Rivers and Tides

2001 documentary

Rating: 16/20 (Jen: 16/20 even though she once again couldn't stay awake for the duration)


Plot: Cameramen follow nature artist Andy Goldsworthy as he dicks around with leaves, rocks, sticks, roots, ice chunks, and sand. Soft-spoken and patient Goldsworthy deliberately chooses spots where the art he creates will either destroy itself or be destroyed naturally. Thus, he's often in a race against time to complete each piece as he suffers scratches and wearying bones.


Flows along so gently that you think you might break the thing if you look too hard. Something very Zen about this work that disintengrates almost instantly and sometimes, unfortunately for the artist, before completion. I did laugh (robustly and perhaps inappropriately) when two of the pieces crumbled. The art itself was beautiful and beautifully filmed with sustained shots that showed the work falling apart, floating away, or being threatened by large furry animals or the wind. With a different personality, this could have crossed a line into pretentiously pompous art-fart junk, but this guy's philosophical meanderings are easy enough to swallow (his musings on life/death and how "good art keeps you warm," etc.) and there's really no attempt on his part to make his work seem more important or more high art than it is. The striking visuals speak for themselves. Music by none other than Fred Frith is also pretty well done.


I made Jen stand up to watch this so that she would stay awake, but she eventually sat down. And fell asleep. Six times.