FROM MUSEUMS WASHINGTON
 
If you visited the National Gallery of Arts (NGA) East Building this past winter, you might have spotted British artist Andy Goldsworthy and his crew along the north side of the building, hard at work on Roof. A site-specific installation consisting of nine low-profile domes, Roof was made from local Buckingham, Virginia slate by Goldsworthy, his assistant and five British dry-stone wallers.

Dry-stone wallers? Literally their lifes work is stone, says NGA curator Molly Donovan, who initiated and shepherded the project. They know how it behaves, how you can make a structure in stone thatll stand the test of time. These guys are champion British wallers.

Even so, the project was a challenge. While viewers see domes flowing into each other in fluidly curving lines, what you wont see are the walls inside, where the structures dovetailsupporting the domes the way that straight walls support a vaulted ceiling. Neither Andy nor his wallers had made domical structures of stacked slate that dovetail into each other, says Donovan. It was a real technical achievement. One of the domes actually settled a bit due to thin stone, and had to be partially taken down and rebuilt. It was a process-oriented work, she says, and they learned as they went along.

Donovan adds that there are two vantage points for viewing Roof: the
East Buildings ground-floor lobby and the north windows on the mezzanine. That view looking down, she says, is a surprise. And Andy wants it to be. Its a gorgeous view. You can see the centered oculithe black holesand the flow. Youll have plenty of time to enjoy it, too: Roof is on view permanently at the NGA.
 
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Photograph Lee E. Wing. Copyright 2004 National Gallery of Art.