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Still in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, our next stop was Andy Goldsworthy’s new sculpture called ‘The Spire’ in The Presidio. From Crissy Field, we drove up Baker Street and, after a couple of turns, found ourselves on Lyon Street. Opposite Liverpool Lil’s, an English style pub which has been around for over 30 years, is one of the entrances, to the Presidio on Lombard Street. Just inside on the right is the Letterman Digital Arts Center, the new home for LucasFilm. In 2005 George Lucas moved both his Industrial Light and Magic and the LucasArts studios from San Rafael to under one roof in the Presidio. The Letterman Army Medical Center used to be on the site.. The Presidio covers nearly 1500 acres. It was an army post for over 200 years but became part of the National Park Service in 1994. We meandered through the Presidio, passing recently refurbished residential areas. Our destination was Inspiration Point, which is to the south of the park near the golf course. After driving past the Visitors Center, situated in the Officers Club near the main parade square, we turned onto Arguello Drive, past the golf club and eventually came to Inspiration Point. Just before turning left into the car park, we spotted the sculpture to our left. It was just a short walk from the car park, across Aguello Drive and up a rough track to the new sculpture, which stands on a ridge looking down onto Inspiration Point and out over the bay towards Alcatraz and Angel Island. The site is still raw and the landscaping has not quite been completed. There are still cones and plastic tape preventing entry to several places. Andy Goldsworthy is a remarkable British sculptor. He uses materials found in the environment – twigs, leaves, ice, Looking up The Spire in The Presidio, San Francisco - stone, driftwood, etc. Most of his structures are not built to last. In fact some disappear very fast. Two of his more permanent pieces of work can be found in the Bay Area – Drawn Stone outside the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and Stone River at Stanford University in Palo Alto. The Spire was constructed last October. It is made up of the trunks of cypress trees which had been felled on the site because they were unhealthy. The structure looks like a branchless tree and is about 100′ tall. The sculpture is surrounded by newly planted cypress trees which are only inches tall at the moment. Eventually they will be as tall as The Spire. At the moment, it stands out like a sore thumb but, as the small trees grow, it will disappear and will eventually rot away or will have to be dismantled if it becomes unsafe. It was amazing to stand at the base and look up to the top. I felt so small and insignificant. It will be interesting to see how the site changes over time.
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Photo used under Creative Commons from paulswansen