B.

Drawn Stone

Behind the scenes

Although Christchurch's American 'sister' is Seattle, we perhaps share a little more in common with the cities further south, in the state of California.

Drawn Stone, Andy Goldsworthy, 2005

Drawn Stone, Andy Goldsworthy, 2005

Indeed, various councillors have visited San Francisco in recent times to learn from their post-quake experiences. I've only spent a few days there myself on the way back from Europe a few years ago, and certainly it was a pretty cool place, and although I managed to slip in some gallery visits, I'm sorry to say I missed the Andy Goldsworthy sculpture Drawn Stone at the entrance to the DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. That's not to say I didn't go to the DeYoung Museum, just that I missed the sculpture! Indeed, I probably didn't walk straight past it as much as I walked right over it. Inspired by the tectonic activity of the area (it was originally entitled Faultline), the sculpture begins at the street as a single crack weaving across the sandstone plaza (Appleton Greenmore stone, imported from Yorkshire for the rockologists – sorry, geologists – among you) before diverging into a network of cracks that bisect eight large rough-hewn slabs as the crack makes its way to the entrance. I've recently read that the name change intended to take attention away from the earthquake connotations and place more emphasis on the power of the 'line' in art. Clearly it works on both levels (and a subterranean one), and much of its power lies in its deceptive simplicity. I'm sorry to have missed it; I think I was too busy making a beeline for James Turrell's 'skyspace', Three Gems. Sorry Andy!

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