The art of sticks and stones
The Presidio was San Francisco’s original military fort; in 1776 it was the northernmost outpost of the Spanish Empire in North America. Legend has it that soldiers in the Presidio would walk inland to the Mission District to visit their sweethearts along a meandering trail that became known as Lovers’ Lane. This famous trail was one of the inspirations for environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy’s sculpture, Wood Line, a long winding string of tree trunks that snakes through a nearby clearing in an aging eucalyptus forest. The beautifully matched trunks and branches used by Goldsworthy were sourced from various tree removal projects within the Presidio.
When the U.S. Army took over the Presidio in the 1840s, they began an intensive campaign to create a dense forest on the coastal scrubland of the base’s bluffs and hillsides. Eucalyptus trees were imported from abroad and planted, with native Monterey cypress sometimes placed in between them. The eucalyptus flourished, while the interspersed cypress died out, leaving long “hallways” of empty space. Wood Line occupies one of these barren gaps. According to Goldsworthy, the artwork “draws this space.”
Info
Address 15 Lovers Lane, The Presidio, San Francisco, CA, 94129 | Public Transport Bus: 28L, 43 (Letterman Dr & Lincoln Blvd stop) | Tip Visit the Presidio Officers’ Club (50 Moraga Avenue), one of the oldest structures in San Francisco, featuring a small museum, the Presidio Heritage Gallery in the old remodeled ballroom, and the Mexican restaurant Arguello.
The story of the Presidio’s forest, like Goldsworthy’s work, reflects the constant interplay of man and nature along the continent’s edge. Installed in 2011, Wood Line has already undergone transformation: the eucalyptus trunks are cracking and weathering into new patterns and textures.
A wonderful side effect of Wood Line are the many spontaneous Goldsworthy-inspired projects that have popped up along its path, ranging from “mini” wood lines to abstract arrangements of eucalyptus leaves. The area has become an outdoor studio where artsy types of all ages are crafting ephemeral wonders out of sticks and stones. Goldsworthy has two other sculptures in the Presidio worth seeking out: Spire (2008) and Tree Fall (2013) (see p. 52).
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