Sunday, July 5, 2009

Intelligent Design

Rivers And Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time(2002)Directed By Thomas Riedelsheimer

"Although the assembly of the shots is responsible for the structure of the film, it does not, as is generally assumed, create the rhythm of the picture; the distinct time running through the shots, makes the rhythm of the picture, and rhythm is determined not by the length of edited pieces, but by pressure of the time that runs through them. The pieces that "wont edit" that can't be properly joined are those which record a radically different kind of time."-Andrei Tarkovsky
One of the most relaxing, quiet, and meditative films I've ever watched. Andy Goldsworthy is an eccentric artist, but a very normal, quiet, man in general life.He lives with his wife and children in the country, and spends most of his time alone making sculptures that come apart before he finishes them.Watching the patterns fall apart or vanish is as much a part of Goldworthy's art as putting things together. Basically he takes whatever he finds in the woods and puts it together into patterns and designs..Rocks, stones, ice, leaves, all come together and fall apart, in spirals, piles, shapes and lines.He has to sculpt, arduously, with time, and not against it. It's almost painful to watch these fall-aparts some times, because of how tedious his work can be, but when everything works, if only for a second, it's well worth the wait.It's not exciting, but Goldsworthy's work, and watching him make it, is a great way to frame thoughts about nature, entropy, art, and patterns, but mostly it's just a calm, quiet, refreshing film. I wish I lived near the woods......or someplace with less concrete.

3 comments:

neillgrant said...
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neillgrant said...

was the film shot using stop animation, and did you watch it through netflix?

Joe Sylvers said...

No I watched this years ago, and it uses no animation. Goldsworthy has to photograph things at the moment before they fall apart, which sometimes is only in a short window. Which is what makes this movie so oddly suspensefull.