Activity 5: Andy Goldsworthy: Art & Nature

- March 23, 2020

Andy Goldsworthy in Leaning into the Wind, a Magnolia Pictures release. © Thomas Riedelsheime, all rights reserved. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

Andy Goldsworthy

MEET THE ARTIST:

Andy Goldsworthy is an artist from the United Kingdom who creates sculptures and land art! That means he creates artwork using natural materials like flowers, leaves, pine cones, stones, and twigs to create sculptures. He photographs his artwork and leaves the sculpture in nature!

GRADES 3-5:

I thought it would be fun to create art using natural items, since we have a beautiful landscape all around us and we don't have to be indoors to create art like Andy Goldsworthy. Andy Goldsworthy’s style of land art uses the elements of art by: creating with lines, shapes, positive and negative space, and radial balance.

Here are some examples of Goldworthy's land artwork:

POSITVE/NEGATIVE SPACE:

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All of these photographs demonstrate positive and negative space. What does positive mean? What does negative mean? Looking at each example of land art, point out where the positive space is, and where the negative space is. How do you think Andy Goldsworthy created these?

LINE:

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What kinds of lines do you see here? How does Andy Goldsworthy achieve this? How does he make the lines stand out?

MATERIALS:

Images of Andy Goldsworthy’s land art
Coffee cans/buckets for collecting objects and forming circles
Bags for collecting objects
Natural materials: sticks, leaves, flowers, vines, stones, pine cones, etc.
Art Journal to sketch your design, if you can't photograph it
Camera or camera phone for photographing finished artwork

PROCESS:

NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE SPACE:

Collect natural materials in your bags/buckets/cans and come back to the meeting area. Demonstrate how to create a positive shape using the can as a stencil. Fill the can with rocks, place upside down on the ground, then lift the can off to reveal a positive circular shape. To demonstrate negative space, use the can again. Put it on the ground and begin placing leaves all the way around the can. Remove the can to reveal a negative circular shape. Practice doing the same process with other objects you find.

LINE:

Look at Andy Goldworthy's line art to identify types of line and how they were created. How can you create lines with the materials in your environment. Create you own land art sculpture. It can be small. You may use any natural, found materials in your environment, but respect nature. You may use leaves, sticks, rocks, etc., found on the ground. Please do not rip or tear branches and leaves. After completing your sculpture, photograph or draw a picture of it in your journal.

You can create a small work of art on your patio, in your yard, in a local park with an adult.

Share your work on our Facebook page with your family's permission.

Andy Goldsworthy Making a Line

NATURE BRACELET ACTIVITY FOR GRADES K-5:

Make a nature bracelet out of duct while collecting your items from nature. Wrap the tape sticky-side up around your wrist. Add flowers, petals, leaves, wood-chips, etc. Cover your bracelet with clear tape to protect your items.