Stone River by Andrew Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy 

England, b. 1959

 

Stone River, 2001

Sandstone

 

Given in honor of Gerhard Casper, President, Stanford University, 1992–2000, for his vision and commitment to making the arts an integral component of university life, by the Robert and Ruth Halperin Foundation, 2001.46

 

The British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy harnesses nature and the environment to shape his art. Stone, dirt, leaves, branches, and other materials are subjected to elements such as water, wind, heat, cold, light, and time to make sculptures that are bound to the processes of creation and decay.

 

The relationship between the sculpture's medium and site is important to the artist. Stone River is constructed from sandstone that was salvage from Stanford University buildings destroyed in the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes. In situating the work like an archaeological excavation, Goldsworthy makes reference to the stone's earthly origin. Goldsworthy says, "I strive to make connections between what we call nature and what we call man-made. I hope that this sculpture will reside somewhere between a building and a quarry. It will bring together the stone's geological and social nature… I like this relationship to the past life of a material—of one hand placed upon another.”

 

The work was constructed by eight experienced dry-stone wallers who traveled to Stanford from Great Britain. They worked six days a week, eleven hours a day, for three-and-a-half weeks in August, 2001 to complete the project. It is composed of some 6,500 stones, including 700 triangular top stones cut to fit specific places in the wall. The sculpture weighs approximately 128 tons.

 

Submitted by: Eric Goodill