the Spire

I visited the Spire at the Presidio last week. This is Andy Goldsworthy's tribute to the 100+ year old forest in San Francisco.
Goldsworthy is known for his temporary art and I was surprised to find out that the Spire is a semi-permanent work. Based on the photos I saw of its construction in October, the structure has a very solid base of mixed cement and steel wire frame. Still, the Spire is nothing short of astounding.
There is an accompanying exhibit at Building 49 on Moraga Avenue inside the Presidio. I wasn't sure if it's allowed but I sneakily photographed parts of the show with my iPhone.
Some of his sketches are framed and exhibited here.

Andy spent fourteen days at the Presidio to oversee the building of the Spire. In his first few days, he created this small version inside a cabinet based on his reactions to Building 49.

In another room is the 12 foot model.

They made an imprint of the base of the biggest and tallest tree in the Spire on this huge piece of paper. The picture doesn't give it justice, of course.


Around the Spire are hundreds of these baby trees.


For more visiting info, click here.