The Art of Ordinary Walking
I recently came across an article by Alan de Botton in which he discusses the walking art of Richard Long. The British artist’s work memorialises his walks around different landscapes, marking them with stones, listing their time, place, route and the meteorological conditions. His work is deceptively simple, says de Botton, but its power lies in “honouring the elusive but real value of ordinary life”.
I often find myself explaining what walking art is to the uninitiated, and I think I might incorporate de Botton’s apercu into my answers. It’s also a description that could easily apply to the winning pieces in our recent Walking Together writing competition by Chantal Lyons and Damaris West.
In Flower Key, by Chantal Lyons, the narrator tells us about how a new relationship has led her to reappraise a seemingly unlovely suburb close to ‘four lane roads and dilapidated take-away strewn streets’. Through walks with her gentle, thoughtful new lover, she begins to appreciate not only the area’s hidden beauty and value, but her own.
Meanwhile, Damaris West’s poem Sharing, describes how two people notice different aspects of the same landscape - “dew and constellations” - and how their complementary focus on the minuscule and the vast enriches each other’s lives.
Walking art, (and walking writing) as de Botton points out, may do the opposite of glamourising the unattainable. It can reawaken us to the value of the everyday, of “life as we’re forced to lead it”.
As well as encouraging you to read “Walking”, our new anthology of writing from the Walking Together competition, I hope I have also prompted you to submit your entries for our two major walking art awards. The end of September deadline is rapidly approaching for sound walks for Sounds Walk September. Meanwhile, the deadline for the Marŝarto Awards is only a month away. So put the final touches on your sound pieces, and polish your walking art, and get ready to inspire, and be inspired by, the everyday magic of walking.
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Writer, walker, digital storyteller, psychogeographer
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Placecloud
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2024-10-01 18:00
· Online
A lively discussion with the shortlisters of the Marŝarto Award for walking art to mark the start of Walktober! Keep reading
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2024-10-15 18:00
· Online
How can artistic interventions that engage communities through walking create and foster an emotional connection to coastal landscapes? Join Ali Pretty , Walking Artist and the Director of Beach of Dreams, for an insightful session exploring the role walking artists can play in advancing the conversation on climate cha... Keep reading
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Latest podcast episodes
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Join @thebuzzknight for a return visit on the Takin A Walk Podcast with Mickey Stevenson. Mickey is known as Motown’s A&R man, signing an iconic list of artists to ... Start listening
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A new series of Walk & Talks starts next week on This Morning Walk Podcast! Libby also reflects on walking in the wilderness of Alaska and reads an entry from the T... Start listening
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Andrew Stuck planned meeting up with Australian Kim Goldsmith sometime in advance, knowing that she would be returning from a residency on Skye with her partner and... Start listening
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Join @thebuzzknight for this Takin A Walk episode with Rebecca and Megan Lovell, the sisters behind Larkin Poe. You’ll love to hear the inside stories behind the gr... Start listening
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Join @thebuzzknight for the award-winning singer, songwriter Felix Cavaliere. He was part of the Young Rascals known for so many hits that were the soundtrack of a ... Start listening
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Enjoy this classic episode from August 2018Eliza Carthy inherited her love of English music from her famous folk singing parents, Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson. ... Start listening
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Upcoming events
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2024-10-01 18:00
· Online
A lively discussion with the shortlisters of the Marŝarto Award for walking art to mark the start of Walktober! Keep reading
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5 Oct - 3 Nov, 2024
· Nobelstraat 12A, Utrecht, Netherlands
Exhibition: Artist who walk, in gallery Kunstliefde, NL Keep reading
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