Antique

Alder branches form a bridge in a Dumfriesshire, Scotland, stream. (Jan. 17, 2014)

Andy Goldsworthy/ Abrams



Curved sticks surround a river boulder in Woody Creek, Colo. (Sept. 16, 2006)




British artist Andy Goldsworthy works in the fields and forests near his home in Scotland using natural elements as his media. His pieces have a tendency to collapse, decay and melt, but, as he tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross, "It's not about art. It's just about life and the need to understand that a lot of things in life do not last."
The list of elements Goldsworthy has worked with includes ice, snow, mud, wind and the rising tide. In one piece, he used twigs to fashion a giant spider web hanging from a tree. In another, he decorated a stone wall with sheets of ice. He has also lain in the rain to create "rain shadows" in the shape of his body on city streets.

Goldsworthy refers to his creations as "ephemeral works." He says, "When I make an ephemeral work, when it's finished, that's the moment that it ends, in a way."
Though Goldsworthy has also worked with more enduring materials, he says that using temporal materials is a reflection of the world we live in. His materials, he says, "Come raw from the ground and have all the irregularities and peculiarities because of that."

But Goldsworthy's ephemeral creations aren't completely lost to audiences upon completion; a new book, Andy Goldsworthy: Ephemeral Works: 2004-2014, presents a collection of photographs of his work. There's also an exhibition of Goldsworthy's photos opening Oct. 22 at the Galerie Lelong in New York.

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