Washington Diary, October 11-19, 2003

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Medium

suite of 12 silver dye bleach prints mounted on 9 sheets of white paper with text entries

Dimensions

sheet: 56.7 x 38.1 cm (22 5/16 x 15 in.)

Credit Line

The Nancy Lee and Perry Bass Fund

Accession Number

2004.74.2.9abc

Artists / Makers

Andy Goldsworthy (artist) British, born 1956

Image Use

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Inscription

OCT 19, 2003

HEAVILY OVERCAST TO BEGIN WITH. GOOD LIGHT TO MAKE A GRASS LINE DRAWING. I HAD HOPED THAT THE CLAY LINE IN THE CUT WOULD HAVE DRIED AND CRACKED SO THAT I COULD MAKE ANOTHER WORK IN ITS PLACE. IT HAS TAKEN A REMARKABLE LENGTH OF TIME TO DRY AND IS STILL NO WHERE NEAR TO BEING SO. ORDINARILY I WOULD WAIT BUT THIS IS MY LAST DAY. PART OF ME WANTED TO LEAVE IT EVEN THOUGH I KNEW I WOULD NEVER SEE IT DRY. THE IDEA OF LEAVING SOMETHING THAT HAS YET TO HAPPEN AFTER MY DEPARTURE APPEALS TO ME.

I DECIDED TO MAKE ANOTHER WORK ALONG THE CUT. TO POSTPONE THE MOMENT OF REMOVING THE CLAY I COMBINED THE TWO WORKS. I SECURED THE STALKS SO THEY COULD BE LIFTED IN ORDER TO REMOVE THE CLAY - A DELICATE OPERATION.

THE LINE WAS HELD WITH LUMPS OF CLAY - STARTING FROM THE LEFT. I REALISED THAT I WAS IN DANGER OF MAKING NOT JUST A LINE WITH GRASS BUT ALSO A DOTTED LINE OF CLAY ______. I CHANGED THE WAY I SECURED THE LINE SO THAT SOME STALKS WERE HELD ALONG THEIR LENGTH AND NOT THE ENDS.

THIS HELPED ENORMOUSLY. I DID NOT HOWEVER REWORK THE PART ALREADY DONE AND LIKED THE WAY IN WHICH THE CHANGE OF METHOD CAN BE READ.

I COULDN'T DECIDE IF THE TWO WORKS TOGETHER WERE SUCCESSFUL OR NOT. I DON'T REMEMBER EVER MAKING TWO DIFFERENT BUT CONNECTED WORKS LIKE THIS BEFORE. THE IDEA OF SEEING ONE WORK THROUGH ANOTHER APPEALS TO ME - IT SITS WELL ALONGSIDE MY BELIEF THAT WORKS AND IDEAS ARE LINKED TO ANOTHER - I JUST DON'T KNOW IF IT HAS TO BE STATED SO OBVIOUSLY. EITHER WAY IT WAS AN INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT THING TO DO.

I REMOVED THE CLAY LINE AND FELT THAT THE GRASS LINE WAS STRONGER FOR BEING ALONE - I THINK. I WILL HAVE TO WAIT BEFORE I KNOW FOR SURE.

AS I WAITED FOR THE SUN TO GO BEHIND A CLOUD TO TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH, I MADE ANOTHER WORK ON A SQUARE STONE - USING YELLOW LEAVES WITH TWO LINES THAT CROSSED FROM CORNER TO CORNER.

SUPRISINGLY A COMPLETELY OVERCAST DAY THAT BECAME CLEAR CHANGED WITH A CLOUD THAT PUT THE GRASS LINE MOMENTARILY INTO SHADE. THIS HELPED THE WORK.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT, IF ANY, IMPACT THIS WEEK WILL HAVE ON THE RESULTING SCULPTURE I HOPE TO PROPOSE TO WASHINGTON. I ONLY KNOW THAT I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE A BUILDING IN WASHINGTON WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT THIS PLACE.