Wood

In Wood, Andy Goldsworthy evokes ideas of growth, of perpetual change and transformation through works made of leaves, branches, ice, snow, boulders, sand. Much of his art is ephemeral: what has been drawn from nature will sooner or later merge with it again. Six sections #8211; Earth, Seed, Root, Branch, Leaf and Tree #8211; each include extracts from the artist#8217;s working diaries. Wood culminates in an intimate revelation of the relationship between the artist and a particular corner of landscape in his home territory. A vast, ancient oak tree provokes rich responses as the seasons ebb and flow. The Capenoch Tree is a triumphant expression of the strong impulse now evident in Goldsworthy#8217;s work to allow one work to lead quite directly to the next, for the dismantling of one sculpture to be the first stage in creating a new one. Woven through the book are intriguing glimpses of a ballet, V#233;g#233;tal, in which dancers build, dismantle and rebuild versions of Goldsworthy#8217;s sculptures on stage #8211; a collaboration which draws fascinating parallels between dance and the process of making sculptures.