Stone Circle

‘Stone Circle’ is one of the first stone circles that Richard Long made for installation in an interior setting. Sixty-one horizontal stones are placed in a circle on the ground with a diameter of 4.26 metres. Although there is no predetermined sequence, the stones are arranged so that each is just touching the next. Long selected the stones from a beach on the Bristol Channel, near Portishead, a place that is local and familiar to him.

Long is primarily interested in his relationship to nature and in the materials found in natural settings: ‘It is where my human characteristics meet the natural forces and patterns of the world.’ Central to these concerns are the walks Long makes in a range of landscapes both in Britain and abroad. Long sometimes makes sculptures in the landscape, but he also exhibits his work in gallery spaces that relate to his walks or use natural materials. These works include stone and stick sculptures, photographs, maps, texts, and drawings involving the application of mud directly onto a wall or floor.