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Time
Time, always an element in the work of Andy Goldsworthy - both as a medium and as a metaphor - is celebrated in this book. Text contributions are compiled from Goldsworthy's own diaries of visits to five locations in North America and Europe.
204 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2000
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About the author
Andy Goldsworthy
32 books177 followersAndy Goldsworthy is an English sculptor, photographer and environmentalist living in Scotland who produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. His art involves the use of natural and found objects, to create both temporary and permanent sculptures which draw out the character of their environment.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 5, 2014
Goldsworthy is an eloquent and generous artist, offering rich insights into his evolving philosophical approach and inspiring contemplative practice. Both the work, and the commentary, develop out of the artist's reflective experience of working with and exploring materials. Thus, it has an extremely broad appeal, conceptually, aesthetically and in terms of skill and mastery. It will be particularly of use to those interested in Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetics, and in ecology and the environment.
The focus on time underlines the poignancy and wide ethical resonance of works which embrace the changes wrought by natural processes, on scales from the momentary (the dry shadow formed by a body lying on the grass through a shadow, a handful of sand tossed into the wind) to the geological (cairns built of dry stone) and everything in between (arches made from slabs of ice, leaf-mats woven and released into rivers). Ephemeral, stately, playful, beautiful, surprising, illuminating works fill these pages, richly supported by frank and fascinating diary entries.
This edition is well printed on good paper, of an agreeable size, and it features a superb chronology by Terry Friedman.
The focus on time underlines the poignancy and wide ethical resonance of works which embrace the changes wrought by natural processes, on scales from the momentary (the dry shadow formed by a body lying on the grass through a shadow, a handful of sand tossed into the wind) to the geological (cairns built of dry stone) and everything in between (arches made from slabs of ice, leaf-mats woven and released into rivers). Ephemeral, stately, playful, beautiful, surprising, illuminating works fill these pages, richly supported by frank and fascinating diary entries.
This edition is well printed on good paper, of an agreeable size, and it features a superb chronology by Terry Friedman.
June 4, 2016
Ever since seeing Goldsworthy's YouTube video "Rivers and Tides" I have been a fan of his environmental art. I particularly love his ephemeral work. Watching him struggle to create the art and then letting it go to decay or be changed by gravity, wind, rain, or human intervention is fascinating to me. In "Time" he seems to put it out there how often the piece fails or collapses or a force of nature wouldn't let the work be completed. I loved a passage he wrote about working on Cornell University's campus. People began to find out he was working on campus and would stop by to chat. He said, "To some people, I appear to be relaxing, lying down on a rock, and they think it is a good time to talk to me, but in fact I am lying still, concentrating on whether the rain will come or not." I love it.
May 29, 2022
You've just gotta Love Andy Goldsworthy's imagination and his drive. His ability to see prospects in the most mundane of objects and situations. And the sheer energy of the man. The meandering mud snake? /river? used on the cover is an example of both his imagination and his technology. As Andy explains.....many people think that two different clays were used for the piece but, actually, the "river" form was thicker clay and thus dried more slowly. I was especially fascinated by this piece because I actually completed my Master's thesis on cracking clays.....though, I think the sodic clays that I worked on would have cracked much more. Though there are some mathematical models somewhere that describe the tendency of clays as they dry and shrink to form a pattern or hexagons or pentagons (as I recall). Though I notice in Andy's case the blocks (peds) appear to be, roughly, four sided. I also admire the guy's energy and drive. Not easy to make a career out of wandering the world piling rocks and leaves and clay into patterns.....most of which are ephemeral and fade away. His ability to turn this activity into films, books, and exhibitions is remarkable.
I was particularly struck by his description of finding a striking patch of red sandstone near Jemez Springs which was a two hour drive from where he was working inn Santa Fe...yet he kept coming back here because of the colour and quality of the red stone.
And how can you make a sculpture with a bunch of sticks laid in different directions....but he does....brilliantly (p151/2). And how about "How to make a black hole (p184) ...again....brilliant but also showing that clever combination of technique and meticulous record keeping (via photos) ...plus his flair for publicity.
