On view
British, b. 1956
Storm King Wall, 1997–98
Fieldstone
60 in. x 2278 ft. 6 in. x 32 in. (152.4 cm x 694.5 m x 81.3 cm)
Gift of the Ralph E. Ogden Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Joel Mallin, Mrs. W. L. Lyons Brown, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. James H. Ottaway, Jr., the Margaret T. Morris Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Hazen Fund, the Joseph H. Hazen Foundation, Inc., Mr. and Mrs. Ronald N. Romary, Dr. Wendy Schaffer and Mr. Ivan Gjaja, and an anonymous foundation
© Andy Goldsworthy
Courtesy Galerie Lelong
©Andy Goldsworthy, courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co., New York
Photo by Jerry L. Thompson
From the very beginning of his career, Andy Goldsworthy has worked outdoors, rejecting the traditional studio as constraining. Since 1976 he has constructed ephemeral works in natural environments that are not exhibited as such but, rather, as photographs; the physical works themselves eventually disappear or disintegrate. Alongside this transitory practice, Goldsworthy has also realized numerous permanent installations, among them two monumental stone walls for Storm King.
Storm King Wall—Goldsworthy’s first museum commission for a permanent work in the United States, and his largest single installation to date—exemplifies his nature-based methodology, as well as the influence of British agricultural traditions. Goldsworthy has called the stone walls of the British countryside “a living part of the landscape,” and indeed, such walls connect to both the present and the history of any place where they happen to be. Snaking through the woods, Storm King Wall was originally imagined as being only 750 feet long. However, when it reached its initially planned endpoint, at the foot of a large oak tree, it seemed only natural for the wall to continue downhill to a nearby pond. Goldsworthy would again extend the wall’s trajectory so that it now emerges from the other side of the pond and continues uphill to Storm King’s western boundary at the New York State Thruway—measuring 2,278 feet overall.
Some of the sculpture’s sections were built stone by stone upon the remnants of an old farm wall that Goldsworthy found in the woods overlooking Moodna Creek, at Storm King’s eastern boundary. Rising to a maximum height of about five feet, the work follows a path the artist chose, winding through a row of trees that grew from seeds to saplings to maturity in a line alongside the original, dilapidated wall. Goldsworthy has speculated that these trees played a role in the slow collapse of the farm wall, which is why he chose for his new wall to meander through the trees rather than run directly alongside them. According to the artist, “A good wall is drawn, it expresses the landscape through which it travels.”
While Goldsworthy conceived Storm King Wall and supervised its construction, the rough-hewn structure was built by a team of five British master “wallers,” who explained to Storm King staff exactly what kinds of stone to harvest in preparation for their work: chunky foundation stones; a smaller, rounder variety for the wall’s midsection; large “through stones”; and flat capstones for the topmost layer. The team built the wall by placing one stone atop another while chipping and shaping each one to ensure a snug fit; no concrete was used to secure the wall’s 1,579 tons of fieldstone. The stones can be as captivating as the wall itself.
Storm King Wall—Goldsworthy’s first museum commission for a permanent work in the United States, and his largest single installation to date—exemplifies his nature-based methodology, as well as the influence of British agricultural traditions. Goldsworthy has called the stone walls of the British countryside “a living part of the landscape,” and indeed, such walls connect to both the present and the history of any place where they happen to be. Snaking through the woods, Storm King Wall was originally imagined as being only 750 feet long. However, when it reached its initially planned endpoint, at the foot of a large oak tree, it seemed only natural for the wall to continue downhill to a nearby pond. Goldsworthy would again extend the wall’s trajectory so that it now emerges from the other side of the pond and continues uphill to Storm King’s western boundary at the New York State Thruway—measuring 2,278 feet overall.
Some of the sculpture’s sections were built stone by stone upon the remnants of an old farm wall that Goldsworthy found in the woods overlooking Moodna Creek, at Storm King’s eastern boundary. Rising to a maximum height of about five feet, the work follows a path the artist chose, winding through a row of trees that grew from seeds to saplings to maturity in a line alongside the original, dilapidated wall. Goldsworthy has speculated that these trees played a role in the slow collapse of the farm wall, which is why he chose for his new wall to meander through the trees rather than run directly alongside them. According to the artist, “A good wall is drawn, it expresses the landscape through which it travels.”
While Goldsworthy conceived Storm King Wall and supervised its construction, the rough-hewn structure was built by a team of five British master “wallers,” who explained to Storm King staff exactly what kinds of stone to harvest in preparation for their work: chunky foundation stones; a smaller, rounder variety for the wall’s midsection; large “through stones”; and flat capstones for the topmost layer. The team built the wall by placing one stone atop another while chipping and shaping each one to ensure a snug fit; no concrete was used to secure the wall’s 1,579 tons of fieldstone. The stones can be as captivating as the wall itself.
