It is early morning on the Nova Scotia coast. On jagged rocks above icy waters, in sub-zero temperatures, a man is at work. He is collecting icicles and, using only his bare fingers and teeth, is breaking the cylinders into smaller pieces and reshaping them into a sculpture which he is slowly weaving around the dark stone.

‘Good art keeps you warm,' he says. ‘When it goes wrong – then you feel the cold.’ Andy Goldsworthy’s work is precarious: one slip, one misplaced piece, and the whole intricate structure can collapse. On this occasion his sculpture holds, and as the artist stands back to take a long view of his creation the morning sun aligns to the rock, causing the thin, winding ice shape to shine. It is a breathtakingly beautiful image, which causes Goldsworthy – a man of few, but precious, words – to say, ‘This place has potential.’