He wasn't the first of the outdoor "landscape artists", Smithson in 1970 with his spiral jetty on the shores of the Great Salt Lake was one of those paving the way and Richard Long was a contemporary of Goldsworthy ....doing similar work. Maybe one could also look back to Palaeolithic works and the mounds of the Mississippi Valley also.
Quite a lot of Andy's thinking and approach are revealed in the text. I liked this. It really humanises him. And the failures! Lots of them ....yet he picks himself up and soldiers on or he just makes the most of a situation. He says that he was making about 500 ephemeral works in 1977...most of which were failures. Maybe, there would be one good work per month. There are a couple of interesting lines on p180: "After being rejected by Leeds, Hull and Nottingham, Polytechnics, Goldsworthy is the last, but one, to be accepted for the BA Fine Arts Course at Preston Polytechnic Lancaster Annex, Lancashire". Hardly a glamorous start to an art career. Yet he has kind of made his own way...virtually creating an art form on his own.....though some acknowledgement must be given to Richard Long. (I'm not aware that they ever worked together).
I'm not sure what, exactly, is the appeal of Andy's art. And what makes one of his works a success and another a failure. But it's something to do with pattern...sometimes colour....sometimes the odd or unexpected. And, almost always, there is something of what the Japanese term "wabi sabi"....the beauty in nature of the slightly imperfect or not entirely symmetrical.
Something that comes through in the text but not in the pictures is the sheer physical effort that Andy puts in. He really does get "down and dirty" ..sometimes wet and freezing and often great physical and sustained effort is required to realise his works.
The book details something of the range of his imagination, embracing icicle and earth drawings ...where melting ice combines with earth to make a watercolour; arches made with stone, holes in a beach...washed away by the incoming tide; a pile of luminous maple leaves in Japan; sinusoid land and stand sculptures ....snaking along the ground; a screen of horse-chestnut stalks;.....his inventiveness seems to have no bounds.
I loved the book. Sorry that I couldn't see all the original works but maybe the photography can actually enhance them (with lighting and contrast etc.) Happy to give it five stars.
I was particularly struck by his description of finding a striking patch of red sandstone near Jemez Springs which was a two hour drive from where he was working inn Santa Fe...yet he kept coming back here because of the colour and quality of the red stone.
And how can you make a sculpture with a bunch of sticks laid in different directions....but he does....brilliantly (p151/2). And how about "How to make a black hole (p184) ...again....brilliant but also showing that clever combination of technique and meticulous record keeping (via photos) ...plus his flair for publicity.
He wasn't the first of the outdoor "landscape artists", Smithson in 1970 with his spiral jetty on the shores of the Great Salt Lake was one of those paving the way and Richard Long was a contemporary of Goldsworthy ....doing similar work. Maybe one could also look back to Palaeolithic works and the mounds of the Mississippi Valley also.
Quite a lot of Andy's thinking and approach are revealed in the text. I liked this. It really humanises him. And the failures! Lots of them ....yet he picks himself up and soldiers on or he just makes the most of a situation. He says that he was making about 500 ephemeral works in 1977...most of which were failures. Maybe, there would be one good work per month. There are a couple of interesting lines on p180: "After being rejected by Leeds, Hull and Nottingham, Polytechnics, Goldsworthy is the last, but one, to be accepted for the BA Fine Arts Course at Preston Polytechnic Lancaster Annex, Lancashire". Hardly a glamorous start to an art career. Yet he has kind of made his own way...virtually creating an art form on his own.....though some acknowledgement must be given to Richard Long. (I'm not aware that they ever worked together).
I'm not sure what, exactly, is the appeal of Andy's art. And what makes one of his works a success and another a failure. But it's something to do with pattern...sometimes colour....sometimes the odd or unexpected. And, almost always, there is something of what the Japanese term "wabi sabi"....the beauty in nature of the slightly imperfect or not entirely symmetrical.
Something that comes through in the text but not in the pictures is the sheer physical effort that Andy puts in. He really does get "down and dirty" ..sometimes wet and freezing and often great physical and sustained effort is required to realise his works.
