Flags or not flags

I know it’s Andy Goldsworthy again but today I have been reading the book I bought at the Exhibition and I have found it fascinating. It tells of his growing up and then outlines the development of his work. It is interesting that of course the book was published before the exhibition opened so there are his ideas and proposals and some of the work involved in gathering materials etc. There were some things he was not allowed to do - he wanted to put trees in and amongst the stone pillars at the entrance so it would be like walking through a forest . . . this did not happen!

I discovered the significance of the Red Flags which I feel is worth sharing. These were originally hung in 2019 outside the Rockerfeller Center in New York (inset) and represent the flags of the 50 US States. Instead of the different State flags he dyed each blank flag with earth gathered from each State.

 It’s an anti-flag project in many ways. Rather than show the emblem of each state and what separates them, it’s about the earth and what connects them.  

In a world which is becoming more and more divided and where we have people encouraging division, this is a powerful message - connection rather than division.