British artist Andy Goldsworthy celebrates the Presidio’s landmark forest in this ongoing, organically evolving project. Goldworthy has created two site-specific installations, the sinuous Wood Line (2011) and the monumental yet ephemeral Spire (2008), from trees felled as part of the park’s reforestation effort. Over time, the natural materials used in the installations will decay and return to the earth. During their lifespan, the sculptures will stand as reminders of the history of this forest — planted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the US military — and by extension the history of the Presidio.
Goldsworthy in the Presidio is presented by the FOR-SITE Foundation in partnership with the Presidio Trust.
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Andy Goldsworthy draws his inspiration from a specific place and creates art from the materials he finds close at hand, such as twigs, leaves, stones, or snow. Working in locations as diverse as the Yorkshire Dales and the Australian Outback, the artist strives, in his words, “to make connections between what we call nature and what we call man-made.” Goldsworthy is known to many through the 2001 film Rivers and Tides. In addition to his installations in the Presidio, his works in the Bay Area include Stone River at Stanford University and Drawn Stone at the de Young Museum.