Work Notes Stage One

The wall has got off to a great start and good progress is being made – currently about eight yards a day. The stone looks well and feels very much at home. Walking Wall is connected to the network of walls surrounding the Nelson-Atkins – it feeds off the walls that are already here.

I will leave the first 23 ft attached to an existing wall as evidence of where Walking Wall began.

My intention is to reach the road and leave the wall intact. The separation will occur when I return in Spring. I already know that the separation will be far more interesting than I first imagined. It will be like a ship leaving land.

A line of bare ground will be revealed as the stone is removed – evidence of where the wall stood – another drawing – one that will fade away as the grass grows back.

The ground was frozen when we began, but it has gradually thawed over the past few days and is now soft and muddy. The resulting footprints, tracks and lines are also part of the work. The field through which the wall is travelling is a canvas upon which the process of making the wall will be painted. I hope to take some aerial photographs next week showing the wall from above – a pale line in the field, etched in dark mud.

I have marked out the route of the wall with string on the ground. (I need to have a sense of how much lies ahead and how much stone is needed).  I laid the line down with little thought but a lot of experience. I don’t want to line to be overly self-conscious.

Andy Goldsworthy, 9 March 2019