Function of Art

If one has never been introduced to Andy Goldsworthy’s documentary, Rivers and Tides, it is worth every minute. I felt it was a little slow to start with and thought that I would lose interest quickly. However, I was completely drawn into his world and the love he has for nature and all it has to offer in the form of creating art.   Goldsworthy’s takes us on his own personal journey and shows us his love of nature and earth and all it really has to offer in the form of natural art. He really opens the eyes of the viewers by showing them how art and his imagination functions in his own life. It is very inspiring to know that we can all look at the same things in nature but can create so many different forms of art.
When it comes to knowing and understanding how art functions in Goldsworthy’s life, he gives several examples of art as his life-source. He very much considers art his nourishment, it is his way of understanding himself.   He needs to be rooted in his art or he wouldn’t know himself, and he feels he has lost the roots to his very being when he is not working or creating art. He loves to talk about art, teach art and participate in seminars, but it is just not the same as creating his pieces.
His two main influences are the sea and the river; just as water is the life source for the land, his life source is art. Just as water moves over the land creating masterpieces on its journey, Goldsworthy’s imagination is constantly flowing with ways to use what this earth has given us to create his pieces. He willingly creates his works of art with the materials provided by the earth and water knowing that the earth may very well come and take them back, possibly being washed back into the ocean, dried back up on land and regrown or melted and refrozen. He is fine with this as he understands the earth’s reason, to create more supplies. Goldsworthy states, “the very things that bring his art to life are the very things that will cause its death”.
Each piece of...