Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Storm King Wall, Goldsworthy



Goldsworthy created the Storm King Wall in Mountainville, New York in 1997.  At 2,278 feet long, the site-specific sculpture is made from stones gathered around the Storm King Art Center’s property. Just as Smithson was inspired by the surroundings of the Spiral Jetty and the natural history of the location, Goldsworthy’s wall submits itself to nature in a whole new away, almost recognizing nature as more important than itself.  The wall twists and turns in and out of trees, utilizing their placement to give the wall its interesting shape and putting itself second to the natural landscape of the grounds. It bows to nature once more when it comes to a pond and does not attempt to master it. Where others might have built a bridge traversing it or lined the pond’s perimeter with the continuing wall, Goldsworthy’s creation fully submits to the pond, sloping downwards until it gives the illusion of submerging itself, only to reemerge on the other side of the pond.  By working with the natural landscape and allowing the elements to remain and impact viewers in their original forms, Goldsworthy’s Storm King Wall does not exist merely as a dreaded “inanimate invalid” but as a lively fluid creation, enhanced exponentially because of its close unity with nature (Flam). 




No comments:

Post a Comment