The book details something of the range of his imagination, embracing icicle and earth drawings ...where melting ice combines with earth to make a watercolour; arches made with stone, holes in a beach...washed away by the incoming tide; a pile of luminous maple leaves in Japan; sinusoid land and stand sculptures ....snaking along the ground; a screen of horse-chestnut stalks;.....his inventiveness seems to have no bounds.
I loved the book. Sorry that I couldn't see all the original works but maybe the photography can actually enhance them (with lighting and contrast etc.) Happy to give it five stars.
June 23, 2021
Wonderful point of reference for art and outdoor learning
February 24, 2011
One of my all-time favorite artists. I've seen his images but this book also includes selections from his working journals and a ton of insight into his process. Completely fascinating for someone who is pondering life as a ful-time artist. Although I am not a visual artist, I think the lessons learned are transferrable. What most affected me was Goldsworthy's dedication to making work every day. This means he will sometimes do something he cals a "touch" which can literally be no more than a swipe of mud on a tree but is a commitment to his practice everyday. I was also struck b the colossal amount of failure involved in the creative process and watching him struggle with external elements (weather, time...) and internal ones (fatigue, emotion). It was good to see that often the worst days were followed by the best and that he simply never stopped pushing himself to continue to go out and do the work. Of course the nature of the art that Goldsworthy does appeals enormously to me, taking what is available in the natural world and responding to it. This speaks strongly to my work with improvisation and physical theatre. Plus, the art is just darn beautiful.
December 23, 2009
Goldsworthy is a sculptor, photographer and environmentalist living in Scotland who produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. His art involves the use of natural and found objects, to create both temporary and permanent sculptures which draw out the character of their environment. They are particularly wondrous and beautiful. He explores unfamiliar landscapes, assess how the elements will work for his pieces, and perform what are essentially a set of experiments. His intent is making work that is, as he writes,"completely welded to its site."
There is a wonderful DVD about him: Andy Goldsworthy, River & Tides.
Time is a collection of 500 photographs, nearly all taken by Goldsworthy, that document the creation and evolution of his work. The images are illuminated by excerpts from the diaries he kept as he created five projects in Europe and North America in the '90s.
There is a wonderful DVD about him: Andy Goldsworthy, River & Tides.
Time is a collection of 500 photographs, nearly all taken by Goldsworthy, that document the creation and evolution of his work. The images are illuminated by excerpts from the diaries he kept as he created five projects in Europe and North America in the '90s.
April 28, 2013
This book is part photo journal, part diary, part inspiration and part process. Andy Goldsworthy describes what he does, what he hopes to achieve, how sometimes things just don't work out and how sometimes things come together better than he had hoped. He provides photos of his work, much of which isn't made to last, and includes photos of his work as it falls to ruin or decomposes or melts. This artist uses natural materials to make things both indoors and out. He shows how he's dedicated to his work by working every day (unless he's sick). Among his many successes there are also many failures. What struck me as most amazing was how he's like a child playing on the beach. He gets to build things out of sticks, rocks, leaves, and sand, and make giant snowballs. And he gets paid to do this. Incredible.
August 14, 2015
Andy Goldsworthy plays with time, space and nature. Married with four beautiful kids, he, nonetheless, prefers time alone in nature. This art book documents his work up to 2000. ... Pairs well with "Andy Goldsworthy, Rivers and Tides: Working with Time," released in 2001: http://www.skyline.uk.com/riversandti... ... The screening of that film at an indie/art-film house twelve years ago introduced me to Andy Goldsworthy and his fascinating work with the ephemeral.
His ephemeral works often disappear in nature. To him, that's merely a transformation — a gift from him to Mother Nature. ...
St Louis Art Museum this year installed a site-specific Stone Sea, by Andy Goldsworthy. http://www.slam.org/Exhibitions/golds...
His ephemeral works often disappear in nature. To him, that's merely a transformation — a gift from him to Mother Nature. ...
St Louis Art Museum this year installed a site-specific Stone Sea, by Andy Goldsworthy. http://www.slam.org/Exhibitions/golds...
January 17, 2015
For those unfamiliar with Goldsworthy's art, familiarize yourself. The journal entries brilliantly complement their photographs of ephemeral and permanent work (Who's to say they are not all permanent or all ephemeral?). I continually wished to step into the photographs and experience the work fully, but alas, they only tantalize.
