As part of our private study activities we have had to research three artists who use walking as part of their creative process.
After researching Sophie Calle the other day I remembered one of her projects 'The Shadow' involved walking. In
The Shadow, Calle was followed for a day by a private detective she had got her mother to hire for her and led him around the parts of Paris that were important to her. She recorded her experience through photography and writing whilst the detective also photographed her, not knowing that she was aware of being followed. This gave a different perspective on the different routes and movements from the two different people, showing that an experience of the same walk or day is subjective to every person. I think this piece of work is interesting because it subverts the traditional idea of a photographer simply taking photos of a subject.
From The Shadow
Francis Alys is another artist who uses walking. In The Collector in collaboration with Felipe Sanabria, a magnetised dog cart is walked through Mexico City and picks up objects on the way. I think this is an interesting concept because it adds an element of randomness to what is encountered and collected on the walk.
From The Collector
The Walking Man Diary by Ian Breakwell is another example. One day the artist started cataloguing the appearance of a man who would regularly walk round the Smithfield area of London not doing anything in particular. I find this interesting because it gives an idea of how our lives can be interlinked with others and yet we know very little about that other person - their motives for walking where they do are unknown to us.
The Walking Man Diary
