writing - blog

In the twentieth century the experience of making art began to challenge for prominence the work itself. Unthinkable before, but reasonable once the artist replaces the priest/shamen as the conduit to the mysterious, the surrealists and expressionists began to experiment with ‘automatic’ (ie. fast and without reflection or pause) painting and drawing. This gradually began to seep into the artistic world and artists began to see the feelings they had making art, how comfortable they were so to speak, as a key signal that they were ‘on course’. Because, as Picasso rightly said, since Van Gogh every artist must create his own mythology or follow the only other path the modern world allows: the doomed artist.

But once the genii is out of the box the feeling begins to trump the finished work. Hence some of the more nonsensical seeming works of performance art and Joseph Beuys type ‘rubbish’ art. Which from the new point of view make total, if subjective, sense.

It was therefore only a matter of time that walking should become to be seen as an artistic practice in itself. Which is ludicrous if the job of art is to produce art objects but very reasonable if the job of art is to produce a shift in consciousness in the artist (which he or she can communicate if they like, but that is secondary). The shift is really just a minor ‘high’- the kind you get from any sort of low level continuous exercise, combined with insights gathered during the walk from observation plus reflection. Walking has, since the beginning of time, been sometimes used as a form of meditation. The ‘journey’- made by walking – is a key metaphor in many religious systems. The pilgrimage is a central part of many religions too. Therefore the sanctity surrounding some kinds of walking is exactly the kind of sub-shamanic appeal the modern artist is seeking.

Here are a few rules for walks of art:

The destination is not important but there needs to be one.
Or the walk is circular, starting from some symbolic or significant place.
Taking in views, monuments, hills, trig points is all unnecessary and can actually be detrimental as it divides the walk into ‘highs and lows’- which is the province of normal life. The main point of the ‘walk of art’ is to enter a special state that is maintained throughout the walk- call this ‘covering the entire canvas’. This can be likened to making an image surrounded by white on a canvas as opposed to making something that fills the whole thus utilising and balancing positive and negative space.
Gear and other things are only important in as much as they ‘help the trundle’- ie. maintain the continuous momentum of the walk which in turn enables the right state of mind- a sort of dulled contemplative mind (which can be surprisingly productive of ideas but in sequence rather than chasing each other’s tails as in normal life after a coffee or two).
Small things are the best things- so stuff on the floor, things you notice about others, small conversations, snippets of life so to speak- these are the fabric of a walk of art. You may of course stumble on a murder in progress and the drama levels would rise, but drama is simply unnecessary for this kind of practice. You have to trust to life to deliver its continuous if (in comparison to the TV) rather muted messages.
Distance is important. The longer the better, as long as you don’t get too tired out or injured in some way. Two hours is a good minimum to enter the right state of mind. This is not an absolute thing. A walk of art is not a drug trip. It is not something you consume. The object is to produce something- even if it is just a series of images- captured or not by drawing or photography or words or objects found. These may or may not be communicated to others. Just gathering them seems enough, enriching all in some way.
The walk of art differs from an exercise walk in that the objective is different. In the exercise walk the body is there to be used and the mind can wander- like runners who use earphones to dull the boredom of running- such walkers are not so interested in their surroundings except as stimulation- hence the need for hills and views and such like. The walk of art can even be along a main highway tedious though that they may seem (though the real tedium of such a walk is the noise and danger of traffic). The idea is to get the mind into a certain way of operating so that ‘somethings comes of the walk’. It is hard to be more precise than that. Perhaps the notion of a walk of art is meant to get us moving rather than explain something completely.