"Time" features a fundamental theme in Goldsworthy's oeuvre at a time when he feels it most, at the turn of the millennium. That tick from 1999 to 2000 may be arbitrary, but it lends a sociological angle to Goldsworthy's pieces, an angle that can be easily missed in much of his other work.
I wonder if he will publish "Space" or "Space-Time"?
P.S. When I reread this, I will specify particularly good entries to make this review more useful.
"Time" features a fundamental theme in Goldsworthy's oeuvre at a time when he feels it most, at the turn of the millennium. That tick from 1999 to 2000 may be arbitrary, but it lends a sociological angle to Goldsworthy's pieces, an angle that can be easily missed in much of his other work.
I wonder if he will publish "Space" or "Space-Time"?
P.S. When I reread this, I will specify particularly good entries to make this review more useful.
February 7, 2016
Andy Goldsworthy is an amazing artist; Time is an absolutely appropriate title for this because all his creations disintegrate/blow away/float away/evaporate/melt with time. I love how Goldsworthy goes to a location, discovers materials on the scene, and attaches rocks, clay, sticks, and leaves together into gorgeous but extremely temporal images. All his creations are so connected to passing time, light, change, and nature.
The text is quite detailed concerning the process of creating his art, which may not be as interesting as the pictures for most of us, but it's fascinating and really helps clarify the relation to the passing of time and light.
The text is quite detailed concerning the process of creating his art, which may not be as interesting as the pictures for most of us, but it's fascinating and really helps clarify the relation to the passing of time and light.
November 6, 2012
Another book by Andy Goldsworthy. I can look though his books for hours. This one is called TIME. And looking through it I think that the most interesting thing about Andy Goldsworthy's art is that he manages to capture the most important feature of beauty - its ephemerality. Like a child, he erects beautiful archs or makes elaborate stick holes or fantastic sand figures jsut to watch them disintegrate in the tide or under the influence of weather. The only trace is left in the photoes. I find it very poetic.
July 22, 2015
"Whenever possible, I make a work every day. Each work joins the next in a line that defines the passage of my life, marking and accounting for my time and creating a momentum which gives me a strong sense of anticipation for the future... Time and change are connected to place. Real change is best understood by staying in one place. When I travel, I see differences rather than change...
I need to make works that anticipate, but do not attempt to predict or control, the future. In order to understand time, I must work with the past, present and future." (p. 7)
I need to make works that anticipate, but do not attempt to predict or control, the future. In order to understand time, I must work with the past, present and future." (p. 7)
January 22, 2008
I love this book and recommend the video of the making of these sculpture. You can find it online.
February 20, 2008
had to buy this one, an amazing exploration of time in nature and moments of passage though which decay and growth occur. Goldsworthy dances on this fine line to create his humble art.
August 24, 2009
photos of his cairn installations. Leaves stitched together with grass stalks “chesnut leaves creased and folded held with thorns” mind-bending
June 28, 2010
I think Andy Goldsworthy is amazing! His work is beautiful! This book has beautiful pictures- I just want more.
May 28, 2011
I was not quite as fascinated by this one as some of Goldsworthy's other work, but contemplations of impermanent art always get me.
September 11, 2012
inspiring. moving. goldsworthy.
April 30, 2013
What can be better than:
stone, leaves, grass, branches, snow & ice?... All put together in a artistic dedication to his craft.
If you like his work, you will love this inspiring book.
stone, leaves, grass, branches, snow & ice?... All put together in a artistic dedication to his craft.
If you like his work, you will love this inspiring book.
April 1, 2017
I preferred 'Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature'. I do love the work shown in this book, I just found the writing to be much drier - though it is nice to be able to follow his process.
June 20, 2016
My inspiring artist. I got this book from a Belgian friend.
October 12, 2016
Marvelous opportunity to examine Goldsworthy's process of making art and the art's process of changing over time.
February 16, 2008
This man is a genius.
June 26, 2008
Impermanence visualized. Beautiful!
September 25, 2009
The sort of art book you read and think about, and read again.
March 4, 2014
Just beautiful!!!!!! A great coffee table book ;)
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews