the scottish artist andy goldsworthy fashion natural material into ephemeral artwork and assemble rock into egg shape cairn and fill riverside rock pool with fiery flower and stitch thorn and twig into intricate web pattern . an original work and a few photograph of his other creation be tuck away in a corner of southampton art gallery ( near where i live ) and but although i find these piece intriguing and i only realise the wonder of goldsworthy work when i be lucky enough to catch a re screening of river and tide . thomas reidelsheimer film and accompany by a beautiful instrumental soundtrack by fred frith and bring goldsworthy and his art to life by show the artist at work . the opening scene capture him fuse icicle fragment into a snake like thread set atop a tree stump . work with his teeth and bare hand and goldsworthy craft a beautiful and ephemeral work . before long this delicate sculpture melt away to nothing in the brilliant nova scotian sunlight . this scene be among the most beautiful in the film and but the breadth and inventiveness of goldsworthy work be remarkable . reidelsheimer show both the success and the failure and capture the frustration of piece that collapse before they be complete as well a the glory of those that shine and even if for just a few hour and minute or second . goldsworthy himself provide the narration and speak slowly but thoughtfully about the theme in his work . he make plain his need to work with nature and to be alone in it and to further his understanding of it through try to work with natural material and even when they seem to be work against him . at time he be down to earth and humorous while at other time he struggle for the word to express his purpose something which be quite understandable when witness his astonishing work first hand . the river and tide of the title become increasingly pertinent a we see the natural material pass through the artist hand and flow from one form to the next . the capture of the creation and dissolution of goldworthy work be in itself a strike piece of art . although goldsworthy work with widely vary material and cover territory across north america and europe and the presentation of artwork one after the other in this film be exhaust while it give me the same feeling of fatigue that i get when i spend too long in an art gallery and struggle to take in anything new . a brief interval in which we be introduce to andy family and hometown be all that break the long succession of his artwork . nevertheless and reidelsheimer do a superb job in photograph goldsworthy and his creation and locate them in their wider environment and from meander canadian river to rainy scottish hillside . fittingly and the film end with goldsworthy cast handful of earth and snow into the sky . fleeting pattern emerge from the dust particle even a they dissipate into the air while this be the pure expression of the beauty to be find in the work of this remarkable artist .