richard long

Paul Klee

Fulton

Goldsworthy

Richard LongBorn: June 2, 1945 (age 70), Bristol.Artwork: White Water Line, Small WhitePebbleCircles, Daystones, Kilkenny Circle, Chalk Circle, RedWalk, Chalk Line[www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/richard-long-time-and-space_]

In his exhibition guide, Richard Long writes the following introduction:'I am interested in universals: stones, water, mud, hands, days, circles,symmetry, gravity, footpaths and roads. Walking is universal; we walkedout of Africa for the first time as humans on foot. Journeys are commonto all people and cultures and yet it interests me to make walks thatfollow or realise marginal ideas, which are different from migrations ormaking journeys, or exploring, or being a nomad, or a pilgrim. Walkingas art, in fact.'

These works are described as mostly about the acts of measurementrelated to the natural world. Walking is the method he has chosen todemonstrate this, creating works of art along his paths. These works arenot intended to be permanent and he envisages that many of the rocks in aScottish work will ends up in people’s rockeries, a situation he is morethan happy with. Working mostly alone, he sets parameters and timelimits for some of the works, drawing a line on a map or following awatercourse or a well trodden pathway, he walks and notes his responseto the surroundings he finds himself in. Most of the works are left in situ,but some are removed and taken back to the studio for reconstruction,accompanied by photographs of them. A part of his responses isdocumented in text using words evoked by his experiences.

I found myself comparing Richard Long withother landscape artists such as AndyGoldsworthy and Hamish Fulton, both usingNature as the material for their art works,though looking back to Paul Klee, all ofthese could be said to have beenexperimenting

with ‘takinga line for a walk’.The comparisonwith Hamish Fultonis all the moreinteresting as he and

Long shared two years

together at Central St. Martin’s, are the same age and knew each otherwell. Their work shares many similarities. The major differences betweenthem is that Long will use elements of the natural world with which toform his responses, building stone circles or pathways and using mudfrom the river to leave his mark on driftwood or bark and walls,photographing the work and bringing it into the studio. Fulton will notmove anything in nature on his long, measured walks but returns to thestudio to document his emotional responses. He describes photographs asa testament to a passing moment or a brief pause on the whole longjourney. There is a gap between his walking and what he can say about itand his work concentrates on this gap. Though also using Nature,Goldsworthy is different from both as he uses the natural elements toform pictures and patterns that do not necessarily relate to a walk, rathermaking picturesque arrangements.

Richard Long’s work contains elements of both other artists but is alsodifferent. The walk as an art form has gained in popularity. There areother artists using the theme of a walk with varying aims. There is, forexample a video of the black artist, William Pope L crawling the wholelength of New York’s Broadway wearing a Superman outfit in order topoke fun at the name of the district: ‘The Great White Way’, and thususing this walk politically. Other groups in America describe walking asa powerful way of moving through the universe1 “For some of the artists,it is a very powerful form of moving through the universe — eithersocially or politically — but also walking is a gift we give ourselves.”

So we are left with the central question surrounding ‘the walk’. Thegroup discussion talked around the issue of whether or not a walk couldbe considered as art, since the walk appeared to constitute the focus of thework. One definition of art says that it means ‘beautiful or thought-provoking works produced through creative activity’, while anotherdescribes it as ‘ the skill and technique involved in producing visualrepresentations’.

What Richard Long has presented would be then by definition, called art.The more difficult issue is whether the walk itself is art, or whether it ishis emotional response that is the art. Personally, I felt a strong

1 From exhibition at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museumtitled, “Walking Sculpture: 1967-2015.”http://artery.wbur.org/2015/08/21/decordova-walking-exhibit

sense of transience in the work. Nothing lasts and everything is fleeting.Though true, there is a certain negativity in this approach as a philosophyfor life that I found somewhat sad and unbalanced.

Long himself likes to keep things simple, and to allow his work to speakfor itself. “I like very plain sculptures,” he said in 1971, “and usuallypeople look for far too much in them.2 With this in mind, and sittingfirmly on the fence, I would respect Long’s advice and just enjoy thecelebration of his walking experiences.

2

http://www.artandphilosophy.com/070701.html

Richard Long