Writing Sample Final Cut

1 Daniel Palmer 1 Linden Tree Rd. New Milford, CT 06776 [email protected] Tel: 860-488-0848 Rooted in the Land, Goldsworthy’s Penpont Cairns If the sculpture of British artist Andy Goldsworthy could be classified, it would fall into the Post-Earthworks grouping as suggested by art historian John Beardsley in Earthworks and Beyond: Contemporary Art in the Landscape.1 Images, lectures, and instruction by Earthworks artists inspired Goldsworthy during his years as a student in art school.2 There have also been many other influences on his artistic development. The artists Yves Klein and Joseph Beuys have been consistently cited as having shaped his career.3 However, the most significant influence on the art of Andy Goldsworthy is the land and the stimuli he finds in nature. If “a good work is the result of being in the right place at the right time with the right material,” then Goldsworthy’s home since 1986 in the village of Penpont in the Dumfries and Galloway southern region of Scotland has been central to his success.4 The landscape of this region has had a profound effect on the shape and style of his art because the physical characteristics of the local materials in which he works shape the form of his art. Through that process Goldsworthy learns from the Scottish landscape in his desire to better understand its character. He has come to know the setting and materials so well that although he may have only a layman’s knowledge of the names of plants, he is an expert when working with them and can create striking works which utilize the materials based on this understanding. This vast workspace with constantly changing conditions has trained Goldsworthy to the nuances of the land which he reveals in his magnificent art

2 The dramatic appearance of Goldsworthy’s Penpont Cairn to drivers nearing the village of Penpont by way of its primary approach on the A702 road from Thornhill (Fig. 1) demonstrates how much the land shapes his art. This sculpture was built on the Kirkpatrick Farm between December 23, 1999 and January 28, 2000. It is both a celebration of the millennium as well as a prominent sentinel for the village.5 The sculpture is placed on a rolling Scottish hill typical of the region with lush green grass and scattered with grazing sheep or cows (Fig. 2). Its form is like that of a pine cone. When the artist first used this form he called the resulting structures “Cones,” but has since shifted to titling the works “Cairns.”6 Their form resembles the ancient stone piles of lowland Scotland which marked the way for travelers. Today, the Penpont Cairn connects Goldsworthy’s art with the anonymous Cairn building tradition of the local Scottish culture. Finally, further associating the Penpont Cairn to the village, Goldsworthy has constructed it with local red sandstone from the nearby Locharbriggs Quarry. This sculpture has become the signpost announcing to the visitor their entrance into the village as well as the home of Goldsworthy’s art. Goldsworthy has a general working method for creating his Cairn form. He first establishes a round base and then begins to build upward and expanding outward until it reaches its widest point. Then more levels are added to build the structure upward and sloping gradually inward to accumulate to a central peak which counterweights the widest section This improvised method requires patience and knowledge of the material as he attempts to fit each stone into its place. Placement of the stones is complicated and is an example of the characteristics of the material defining the process by which Goldsworthy’s sculptures are created. He starts with a pile of stones from which he tests

3 various possibilities in each spot and uses a stone as the sculpture calls for it, sometimes either breaking the stone to fit or choosing a different one (Fig. 3). The Penpont Cairn, interestingly, deviates from Goldsworthy’s normal Cairn working method. Firstly, he sites it atop the hill differently from his other Cairns causing the massive stone monument to float over the field. He accomplished this by first imbedding a large slab of the red sandstone to act as a base and then constructing the Cairn upon that (Fig. 4). This gives the Cairn a stabile stone base from which it grows. Shifting in the ground which often causes his Cairns to collapse will be less likely to happen here. In aesthetic terms, the base slab of stone is not sunk entirely into the hill and raises the Cairn above the hill. When the Cairn is placed atop this, it appears to be hovering so that the nadir of the Cairn is precisely balanced on the pinnacle of the hill (Fig. 5). Goldsworthy’s stylistic innovations in the piece and public statement of the work as an emblem of the land and country demonstrate an approach to public sculpture forged uniquely here in Penpont. The red sandstone which the Cairn is made of has been used in other Goldsworthy projects and is uniquely characteristic of this region. The majority of the buildings in the village have been constructed using this stone and this links the sculpture with the town. The high street, marked by the village sign, “PENPONT/ Protect village life/ SLOW down” (Fig. 6) is lined with buildings showing the aging of the red stone over time. On the left side of the street is a bronze memorial to the town’s deceased in the First World War (Fig. 7). This marks the entrance to the road on which are located the Penpont Primary School (Fig. 8) and the Penpont parish church and churchyard (Fig. 9), both constructed of this local red sandstone.7 The Cairn, though a modern construction,

