cover image Ephemeral Works: 2004%E2%80%932014

Ephemeral Works: 2004%E2%80%932014

Andy Goldsworthy. Abrams, $85 (185p) ISBN 978-1-4197-1779-6

Environmental artist Goldsworthy, known for creating temporal sculptures out of natural materials such as rocks, leaves, and snow, documents 200 works he made between 2004 and 2014. The photographs are lush and at times haunting, organized chronologically with little text; brief descriptions list each work's materials and basic means of construction. Particularly noteworthy are the artist's most unstable creations, the ice installations on the verge of collapse. While all of Goldsworthy's works are ephemeral, these wet, brittle, and visibly precarious pieces are the most memorable. Often defying any kind of concrete description, the works in this book appear on the page much as they do in the landscape. They're fleeting in nature, in turn portraying the vulnerability of nature. (Oct.)