The Shape of a Walk

I was given the reading The Shape of a Walk from the book Wanderlust. I found a few interesting points to include in this post.

According to the reading, since the late eighteenth century walking has been in resistance to the mainstream because it was a conscious choice to do it. I believe this is true, especially when we are so focused on going from point A to point B as fast as possible. Resisting technology and speed of the mainstream makes the walk more about the journey from each place than getting to the desired location. I think this is especially relevant in today's society where speed is so important.

The reading includes a quote from art historian Kristine Stiles. "Emphasizing the body as art, these artists amplified the role of process over product and shifted from representational objects to presentational modes of action." (p. 269) I think an important point within this quote is the emphasis on the process since a walk is all about the experience and the process of doing it. This idea about the process being important is an element of a few statements made later in the reading.

"The experience cannot be reduced to a place name and a length, but even this scant information is enough to start the imagination going." and "A walk expressed space and freedom and the knowledge of it can live in the imagination of anyone, and that is another space too." (p. 271) While there is a process involved in a work based on a walk, there is some sort of representation of this walk. It is not the same as actually experiencing the walk, but it is enough. Imagination is where the viewer comes in.

Some work leaves "most of the journey up to the viewer's imagination" because it asks them to do "a great deal of work, to interpret the ambiguous, imagine the unseen." (p. 271) The viewer has to do some work to interpret whatever is in front of them and relate it to the walk that someone else (the artist) has taken. The viewer is only shown a part or parts of someone's experience of a walk. What is seen in front of them "gives us not a walk nor even a representation of a walk, only the idea of a walk and an evocation of its location (the map) or one of its views (the photograph). (p. 271)

The last few sentences of the reading not only summarize the chapter, but the effect walking has on the people and world around us. "Walking as art calls attention to the simplest aspects of the act: the way rural walking measures the body and the earth against each other, the way urban walking elicits unpredictable social encounters. And to the most complex: the rich potential relations between thinking and the body; the way one person's act can be an invitation to another's imagination; the way every gesture can be imagined as a brief and invisible sculpture; the way walking reshapes the world by mapping it, treading paths into it, encountering it; the way each act reflects and reinvents the culture in which it takes place." (p. 276)

Man on Wire

I'd have to say that watching Man on Wire in class was the most extreme form of walking I have ever seen. While he seemed to consider it more of a performance, there is no arguing that it is a walk too. I was amazed at how much planning he had done in preparation for the walk, but there is no way it would have worked without it.

There is something kind of romantic about tightrope walking and it was presented that way to some extent in the documentary, such as when they show him up on the wire and the reactions from the people on the ground, but there was something very terrifying about it too. It is so high and he didn't appear to have any safety measures or anything. I can't help but think that the desire to do a walk like this is chasing that adrenaline that comes with an activity like that. Seeing the view of him from the ground shows just how high he was and the danger he was in.

A few weeks ago I found a video that reminded me of Man on Wire. It seems to be more about jumping from great heights, but it looks like they use a tightrope sometimes. They almost seem to perform a little while on the rope too. I also assume they are walking at least part of the way to the top of the places they are jumping from, which I think would be quite the hike. It's a pretty nice video and it can be found at http://www.notcot.org/post/44128/

Parkour Video... But Different

I found this video a couple of weeks ago. It's a parkour video, but done with drawings. I thought it was kind of interesting.

Just a Quote

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.
Friedrich Nietzsche

An Issue and a Walk

I realized while not being able to sleep last night why I might have had an issue with some of my walks this semester, particularly the mall walk and my soul mate walk.

While I really like the outcome of my mall walk (photo at the top of this entry), I really disliked the feeling of breaking the rules or at least going against what is expected behaviour at the mall. Rearranging items that someone spent the time organizing felt wrong and I feared that being caught would result in an awkward or uncomfortable conversation with an employee of one of my favourite stores.

During my soul mate walk, I felt extremely uncomfortable with the requirement of talking to strangers. I didn't want to disrupt them and I would have gladly kept walking. It felt especially intrusive because I had to record and take pictures of our conversations. After reflecting on my discomfort, I think I would have much preferred to take a long walk, reflect or think, and observe those around me (and maybe should have considered an idea that allowed this).

After spending most of the weekend editing my soul mate walk video, I had walking on my mind and while lying in the dark trying to fall asleep I had a lot of time to think about all the walking I do. I realized I like to spend my walks for myself and my thoughts. Alone, I like to listen to music and reflect on my thoughts while walking. It may only be for the few minutes from one place to another or on the way to class, which may be the only time on some days that I have to think and reflect. If I am with someone, I find it a great time to have a meaningful conversation with someone. Maybe because it is so informal, we don't have to face each other, and you have something else to focus on (the action of walking).

This weekend I had a conversation with a friend about recent events in my life. Something that stuck with me was the response to me saying I will survive, he said something along the lines of sometimes it doesn't feel like it, does it? This was essentially the end of our conversation and I left to head home, which provided me with something to consider while I walked. The song playing on my iPod was right in line with my feelings at that moment and it was the perfect time of night to walk home (just before the sun set, amazing view). It felt like exactly the right conditions for thinking and despite the fact that I spent the whole walk home thinking, I actually felt calm.

