Rivers and Tides

You wouldn't think a film about Watching the Artist at Work would have a whole lot to offer in the way of entertainment, but this film was absolutely fascinating. It never ceases to amaze me what people come up with as a form of expression. Andrew Goldsworthy goes out into these landscapes and just starts making sculptures from stuff he finds lying about: rocks, bracken, leaves, even icicles. His patience is phenomenal--sometimes his project collapses before he can finish. But then he picks himself up and starts again. Usually, he sets himself up against some kind of time limit, like the tide coming in. He considers this a part of his art: Nature is not destroying his art, but contributing to it, engaging with it, and becoming part of the process.

Without ever being deliberate or obviously preachy, there is an underlying philosophy to this film. No matter what work we do, aren't we all engaged in building these tentative structures? Don't we all have to pick up the pieces and start again when things fall apart (as they inevitably do)? Aren't we all working against the tide?

Watch this film. You won't regret it.