The morning of March 13th, 2020, I called the DeCordova Art and Sculpture Museum in Lincoln, Mass., to see if they were open. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston had closed the day before due to the new COVID restrictions. The DeCordova was still open, so I got in my car. By the time I arrived an hour later, the museum had closed. I could only walk through the outside Sculpture Park. Turns out it was a gift of prophecy.
The installation of Andy Goldsworthy’s “Waterworks” was new to the sculpture park, and the water had just started to flow due to two rainy days. On this day, sound was added to the visual precision of his stone.
In 2025, the fifth anniversary of that day, the hollowness of the inner concentric stone circle draws my worldview of aging and politics. Despite many rainy days, the sounds of water rarely break the silence.
But when they do, it is a gift of magic.
