will be spending a few days next week carrying out some of my own practical tests. Much of Goldsworthy's work is based around the sun, light, water and rocks and there connection with the environment as well as nature.
Goldsworthy sites one of Constantin Brancusi's quotes: "Simplicity is not an objective in art, but one achieves simplicity despite one's self by entering into the real sense of things."
One of his quotes that I have thought constantly about since reading it was "When you see a fish you don't think of its scales, do you? You think of its speed, its floating, flashing body seen through the water... If I made fins and eyes and scales, I would arrest its movement, give a pattern or shape of reality. I want just the flash of its spirit."
This relates back to my interest in water, time, memory and has made me look at objects and nature in a different light.
The way that Goldsworthy goes about his work has to be admired. Watching the film highlights how unpredictable working with nature can be. He was working with stone and made 4 attempts at creating a sculpure before the tide came in and eventually abandoned the day to come back the next and start all over again.
His painstaking creative process captures the elusive quality of his work, which is threatened and sometimes destroyed by nature and THE PASSING OF TIME.
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