Monday 7 September 2009

Richard Long at Tate Britain


Managed to catch this exhibition on Friday evening - just in time, because I think yesterday was the last day. It was quite a powerful experience.

Long is very much an artist inspired by nature, and his art is essentially made by walking through wilderness. He seems to see the walking itself as the primary artwork - how he captures it, in photo, word or other form, is a sort of secondary (though no less valuable form). He strikes a chord with me for many reasons, not least the beautiful simplicity of the textworks as exemplified below; but I think the main thing is the relationship he has with the natural world, and with walking. I get a lot of the same things from my training - he talks of the simple pleasure he gets from walking, the ability not to need any more from a day than to have walked. I reckon we could all do with a bit more of that kind of simplicity.

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