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1983_084

Goose feathers
carefully stripped down one side
bent over and held to the ground with thorns
Helbeck, Cumbria
10 June 1983

© Andy Goldsworthy
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Diary: June 10th
Helbeck Woods - overcast, sunny,
windy. Worked by pond with
geese feathers - bent, held with
twigs and thorns - good to
make. breeze becoming
stronger - feathers
began to move

[arrow points to illus.] feathers stripped
down one side
-seemed more supple
than crow feathers

Worked under large chestnut
tree - darkened - white
goose feathers brighter

-------

AG said of his feather works in 1983 documentary 'Triangle':
'I chopped off with a stone the bottom shaft/part of the feather and the top of the feather then peeled down the centre to reveal the white inner shaft...So in a way I killed off the initial appearance of the feather but what I hoped to get was the essential quality of feather. I won't accept things on the surface, I want to go a bit deeper, I want to get under the surface. It would not only express how I was feeling about the particular material but how I feel about Herons and birds and that whole area.' [AG, 'Triangle', Border Television', 1983]

Related Images:

Keywords:

feathers, line, white

Dates:

Work completed and recorded 10th June 1983.

Places:

Helbeck Woods, Cumbria, UK.

Bibliography:

AGA: S/Bk_008, col. illus.
Rain (1985), col. illus., p. 34
Collaboration (1990), col. illus.

Source:

Colour 35mm slide;
Film: Kodachrome 64;
AGA location: P;
No. of images: 1/11 [Others: S/C; 83/Jun/C];
Archival Disk: 1983_003