Ephemeral work made outside, for and about a day, lies at the core of my art and its making must be kept private. Andy Goldsworthy More Quotes by Andy Goldsworthy More Quotes From Andy Goldsworthy The relationship between the public and the artist is complex and difficult to explain. There is a fine line between using this critical energy creatively and pandering to it. Andy Goldsworthy lines energy artist I see my work plagiarized in gardening programmes and decorating programmes and car adverts, and I suppose I have to accept that's just the way art gets assimilated into culture. Andy Goldsworthy gardening car art Once the fired stone is out of the kiln, it is still possible to mentally reconstruct it in its original form. Andy Goldsworthy form artist stones It's art that's taught me to think and to write. Andy Goldsworthy writing art thinking My work comes first, reasons for it follow. Andy Goldsworthy reason firsts It's frightening and unnerving to watch a stone melt. Andy Goldsworthy scary artist watches Fire is the origin of stone.By working the stone with heat, I am returning it to its source. Andy Goldsworthy heat fire stones I'm cautious about using fire. It can become theatrical. I am interested in the heat, not the flames. Andy Goldsworthy flames artist fire A stone is ingrained with geological and historical memories. Andy Goldsworthy historical stones memories I can't edit the materials I work with. My remit is to work with nature as a whole. Andy Goldsworthy materials i-can whole Time confined into blind caves or extended through tunnels, responds to the call of infinity, which teases with its promise of freedom. outside the body, time is a pair of compasses in the hands of eternity, but inside it is a pendulum, fastened to the heart. the heart takes its measure from the lengthening swing of the pendulum surveying what time is left. in its own rhythm time spreads itself wildly here and there and is crippled elsewhere. its unequally distributed weight wounds my body - that is how the particularities of my life are manifest. Andy Goldsworthy swings tunnels heart I did tests on small stones before collecting and committing myself to the larger ones. Andy Goldsworthy tests artist stones The early firings contained many stones. Andy Goldsworthy firing artist stones Abandoning the project was incredibly stressful after having gone through the process of building the room, installing the kiln, collecting the stones, sitting with the kiln day and night as it came to temperature, experiencing the failures. Andy Goldsworthy artist gone night I have worked with this red all over the world - in Japan, California, France, Britain, Australia - a vein running round the earth. It has taught me about the flow, energy and life that connects one place with another. Andy Goldsworthy japan artist running I can't edit the materials I work with. My remit is to work with nature as a whole. I find nature as a whole disturbing. Nature can be harsh – difficult and brutal, as well as beautiful. You couldn't walk five minutes from here without coming across something that is dead or decaying. Andy Goldsworthy harsh minutes beautiful I enjoy working in a quiet and subversive way. Andy Goldsworthy artist quiet way There are occasions when I have moved boulders, but I'm reluctant to, especially ones that have been rooted in a place for many years. Andy Goldsworthy boulders occasions years Stones are checked every so often to see if any have split or at worst exploded. An explosion can leave debris in the elements so the firing has to be abandoned. Andy Goldsworthy splits elements artist People do not realise that many of my works are done in urban places. I was brought up on the edge of Leeds, five miles from the city centre-on one side were fields and on the other, the city. Andy Goldsworthy done cities people