4 continues the heritage of the region in a form which blends Goldsworthy’s art with iconic aspects of the village. Interestingly, the personalities of the citizens of Penpont and the county reflect their country environment (Fig. 10). The residents of the town and neighboring communities are kind people who live rural lives. Farming is the town’s main focus, with only a few small shops on the high street. The community is very tightly knit and there is a visible compassion between members as well as towards outsiders. The combination of the intimacy of the community with a special open-mindedness seems to be the perfect place for Andy Goldsworthy.8 He has lived in Penpont since 1986 and raised four children there. The community clearly has accepted the artist and has avoided treating him as an outsider or worse an Englishman. The common sentiment with his neighbors is, “He’s just Andy.”9 However, this does not necessarily mean that the locals all accept his art. The town seems split “50/50” as to the merit of his work. Half the community really does not understand what he is doing or why he is doing it. The other half, although they may not understand the work Goldsworthy is doing, accept it as his creative show of dedication to the setting. This dedication has manifested itself both in large-scale works such as the Penpont Cairn as well as in employment of local specialized craftsmen for jobs where their help is required.10 This employment coupled with the recognition and extant artistic works for visitors in the area have helped the region economically. Finally, the townsfolk are proud of their famous local artist that he has increased the profile of their humble village. The sculpture is explained by Goldsworthy as a gift to the village and way of life which has given him inspiration and has shaped his career and artistic style. Goldsworthy

5 displays his uneasiness for the acceptance of the work in remarks published in the 2004 text Passage: The sculpture is at the beginning of its existence and, as with any new life, there is a sense of fragility. I don’t know if it will be accepted or rejected, loved or hated. I have never made a sculpture (except for those around my own home) that I will live with, day after day, as I will with this one. Perhaps it can be seen as an indication of my own strong attachment to this place.11 This work seems to be a metaphor for Goldsworthy’s own acceptance in Penpont. Whether or not the work is accepted it is one of his most powerful works created here and a testament to how deeply rooted his existence is in this land. Although this is the most public of Goldsworthy’s works in Penpont, the majority of his oeuvre here is executed in the less accessible Scaur Glen. These works represent a slightly private Goldsworthy who is more imbedded in the lessons of the land. These other locations in which he works can only be reached by foot, a trek through private properties which takes you through boggy sections, tickly vegetated parts and with other unexpected obstacles. If the Penpont Cairn represents an easily accessible and visible public statement by Goldsworthy, by contrast, his Hidden Cairn (Fig. 11) is a meditation on seclusion in the land. The work is in a remote location and throughout much of year is only barely visible even to those who know where exactly to look for it. The Hidden Cairn can be reached with much difficulty by going down the steep cliff of the north side of Scaur Glen where the bracken and black thorn plants give way to the craggy precipice down which it is too difficult for anyone other than a goat to navigate (Fig. 12). On my recent trip to Penpont I attempted to locate it. Getting to the general area was relatively easy; the sheep which graze on much of the countryside have kept the bracken and other vegetation back to a manageable level (Fig. 13). But between the

6 craggy section of the land and the Scaur Water where the Hidden Cairn is located the coarse bracken plants have grown to a height between two to six feet (Fig. 14) and are toxic when sporing.12 There are also the vicious black thorn plants which shred through skin or clothing and present another formidable barrier. There is an alternative route but that too has its own challenges. It is a neighboring section of land that is occupied by aggressive long-horned, long-haired Highland cattle (Fig 15).13 Thus, this routing amongst a field of bulls and is equally treacherous to get to whether the viewer takes the steep route clogged with a jungle of growth or the lower route which seems more worthy of matador than an art historian visiting a work of art. Goldsworthy’s Hidden Cairn is aptly titled because even after locating the correct field, the viewer must actively look to find the sculpture. Although the work has been enclosed by a square of four posts and fence wire marking its space, these posts are shorter than the sculpture and provide little aid to finding it. Their function is mostly to keep visitors from stumbling into the piece.14 The height of Goldsworthy’s Cairns is dictated by the size and strength of the stone and its willingness to conform to the Cairn shape.15 However, in this case he has chosen a specific height, adding to the success of the work. The height of the Hidden Cairn is just taller than the surrounding bracken at its peak height of growth (Fig. 16). The thickness of the bracken and its tendency to turn a red-brownish color as it begins to die in the autumn almost completely hides the aging brown red sandstone Cairn. Adding to the difficulty of discovering the Cairn is the formation of a deep green moss growth on the only exposed portion of the Cairn obscuring it even further.

