An Analysis Of Time Passing: Andy Goldsworthy And Julie Rrap.

Time Passing
Eva Bartlett

Artists can successfully embrace an aspect of “Time” and interpret its passage in a meaningful way in their artworks. Two such artists are Andy Goldsworthy and Julie Rrap.
Andy Goldsworthy, born in 1956 in Cheshire, England is a site-specific sculptor and photographer who creates both ephemeral and permanent works and installations using only natural sources. Goldsworthy’s awareness and appreciation of the landscape began with his work as a farm labourer in his youth (Artnet, 2018). He studied at both the Bradford School of Art and then Preston Polytechnic which brought him to meet artists with a similar artistic style, including Richard Long who inspired him to create some of his early artworks. Goldsworthy married
Goldsworthy created Dumfriesshire, a clay wall installation, in July 1999 at the Réserve Géologique in Digne, France. The abstract wall sculpture was created two years after ‘his first project of great significance ‘The Storm King Wall’ (The Famous People, Unknown). Throughout these few years some of Goldsworthy’s prime works were created and his career was at its peak. The artwork was made as a part of a documentary about his career, initiated by French choreographer, Régine Chopinot (Friedman, 2000). The focal point of the work is the serpentine pattern, symbolic of a river, that flows along the wall, becoming more prominent as time progresses and the clay surrounding it dries. The clay used to form the wall originated from Goldsworthy’s hometown, Dumfriesshire, in Scotland, hence the artwork’s name. When making this decision Goldsworthy said, ‘the difference in this particular clay between wet and dry is enormous…As the clay dries, the deeper area of clay remains damp and dark, as the surrounding area becomes pale and dry, and the river form slowly reveals itself’
Human hair was combined into the clay to bind it together, but also holds symbolic meaning for Goldsworthy, who said “the hair came from the hairdressers in the village near to where I live, so, my village is in this work” (Riedelsheimer, 2001). Having both the hair and clay originate from Goldsworthy’s home meant the artwork held emotional value for him. The colour of the wall changes overtime from a deep, earthy brown to a lighter, beige. The linework in the piece for the river element is curved and crisp. The shape and form are simplified and flowing, and then they transition from indefinite to definite. There are cracks where the wall has dried, and the lines created from this are jagged and haphazard, which provide contrast against the smooth, flowing serpentine line. Strong tonal contrast comes from the wet clay against the dry clay areas and there is obvious visual and actual texture where the wall has cracked. The artwork has limited space and is not completely symmetrical, however it is unified by the consistent, flowing line that travels across the surface, and the even colouring. The drying process of the wall was filmed over ten days and condensed into