There may be more imaginative artists than Andy Goldsworthy, but I can't think of any who use natural materials in natural settings in such an astonishingly effective manner. In "Arch," Goldsworthy traces--through photographs and a sort of diary--the movement of a sandstone arch through the farmlands of southwestern Scotland (his own "home territory"). This simple arch--a sort of brick-red, roughly hewn curve--is set up and dismantled in all sorts of unlikely places, mostly sheepfolds, along the way. It is photographed and a small entry written about its placement in each particular place.

The very first photograph, in Dumfriesshire, shows the arch almost glowing with ruddy color as a threateningly black sky looms overhead. From there, we variously see the arch at the edge of a hauling company's parking lot; in a livestock feedlot; in the middle of a road; with one foot in a narrow stream and the other in a grassy field; and even, wittily, beneath another stone arch which forms the doorway into a barn.

In each setting, the arch almost speaks to us. It looks by turns completely at home and relaxed all the way up to shy and out of place. Goldsworthy's great achievement here is to imbue a simple and completely inanimate object with different moods and faces depending upon the setting. The arch becomes almost a Rohrschach test for the reader. Most interesting!

Andy's work is astonishing! He finds beauty and art in every corner of the outdoors. Each of his masterpiece's are unique and stimulating to the mind. I strongly suggest this book and others by him for education and pleasure. You will be amazed!