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Goldsworthy III

Posted by Cindy on November 1, 2013

Nov 012013

San Francisco Presidio
Main Parade Ground
Anza and Sheridan

This is the third installation of Andy Goldsworthy’s at the Presidio in San Francisco. It is titled Tree Fall. There are two other Goldsworthy’s on the Presidio Grounds that have appeared in this site before and can be seen here.

The exhibit is in the Old Stone Powder Magazine on the Main Parade Ground. The room is 20 X 17 feet with walls two feet thick. The building dates to 1863, is one of the oldest structures at the fort and has never been opened to the public. Originally a domed roof topped the structure. This was so that in the event of an explosion the blast would project upward. The tile roof was added in 1941 as the post adopted a uniform Mission style of architecture. The building was used to store blank rounds for the daily 5pm evening gun salute until 1994 when the Army departed the post.

Goldsworthy’s team was not allowed to touch the walls. They built four walls inside the four walls with ventilation holes along the bottom, they then put in a dropped ceiling and poured a cement floor.

The tree is a Eucalyptus felled during the reconstruction of Doyle Drive.

An assembly line of community volunteers were brought in to mix the clay. The primary material was dirt unearthed during excavation for the nearby officers’ club restoration. The binding agent is a combination of straw and human hair from local salons. The clay was then put on by Goldsworthy himself.

“There is a lot of love and understanding with clay that has been won over many years,” he says, “and you never know how it will turn out.”

His hope was that the clay would dry and crack into puzzle pieces, to give the art detail and intricacy. This is a concept that Goldsworthy has been refining since he first built a clay wall, at the Haines Gallery at 49 Geary St., in 1996 (shown here in a San Francisco Chronicle Photograph). The Haines Gallery is the founder of the Fore-Site Foundation, and curator of all three of Goldsworthy’s installation at the Presidio.

Please don’t get me wrong. I have been a big, big fan of Andy Goldsworthy since I first discovered his book Stone in 1994, and I do own every one of his books. I also have traveled out of my way by many miles to see an installation if there is one near where I am. However, it is time, Presidio Trust and For-Site Foundation, to give other artists space. We have so very many great artists in California, and especially the city of San Francisco, it is time we honored them with space as unique and fabulous as the public space of the Presidio.

The textures and play of light in this exhibit are a photographers dream.

This is the only light that enters the magazine.

The plaque reads:

OLD STONE POWDER MAGAZINE
Constructed by the U.S. Army
After the presidio was occupied
by American Forces
Built of materials salvaged from earlier
Spanish of Mexican structures
It dates back to the period of 1847-1863
Plaque presented by the Presidio Society Inc.
1958

The public can view the exhibit on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm through December 1, or on weekdays by reservation.

Wood Line by Andy Goldsworthy

Posted by Cindy on August 8, 2012

Aug 082012

Wood Line by Andy Goldsworthy
Presidio

This is the second piece by Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio. The first is Spire.
In 2010, Goldsworthy looked to a new part of the park for inspiration – a historic eucalyptus grove near the Presidio’s oldest footpath, Lovers’ Lane. Eucalyptus were planted here by the U.S. Army more than a century ago, with lines of cypress trees occasionally weaved in among the regimented rows. Outcompeted, the cypress declined, leaving a large gap in the grove.

Goldsworthy fills this empty space with a quiet and graceful sculpture. Where Spire reaches for the stars, Wood Line flows elegantly into the valley of the Tennessee Hollow Watershed. To create the piece, Goldsworthy laid eucalyptus branches on the ground to form a sinuous line that, in his words, “draws the place.” The wood was sourced from various Presidio projects that required tree removal, including Doyle Drive reconstruction, environmental remediation, and habitat restoration.

Wood Line is located within the cypress grove near the intersection of Presidio Boulevard and West Pacific Avenue, just off Lovers’ Lane.

The Presidio-Andy Goldsworthy

Posted by Cindy on April 27, 2011

Apr 272011

The Presidio
Near the Arguello Gate Entry

I have always been a fan of Andy Goldsworthy. I love the ethereal and temporary aspect of his work. This is titled Spire and is at the beginning of the Bay Area Ridge Trail near the Arguello Gate, west of Inspiration Point Overlook and north of the Presidio Golf Course Clubhouse.

This area is part of the historic forest of the Presidio, and is part of its designation as a National Historic Landmark District. The forest was planted over 100 years ago and, as usual, the Eucalyptus are doing just fine but the pines and cypress are declining. This particular grove is predominantly cypress, so the Trust removed 150 dying trees and is planting approximately 1200 over the next 10 years. I have to assume that Goldsworthy used these dead trees to build the Spire. The interesting thing I find is that since it was a military base 100 years ago the trees were planted in orderly military alignment. The Trust is keeping true to this.

The New York Times did an article on Andy Goldsworthy while he was creating this piece, it is excellent in its covering of the artist’s concept and plans for the site and the sculpture.

Lover’s Lane

Posted by Cindy on December 22, 2014

Dec 222014

Lover’s Lane
The Presidio

There is a small trail in the Presidio titled Lover’s Lane. It has a well known history that you can read on the plaque found at one end of what is still existing of this trail.

The sign reads: “This trail has witnessed the passing of Spanish soldiers, Franciscan missionaries and American soldiers of two centuries It is perhaps the oldest travel corridor in San Francisco. In 1776 this path connected the Spanish Presidio with the mission, three miles to the southeast. During the 1860s it became the main route used by off-duty solders to walk into San Francisco. Many of those men made the trip into town to meet their sweethearts, and the trail became known as Lovers’ Lane.”

Keep in mind that when they say walk into San Francisco, San Francisco at that time was the mission. However, what you also must keep in mind is that those three miles were sand dunes. That is right, not nice dirt trails, or gravel roads but hard to trod, rolling hills of sand.

This map is a compilation of several maps from the 1860’s, remember lovers lane began in 1776. I have underlined in red the Presidio at the top and the Mission on the bottom right. The original, and enlargeable map can be found here. It is part of the San Francisco Watershed Finder series of maps. This series of maps was put together with the help of Joel Pomerantz of ThinkWalks, Joel gives walks all over town to discuss these watersheds and the hidden streams and creeks of San Francisco.

If you aren’t really great at reading topo maps here are some photos from San Francisco, while from the late 1800s and early 1900s sand dunes were still prevalent.

Late 19th Century
The Richmond District looking towards Lone Mountain
Photograph from a Private Collection

Sunset District 1900 Photo courtesy of Greg Gaar

Golden Gate Park construction with the Sunset District in the back – 1900
Photo courtesy of Greg Gaar

So imagine how hard it must have been to trod for 3 miles over these sand dunes. Also, in 1776, these would have been the Spanish soldiers that came with Juan Bautista de Anza, and I am rather sure their boots weren’t the easiest to cross these sand dunes in either. The need to get back to town had to have been rather pressing to make a trek like that.

This bridge, which marks either the end or beginning of your trip, depending on where you start, was built around 1885. The bridge crosses Tennessee Hollow and a creek, whose source is El Polin Spring.

The presence of the spring was a reason that the Presidio was a viable place for a garrison. While not enough water for cattle and crops, which is why the Mission is 3 miles away, it was enough for horses and men. During the Spanish American War of 1898, the First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment camped here, providing the name Tennessee Hollow.

While walking the Lover’s Lane path keep an eye out for Andy Goldsworthy’s Wood Line.