Andy Goldsworthy Essay

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Andy Goldsworthy is an environmental artist who is mainly concerned with the natural world. His artworks can be analyzed through the Postmodern Frame; he uses natural and found materials such as leaves, sticks, rocks and spit to form his sculptures and challenges the notion of the art object as permanent and valuable. He also documents his works through photography, a non-traditional art medium, due to their transitory nature. He intends to amuse the audience and question their use of the environment. One of his artworks, "Midsummer Snowballs" (2000), consists of thirteen oversize snowball sculptures formed out of concealed pieces of natural materials, including river pebbles, ears of barley and feathers. Goldsworthy challenges the art institutions by displaying each of his sculptures outside in different public areas throughout London during the summer seasons. He also challenges the permanence of the art object, as some of these snowballs took as long as six days to melt. Many by passers took notice of the sculpture and couldn’t help but be amazed by its existence as they gazed and touched the snowball during its exhibition. Through this sculpture, Goldsworthy presents a unique confrontation between the wilderness and the city – snowballs made in the Scottish winter brought to the city of London during the summertime. "Iris Blades" (1987) is an artwork made of iris blades pinned together with thorns, with five sections filled with rowan berries. This is a good example of how the transient nature of Goldsworthy’s works challenges the notion of the art object as permanent; the artwork was created on a lake surface, where Goldsworthy had to face competition from ducks and fish attempting to nibble the artwork. Goldsworthy simply rearranged the natural elements in subtle ways without the need for utensils, yet the effect was startling. The artwork also

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