I realized just before I fell asleep that maybe for me, walking is a much more intimate experience. For me, walking is for me and my thoughts.

My View on the Walk Home

The Way

The Way was mentioned in class at the end of my presentation on walking in film and I did send it out with my blog address to the rest of the class, but this movie actually looks really good and I'm really excited to see it. According to the movie's website, "The Way" is a powerful and inspirational story about family, friends, and the challenges we face while navigating this ever-changing and complicated world. From what I understand the father completes his son's journey to Santiago de Compostela.

I searched for some information about this walk the character makes, and according to Wikipedia, Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.

The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James. It is believed to be the place that the remains of the apostale Saint James are buried. More details about the pilgrimage can be read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James.

Soul Mate Walk Preparation and Reflection

This entry is being written after my walk has taken place, but in preparation for my search for my soul mate I needed to prepare my questions I would use to find him. During discussion about my project, the suggestion was made to base my questions around past failed relationships and deep reflection about what is important to me in a partner.

Some of the questions were easy to write down, especially the basics. Things like age, if they currently have a partner, if they like women, and basic habits were easy basic questions to include. Future plans were also rather easy to consider, such as family, marriage, and career. Cheating was one of the first heavy questions I wrote down. While I think cheating would be an issue for most, I find it especially important when I have experienced the feelings that come from being cheated on. This was right in line with the suggestions made for my questions.

I thought the suggestion about selecting questions based on past failed relationships to be a really important one, especially after just experiencing a rather ugly end to a potential relationship. I knew cheating was going to be part of my questions, but there were other qualities I thought were important to consider after this ending. Honesty, communication, and openness to being in a long-term relationship became more important than I previous thought.

After taking my walk and talking to people, I realized how much the answers affect the way I look at people. I knew cheating was an issue for me, but during an interview with a friend he admitted to cheating and I was not previously aware of this. I think this may have changed my view on him, even though I know he is a nice guy.

I also realized that some responses to my questions were able to outweigh others that I thought were important. I originally put a limit on the age of whom I would choose. However, after hearing particularly good answers from someone a little younger than I was looking for, I was able to overlook the age in favour of answers to the bigger questions. I realized that maybe these questions and their responses are so much more important than something like age.

Just a Thought about Labyrinths

I thought some of the points made in the labyrinth presentation today were interesting. When it was stated that labyrinths are meant to be meditative, I didn't really think much of it at first. However, later it was stated that we have to urge to follow the path despite the fact that there are no walls to dictate the path (usually a 2-dimensional structure).

I realized that maybe it could be meditative because there is no thought about where to walk. There are no choices or dead ends or cross-roads. You simply follow the path into the centre and back out. I felt like the fact that you simply follow the path that is already laid out  and does not require any choices would allow you to think about anything else on your mind. You don't have to focus on getting to point B or making choices along the way. Focusing on other things in your mind would let you walk away with a clear mind. I think it would be very much like mindless wandering, but maybe even requiring less thought. After the presentation, I changed my mind to think that maybe it would be a great opportunity to clear your mind through walking.

Walking by Ryan Larkin (1968)

While attempting to find films that include a significant amount of walking or are based around a walk of some kind, I found a short film created in 1968 by an animator named Ryan Larkin which seemed like the perfect start to exploring walking in film.  The five-minute video shows all different types of walking, but not the purpose for walking. The focus is on the movement, usually based on the type of person, such as a child or a woman in heels.  

The representation of the different ways to walk is completely accurate. They actually look like the people we see walking on the street even though the film is clearly animated.  The animation is done using different drawing and/or painting techniques to represent the people in the film. Sometimes they just look like human forms and sometimes the characters are illustrated to show much more detail. The film only uses music that seems to match the walk seen on screen and no voices, making the different walks the total focus of the film.

The film can me seen at http://www.nfb.ca/film/Walking/

The Way Home

Instead of meeting a stranger, I made the choice to walk with a new friend I met only a few weeks ago. I enjoy taking a walk with one friend because it is a great opportunity to get to know a person better. 

 

Once we met for the walk, we just walked without a plan. We started at his residence and I let him make the decisions on where we were going to go and usually this decision came only when we came to an intersection or separate paths.

 

A few minutes into our walk, Taylor found a tennis ball and it unexpectedly changed the walk. Once found, Taylor played with the tennis ball for the rest of our walk and found ways to do this that involved the architecture on campus. The photo documentation of our walk became focused on the tennis ball and what Taylor did with it.

I found myself seeing new and different things about campus. I looked at some of the architecture in a new way because of the way the tennis ball and Taylor interacted with it.

 

 

Particularly when Taylor threw the ball against a tall cement structure.  I hadn’t really considered this structure before, but once he did this I really appreciated the height of the structure.

 

The biggest challenge of the walk was finding a way to leave an imprint. Since there was not a clear way to leave an imprint that connected with the rest of the walk, once arriving back at Taylor’s residence I just drew a star in the dirt outside. After thinking about this, I am considering placing the tennis ball somewhere else on campus for someone else to find and experience in his or her own way.