Environmental artist returns to campus for lecture-demonstration

Environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy will take part in a lecture-presentation titled "Documenting Andy Goldsworthy's Early Ephemeral Work: An Interview with Andy Goldsworthy," Thursday, Nov. 4, at 4:30 p.m., in the Statler Auditorium on campus. The lecture is free and open to the public, but tickets, limited to two per person, are required and will be distributed starting Thursday, Oct. 28, at the Willard Straight Hall box office.

Goldsworthy works with stone, leaves, grass, branches, snow, ice and other natural materials to create his artworks. He is the author of several books: Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration With Nature; Hand to Earth; Stone; Wood; Arch; Wall; and Time, which includes his work at Cornell in October 1999 and March 2000, sponsored by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. A 2001 film documentary, "Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers and Tides," is now available on DVD, and a new book, Passage, is forthcoming.

Goldsworthy, an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large, will be accompanied by Tina Fiske, currently the Andy Goldsworthy research fellow, who is based in the History of Art Department at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Fiske has held the position since September 2003 and is working with Goldsworthy's original photographic documentation and archive in order to compile a comprehensive digital catalog of his outdoor ephemeral work from 1976 to 1989. The catalog will comprise Goldsworthy's original photographic collection and sketchbook diaries that record his experimentation, development and growth as an artist.

Since being appointed as an A.D. White professor in 2000, Goldsworthy has involved students in several off-campus installations, including artwork at the Neuberger Museum, Galerie Lelong, the Museum of Jewish Heritage-New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also has arranged for two of his sculptures to be donated to Cornell.

Fiske's visit is sponsored by the Cornell Council for the Arts, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University Library and the Rose Goldsen Fund. Both Goldsworthy and Fiske will meet with faculty, students and library administrators about the archive during their visit. In addition, Goldsworthy will meet with students selected to assist him in an upcoming installation at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

For more information about Goldsworthy's visit or the A.D. White program, contact Gerri Jones at 255-0832.