7 Goldsworthy created this sculpture for Rivers and Tides filmed in Penpont between February of 1997 and autumn of 1999. It is featured in a time-lapse sequence showing the growth of the bracken around the work until it becomes entirely engulfed and almost invisible16. In this piece he is demonstrating his theory of nature and the energy his works maintain even if they are not visible. When discussing another Cairn made on the coast of Nova Scotia around the same time for the film, he states, “The sea came in and the Cairn just disappeared and then was gone, but it was still there. A work that I had only just finished making so my contact with the stone was still very very strong. So I was with it down there but I still couldn’t see it.”17 There is little doubt that Goldsworthy has included all these elements purposefully in his creation of this sculpture. Like most of his work the scope of the piece goes far beyond the visible or tangible aspects of the sculpture. The bracken masks what lies beneath the surface, and the massive Highland Bulls with their daunting horns and the possibility of a charge, the steep cliffs, and the constant threat of rain all metaphorically guard the Cairn. The process of discovery is an integral and defining part of the sculpture. For example, on my recent visit, even with three people including Dr. Tina Fiske who is familiar with the site, our group could not easily locate the work. Once we spotted the tip of the sculpture, we pulled back the overgrown bracken like jungle brush and the beauty of Goldsworthy’s Hidden Cairn was revealed (Fig. 17). The process of revealing the work is a true Berniniesque experience. It is through this baroque-like process of revelation and discovery that the piece comes alive. The revealed Hidden Cairn displays the magnificence typical of Goldsworthy’s Cairns, an accumulation of previously scattered stones of differing sizes and shapes which seem to have naturally assembled

8 themselves into an organic shape. Once the outer ring of bracken has been pulled back, a moss occupied ring around the base allows the viewer to physically climb into the sculpture’s space to examine it (Fig. 18). The sides of the Cairn have begun to grow moss, especially on the lower portion where it receives constant shade from the bracken surrounding it and moisture from the frequent rainfall which runs down the piece. This also causes the sculpture to remain an earthy brownish red that the red sandstone achieves when moist, another reminder of the connection between Goldsworthy’s sculptures and the land from which they come. The Penpont Cairn and the Hidden Cairn represent the process of discovery which Goldsworthy has incorporated into these works. Although in the strictest of sense, the Hidden Cairn is a public work, and can be accessed by any party who wishes to do so, because of the difficulty in finding it, it becomes a private work in an intimate space. Like all of Goldsworthy works, he has gone beyond and outside of the walls of the galleries and museums in world capital cities to work here in his “home base” – Penpont, Scotland. To fully understand the works, the viewer must journey to the sculptures and experience them first hand. The viewer must actively seek out the private world of Andy Goldsworthy, far outside of city life and sculpture on pedestals, but instead in his intimate landscape. Beautiful sculptures which seem perfectly at home in their setting are treasures which the viewer knows are just underneath or beyond the visible surface and which are all the more gratifying when unveiled.

