Wind Stones, 1986

This edition, Richard Long’s contribution to the portfolio commemorating Joseph Beuys, unfolds a quiet, contemplative narrative of landscape. In a barren scene in Lapland – shaped by dryness, emptiness, and wind – Long draws attention to a single overgrown stone mound, used by hikers as a windbreak. This site, reduced to its elemental function, becomes a symbol of retreat and protection in a hostile environment. In this work, Long intertwines the perception of nature with existential reflection, continuing Beuys’s idea of landscape as a repository of cultural and spiritual meaning – reduced, powerful, and full of quiet intensity.