BAR HARBOR, ME.- Like the water moccasin that Andy Goldsworthy references in his description of Road Line, his latest monumental permanent art installation taking place this summer on the campus of College of the Atlantic, the renowned artist and his crew of local ma- sons and artisans have been swamped in an ongoing trend of wet weather, as the piece snakes for more than a thousand feet from Frenchman Bay to Eden Street. The Road Line art installa- tion is expected to be completed by early September.

A native of England, who had adopted Scotland as his permanent home years ago, Goldsworthy has proceeded with his installation undeterred by Maine’s unusually soggy sum- mer weather, which is more akin to that of the U.K. than a typical summer in Maine.

The Road Line sculpture, on which Goldsworthy officially began work in late July, is composed entirely of granite curbing that has been regionally sourced from quarries in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

As the installation has traversed the expanse of the COA campus, it has encountered a few twists and turns from its originally planned trajectory, which as Goldsworthy explains is not unusual in his artistic process. Factors such as tree roots, slope, and the artist’s own evolving vision, come into play as he and his crew carefully and strategically place the granite stones, that are laid with mathematical precision along the way.

Goldsworthy’s early work in Land Art embraced the ephemeral. Poetic works that were created from the detritus of the forest floor, beaches, and trees, were designed to disintegrate over time and the forces of nature. Kind of like sand castles. While Road Line is a permanent installation, the artist acknowledges that through time the piece will similarly evolve accordingly with the influences of Mother Nature.

“I hope that Road Line will resonate with the students who will pass through the college on their own journeys,” said Goldsworthy. “Wherever life takes them afterwards, they will always be reminded of their time in Maine whenever they see a curbstone. It represents the antithesis of the definition of a curb, which is to control or limit.”