andy goldsworthy
i guess this entry needs a bit of an introduction. as some people may know, i have an obsession with the natural world and especially its' patterns, cycles, changes, growth, death, decay, time, interconnection, intricacy, worlds within worlds, rhythm, flow, life emerging from death, spirals, geometry, etc. etc. and so on. i don't really know what it is that i'm attracted to, and i've tried many times to put it into words or images and failed miserably. there's just something about the continuation and timelessness of the forces of nature that i find to be indescribably beautiful and awe-inspiring (how many big words can ian use in one sentence..). this is something i've been attracted to for pretty much my whole life, i've always loved nature but as i grow older i notice new patterns and processes in it that continue to keep my love for nature alive. and even though these thoughts are on my mind throughout most of the year, they are always very prominent during this season..probably because change is a large part of this season and when the weather begins to change so does my mood and my mind. last year at this time i was trying to use photography to capture what i called "the cycle." this year i've been reading/writing about celtic art the symbols that are common in it (spirals, intricate knotwork, plants and animals, etc.). i have a huge obsession with spirals. last week i wrote this big entry about spirals and celtic art/religion and then i went out to my car and listened to lateralus and maynard starts singing about spirals!!! and he also quotes a line from celtic lore (as above, so below). it was a really weird coincidence, and it just furthered my attachment to maynard as an artist.
so, with the incoherent introduction out of the way i guess i should move on to what i actually wanted to write about..
i was at blockbuster and i was just kind of aimlessly walking down aisles when i saw the cover for a movie called "rivers and tides." on the front cover was a snake-like pattern drawn on some ice. i was instantly attracted to it because of the pattern resembled a celtic knot and also because the title sounded like something right up my alley. i picked it up and learned that it is a documentary about the artist andy goldsworthy whose work i had heard of but never really looked into. so i watched it. now, andy goldsworthy strikes me as kind of a pretentious twat who takes himself way too seriously. i don't think his work is necessarily that spectacular (though i do love some of it) but i can totally respect where he's coming from. the whole movie he keeps talking about trying to portray the same themes in his work that i think about all the time. he kept talking about time and flow and change and patterns and i just found it uncanny how similar his interest is to mine. it was another really weird coincidence.
so, with the incoherent introduction out of the way i guess i should move on to what i actually wanted to write about..
i was at blockbuster and i was just kind of aimlessly walking down aisles when i saw the cover for a movie called "rivers and tides." on the front cover was a snake-like pattern drawn on some ice. i was instantly attracted to it because of the pattern resembled a celtic knot and also because the title sounded like something right up my alley. i picked it up and learned that it is a documentary about the artist andy goldsworthy whose work i had heard of but never really looked into. so i watched it. now, andy goldsworthy strikes me as kind of a pretentious twat who takes himself way too seriously. i don't think his work is necessarily that spectacular (though i do love some of it) but i can totally respect where he's coming from. the whole movie he keeps talking about trying to portray the same themes in his work that i think about all the time. he kept talking about time and flow and change and patterns and i just found it uncanny how similar his interest is to mine. it was another really weird coincidence.