Alfred Hitchcock is credited for saying, “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out.” Today’s film combats that synopsis by adding back in all the dull bits, so much so that I’m not sure there is actually an ounce of drama in the life of British artist Andy Goldsworthy. Clearly lacking for a tool that would cut this 93 minute documentary to its proper size, perhaps a two-minute youtube video, Thomas Riedelsheimer gave us so much background that I felt like I was watching the desperate dating video of a (now) very single man:
Name: Andy
Age: A very active 61
Have kids: Yeah, and they’re totally into my stuff
Favorite question: What is art? (Don’t ask me. I still don’t know)
Likes: Lines, dust, cow manure, open graves
Dislikes: Anything it doesn’t take at least seven months to accomplish
Hobbies: Playing “cemetery,” bush whispering
Most frequently asked question: “How do you earn money?”
If I were not an artist, I’d be … A professional corpse body double
Leaning Into the Wind: Andy Goldsworthy is a documentary about an oddball. He’s a man who doesn’t seem terribly clever, insightful, funny, charismatic, or even present; but he is decidedly odd and really into nature. One thing this guy loves to do is, hmmm, how shall I put this? Bush creep. He sees a rows of trees or bushes, climbs into them and slowly shuffles his way down to the other end without touching the ground. Ok, I can see where that has a certain silly appeal. Sure, it’s worth a grin if not a laugh. Now imagine watching that entire process from beginning to end. No, not the concept. The whole thing. Unedited. Not sped up. Not embellished. Just a late middle-aged man crawling through a fifty (?) (sixty?) (seventy?) foot-long row of bushes. Now, you’ve got a great idea of what this film was about.
I don’t dislike Goldsworthy. Quite the opposite, in fact. I think that’s the aggravating part. He’s like an obscure good-natured relative you’ve forgotten until you receive a random postcard stating, “Look what Uncle Andy did!” What’s that? He made his own concave rock bed out of … bedrock? That’s is … super. Do we have to go see it, or can we just admire it from the picture? We have to see it, huh?
I remember my grandfather taking me duck hunting when I was little. I wasn’t allowed to touch the gun; I do
not feel bad about this – I had no experience with firearms and 4 a.m. in a duckblind with only my grandfather for supervision is probably not the best way to acquire such training. However, that meant I had traveled two hours to an unheated shack and gotten up well before dawn to watch my grandfather fail to shoot birds. Yes, this is what it is like to watch Leaning Into the Wind: Andy Goldsworthy.
I see these videos on my FaceBook feed from time to time – check out a bunch of aerial stunts, or crazy hotels throughout the globe, or weird insects or such. They’re usually only about two to three minutes long, which is fine. You can get a good feel for the artist and message in a two-minute montage and investigate further if you are so inclined. This film is like the 93 minute version of a two-minute “check out this artist” compilation. And if I’m honest? I would have stopped watching after 45 seconds. Yeah, I get it. Now, where’s that piano-playing cat?
An artist with a penchant for the older
Works stones that come up to your shoulder
A query doth flummox:
Could I be one with rocks?
Perhaps if I were a little boulder
Rated PG, 93 Minutes
Director: Thomas Riedelsheimer
Writer: Oh, I wish
Genre: Is this art? How about now?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Performance artists
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The impatient