1

John Beardsley, Earthworks and Beyond: Contemporary Art in the Landscape (New York: Abbeville Press, 1984), 134. Grégoire Müller, The New Avant-Garde: Issues for the Art of the Seventies (New York : Praeger, 1972). In addition to schooling, this text inspired the Goldsworthy with its bold images and pointed text. 3 Terry Friedman and Andy Goldsworthy, Hand to Earth (Leeds.: Henry Moore Centre for the Study of Sculpture, 1990), 13. 4 When Fabian Carlsson and Clive Adams attended Goldsworthy’s talk at the London Ecology Centre and discussed representation by Fabian Carlsson Gallery, Old Bond Street, London, this was the beginning of Goldsworthy’s first gallery representation and what would launch his career (both economically and creatively). This also provided for him the opportunity to receive financial help from Fabian Carlsson in order to purchase a house and adjoining studio in Penpont, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. This nineteenth-century granary or “The Granary” as it became known provided Goldsworthy with a studio space for many of the leaf and stone works he had been undertaking. It was the surrounding landscape and village which truly inspired and transformed his art. Goldsworthy eventually moved into the Bogg Farm residence and studio and used the Granary as a secondary space to create and store his art. 5 Andy Goldsworthy, Passage (New York : Harry N. Abrams, 2004), 13. 6 Such as; Steel Cone, 1991, by Andy Goldsworthy, Gateshead, England. For information on Cairns see Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time, prod. Annedore v. Donop, 26:09, Mediopolis Film- and Fernsehproduktion GmbH with Skyline Productions, Ltd. in cooperation with WDR/arte and YLE-the Finnish Broadcasting, c.2004, DVD. 7 In the film Rivers and Tides, 37:52, some of Goldsworthy’s children (Holly, Anna, James, and Thomas Goldsworthy) can be seen wearing the school’s sweatshirt which is maroon with yellow lettering. 8 Rivers and Tides, 32:39, “Penpont, the Home Base.” 9 Yvonne Dick, interviewed by author, Thornhill, Scotland, 23 October 2006. 10 Most notably Goldsworthy has given work to dry-wallers Joe Smith and others, and to plaster expert Mr. Dick who is Yvonne Dick’s husband. 11 Passage, 13. 12 Rivers and Tides, 33:31. 13 Goldsworthy can be seen in Rivers and Tides, 32:20, as very comfortable with the bulls, and calls these cattle “Alpine Cows,” Rivers and Tides, 34:40, when a bull’s noises and ringing bell keep interrupting him. 14 It is also possible that the enclosure serves the purpose of keeping the Highland Cattle out of the sculpture’s space. They could otherwise use it as a scratching post as they can be seen doing in the film. 15 Andy Goldsworthy, Wood (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996), 2. “Stone has shown me many things about the structure of growth. I have found an energy in stone that can best be described as a seed that becomes taut as it ripens – often needing only the slightest of touches to make it explode and scatter its parts.” Seed/cone shape of the Cairns. 16 Rivers and Tides, 28:16. Also shown in this sequence are a Cairn from the Nova Scotia Coast, a Cairn made of Ice, a Cairn positioned next to a Road in France, a slate Cairn, and a Cairn installed at the British Airways Building. Rivers and Tides, 26:04. 17 Rivers and Tides, 29:19. 2

1. The Penpont Cairn, December 23, 1999- January 28, 2000, by Andy Goldsworthy. Entrance to Penpont, Scotland. View from the A702 road from Thornhill at sunset.

2. The Penpont Cairn, Andy Goldsworthy, on the Kirkpatrick Farm hill with sheep.

3. Collapsed Cairn, nd, by Andy Goldsworthy and nearby pile of stones from which it was created, Penpont, Scotland.

4. Detail of six ton red sandstone block base from Locharbriggs Quarry, Penpont Cairn, by Andy Goldsworthy.

5. Penpont Cairn, December 23, 1999- January 28, 2000, by Andy Goldsworthy.

6. Entrance Sign, Penpont village.

7. First World War memorial monument, entrance to Penpont High Street.

8. Penpont Primary School, Penpont, Scotland.

9. Penpont parish church and churchyard, Penpont, Scotland.

10. A local villager, Penpont, Scotland.

11. Hidden Cairn, ca. 1997-1999, by Andy Goldsworthy, Penpont, Scotland.

12. D. Palmer approaching steep descent to Hidden Cairn.

13. Lush pasture grazed by sheep, Penpont, Scotland.

14. D. Palmer and Dr. T. Fiske treading through bracken in search of Hidden Cairn, October 2006.

15. Highland cattle near Hidden Cairn, Penpont, Scotland.

16. Hidden Cairn by Andy Goldsworthy almost completely obscured by bracken and moss.

17. D. Palmer and Dr. T. Fiske revealing Hidden Cairn.

18. D. Palmer studying base of Hidden Cairn.