"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"
About this Quote
Risk is the real medium here, not stone. Goldsworthy’s matter-of-fact line about checking rocks for cracks and the possibility of an “explosion” reads like a studio note, but it’s also a quiet manifesto for his kind of land art: work made with nature, not over it, and therefore always on nature’s terms.
The language is procedural - “checked every so often,” “at worst” - as if he’s describing kiln safety or a lab protocol. That deadpan practicality is the point. He strips away romantic pastoral vibes and replaces them with maintenance, patience, and the constant possibility of failure. “Split” and “exploded” introduce a spectrum of breakdown that feels less like accident and more like the landscape asserting itself. The stone isn’t a passive material waiting for the artist’s will; it has thresholds, pressure points, and agency.
The subtext is an ethics of attention. To keep checking is to admit you don’t fully know what you’re doing to the world - and you’re responsible for what happens when your intervention goes wrong. “Debris in the elements” is strikingly unpoetic: litter, hazard, aftermath. It hints at environmental accountability inside a practice often framed as ephemeral and “natural.” If the firing must be abandoned, the artwork’s success is secondary to not leaving damage behind.
Contextually, it lands in Goldsworthy’s broader project: temporary structures, weather as collaborator, and craft that treats impermanence not as failure but as the truthful endpoint. Here, abandonment isn’t defeat; it’s discipline.
The language is procedural - “checked every so often,” “at worst” - as if he’s describing kiln safety or a lab protocol. That deadpan practicality is the point. He strips away romantic pastoral vibes and replaces them with maintenance, patience, and the constant possibility of failure. “Split” and “exploded” introduce a spectrum of breakdown that feels less like accident and more like the landscape asserting itself. The stone isn’t a passive material waiting for the artist’s will; it has thresholds, pressure points, and agency.
The subtext is an ethics of attention. To keep checking is to admit you don’t fully know what you’re doing to the world - and you’re responsible for what happens when your intervention goes wrong. “Debris in the elements” is strikingly unpoetic: litter, hazard, aftermath. It hints at environmental accountability inside a practice often framed as ephemeral and “natural.” If the firing must be abandoned, the artwork’s success is secondary to not leaving damage behind.
Contextually, it lands in Goldsworthy’s broader project: temporary structures, weather as collaborator, and craft that treats impermanence not as failure but as the truthful endpoint. Here, abandonment isn’t defeat; it’s discipline.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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