Module 3

Andy Goldsworthy is a phenomenal photographer and environmental artist whose work truly amazed me. In my opinion, Andy Goldsworthy rejects Greenbergian Formalism. Clement Greenberg “advocates for art that rejects subject matter, pictorial illusions of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface, atmospheric light, and any other devices artists might use in creating a picture of something”, thus he claims that we have to “ignore everything but the work’s form” (Barrett 126). But it’s quite contradictory statement because looking at a picture or painting without considering the subject matter, light, space, value, and other crucial factors (without which the work cannot exist) does not make any sense for me. Unless, in Greenberg’s terms, we should look at the rectangular/square form of a canvas or a photograph ignoring everything depicted on it, and be satisfied with just that.

Besides, I think Goldsworthy does not fall under Formalist theory at all. As a spectator, I can say that Goldsworthy’s work more often is about an emotion rather than just a form. Besides, in a documentary “Rivers and Tides” he points that “Art for me is a form of nourishment”, and then he says “If I don’t do anything for a while I don’t feel it’s my work” (Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time). Making an art for Goldsworthy is not only about making a form. One of the goals of his work is to reflect the important connection between the people and nature. When his work collapses, it gives him a chance to get to know the material better which makes a beautiful balance between him and the nature. Goldsworthy makes an impressive number of attempts before achieving his goal, and this kind of connection with nature cannot be expressed through the form only. When his work exists just for a little while, it’s an emotion that the nature (and perhaps, the universe) consumes when “taking” his work. When Goldsworthy makes an igloo out of sticks found at the beach, and then it gets “consumed” by the tidal wave, he explains that the work has been given to the sea as a gift, and then “the sea has taken the work and made it much more valuable” (Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time). Like Tibetan monks, he believes that nothing is ever lost in the universe, and this is his expression.

Pretending that Goldsworthy is a formalist, I would say that Kantian-Hegelian pre-Modern viewpoint would be a better match. G.W.F. Hegel states that the primary value of art is “to add to our understanding of the world and ourselves in it” (Barrett 122). Goldsworthy tries to understand his position and his role in the world by making choices of materials he uses and things he creates. At the same time, Immanuel Kant believes that “aesthetic is bound up with expression and ideas” (Barrett 121), which allows Goldsworthy to create the work and put his ideas and emotions in it. When creating his Garden of Stones with small trees places inside of the stones, he puts a historical idea of Holocaust which “symbolizes the tenacity of life, honoring both those who died in the Holocaust and those who survived” (cornellbotanicgardens.org). Therefore, his work is more than a form, and more than a formal expression. It has an idea. No further explanation needed.

WORK CITED:

Barrett, Terry. Why Is That Art?: Aesthetics and Criticism of Contemporary Art. Oxford University Press. 2012

Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworhty Working with Time. Dir. Thomas Riedelsheimer. Docurama, 2001. Film.

“Goldsworthy’s Holocaust Memorial” Cornellbotanicgardens.org, http://www.cornellbotanicgardens.org/our-gardens/arboretum/goldsworthy