Goldsworthy: Fifty Years, More-than-Human, and Nature and Us
Three things I experienced recently, which I think you should consider:
Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years, Royal Scottish Academy
More than Human, Design Museum
Nature and Us: A History through Art, BBC
A few thoughts…
Andy Goldsworthy’s work transports me to another place. Much of his work has been created in, or uses materials collected from the countryside around his studio in Dumfriesshire. This is the same countryside I grew up in and to me is quite distinctive. I’m not sure what it is exactly, perhaps there’s a dreich quality of Lowland countryside, often wet, green, grey, dark, bright, cold – separately or all at once! You can see this strong connection to this countryside in the photos of his place-based work, and in the materials he uses in the exhibition. The work is not only beautiful and raw but deeply moving and connecting. For me, this comes from the work being situated in place – created with and in relation to it.
In Nature and Us: A History through Art, Ep. 3, James Fox explores how artists are re-imagining our future relationship with nature and is ‘mesmerised by the artworks’ of Random International. My time at Random significantly shaped the designer I am. At the time (~2010) we tried to ‘emphasise the interaction between the animate - the audience - and the inanimate object’ and ‘re-interpret the cold nature of digital-based work’. This would become known as post-digital. This included ‘Swarm’ which Fox compares to ‘looking at a group of animals who are sentient and sensitive, looking back at me, interacting with me…’ and reflects that ‘…as mesmerising as these artworks are they can’t help but make us pause and consider the impact these new technologies will have on our lives’. And this is an important point. Random’s post-digital work invites reflection on what it means to be human in a world dominated by digital technologies.
More than Human, Design Museum is an accessible and important introduction to the shift in mindset and perspective designers need (my choice of word) to take. Instead of ‘viewing the world exclusively through the lens of human needs and desires, it requires us to think about what other species need to thrive’ (McGuirk). Some reviews have criticised the exhibition for not being explicit about how designers can shift their practice, but I think that’s okay. First, we need to think. This is a shift in perspective and a change in mindset. It is not just the application of another framework, which would inevitably lead to business as usual, a passing trend, or greenwashing. This is a fundamental change in how way we view the world.
Why do I mention these three together? They all explore the natural world, but slightly differently. In their own way each brings the human into the conversation through exploring human relationships with the natural world or considering human-non-human relations. If you’re a designer, go see More than Human (and buy/read the exhibition catalogue), and for inspiration just slightly outside of design, listen to Nature and Us. And, of course, I’d recommend a visit to Goldsworthy and the RSA. A few summary points to end which relate back to my practice:
1. Start with Place – situated, relational, temporal
2. Critiquing Technology – post-digital, slow tech etc.
3. Decentring Humans - more-than-human mindset, regenerative, critical posthuman
Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
More than Human
Design Museum, London
Nature and Us: A History through Art
Series 1: Episode 3 at 48:48 mins (Random International segment)
References:
1. McGuirk, Justin, ed. More than Human. Making with the Living World. The Design Museum, 2025.
