Studio 2D
Assignment #1:Walking As Artist
Wanderlust:A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit
Chapter 16:The Shape of a Walk
Notes:
-Gustave Caillebotte; “Paris Street, Rainy Day”
People forever frozen in time
“Forever frozen with their best foot forward.”
-Gesture primary, painting secondary
the gesture is now the main subject
-Kaprow’s analysis: “Pollock, as I see him, left us at the point where we must become preoccupied with and even dazzled by the space and objects of our everyday life.”
-The Art of Walking:meaning:artist begins to form art that makes walking an experience.
-Richard Long: “A walk expresses space and freedom”
-contemporary art:asks the viewer to do the work, to interpret, to imagine the unseen
-walking >performance + photography
>connection to people + community
-4 Dignities: Standing, Lying, Sitting + Walking (pg 278 (7))
-“They will discover out of ordinary things the meaning of ordinariness.”
Reflection:
While visiting The Art Institute of Chicago during the summer Gustave Caillebotte’s painting entitled Paris Street, Rainy Day had made an impact on me. The scene of an aristocratic couple is captured in a way that no camera could. A way that no photography could show. Thinking back to the painting the artist captures an extraordinarily ordinary day in the life of the people who happen to travel before his eyes. The art of walking has developed since Caillebotte’s time for it no longer has to be only his painting that allows us to form and experience sensation or even bond with the moment in time captured in the an artists work. Today performance has surfaced changing the meaning of art in the slightest way for now artists experiment in creating art by making walking the art itself. Walking becomes an experience in which people participate in and become a part of a piece no matter how much time they spend within an instillation or even the fact that they will leave the art to be all by itself. Contemporary art was taken walking and asked it’s viewers to do the work of interpreting what they think def eel and to imagine the unseen. Show us or even not show us what they see or experience through the art work.
For the longest time I as an artist didn’t consider walking to be an art. To me walking was a part of my everyday commute to school, work, etc. Through time I’ve resorted to keeping to myself much like everyone else who travels alongside me on a bus, ferry or subway. However after reading The Shape of a Walk I began to examine the simple ordinary things that surround me on my “walk”. As Kaprow said about artists “they will discover out of ordinary things the meaning of ordinariness.” The simple action of capturing the sight of ordinary actions is an art in itself and in a way it wouldn’t be possible without the Four Dignities. Standing, lying, sitting and walking all combined together allow an artist, myself as well, to turn my vision and thoughts to strangers and what they decide to do in their daily routine and make my observation of watching them a part of my daily routine. My observations lead to questions. As an observer I begin to ask myself things about the people that I am watching. Why is the man on the ferry sporting a Hawaiian shirt in New York City? Why is the lady standing two feet away from me speaking through her cell phone as if she were standing miles away from it? Or even why is the smell of McDonald’s fries reaching my nose when it doesn’t seem to be anywhere in sight?
Walking, along with the other dignities uses the 5 senses. As an artist observing the scene before me I am allowed to use not only why sight but also ask questions based on what I can smell, touch, hear and taste. If I find myself touching something soft I might pause and see what had grazed me. Was it someones sweater or maybe it was dog? If I smell fries, can I find the person eating them? Maybe I can look for more than just the person munching on fries but also someone else who’s eating. The four dignities work more than just for present situations. They can work for the past as well and evoke questions about people and places we might have never even been to or near. As a Polish American my culture influences my artwork a great deal. I find interest in places I have yet to see with my own eyes and the history of my culture that I have never experienced yet somehow has had an effect on my life and interests. I can take new knowledge of walking art and the four dignities to combine and expand how I approach my artwork now and possibly continue to push myself to step out of the box as an artist.
