A Line Made by Walking
A Line Made by Walking is a 1967 sculpture by British artist
History
A Line Made by Walking was made in 1967 when Long was a 22-year-old art student at Saint Martin's School of Art, London.[5][6] At the time, Long commuted regularly between his home in Bristol and the school, a journey of around 120 miles.[6] Stopping in Wiltshire,[6][7] he found a grassy area and walked a straight path in it repeatedly until a line was visible. He then took a black and white photograph of the result.[1][5][8]
The work was considered innovative at the time as it proposed that the simple act of walking could be an art form,[9] and that art could be produced by the foot as well as the hand.[1] The piece also questioned whether the performance – or the document of the performance – was the actual artwork.[7][10][11] As such it presented a challenge to what was traditionally understood to be as sculpture.[12] The work, which set the tone for Long's career as an artist,[13] was one of his earliest pieces[14][15] and his first walking-based piece.[16][17][18] In the context of Long's career, A Line Made by Walking manifested the artist's fascination with trails and traces as mapped histories, a very prevalent theme in his work.[19][20]
A Line Made by Walking established Long as a minimalist and conceptual sculptor; it was also an early example of
Collections
The work is held in the collections of the
The 2017 novel, A Line Made by Walking, by Sara Baume, is named for the artwork.[27][28]
References
- ^ a b c d Macfarlane, Robert (22 May 2009). "Walk the Line". The Guardian.
- ISBN 9781597111393.
- ^ "BBC Arts - BBC Arts - I walk the line: How Richard Long turns epic journeys into art". 10 May 2018.
- ^ a b Art in America, Volume 75 (1987), page 163.
- ^ ISBN 9781846380600.
- ^ a b c d "'A Line Made by Walking', Richard Long, 1967".
- ^ ISBN 9781472421005.
- ISBN 9781493026425.
- ^ Higgins, Charlotte (2012-06-15). "Richard Long: 'It was the swinging 60s. To be walking lines in fields was a bit different'". The Guardian.
- ISBN 9781101199558.
- ISBN 9781441147745.
- ^ "New Statesman". 2009.
- .
- ISBN 9781861711878.
- ISBN 9781579583934.
- ISBN 9783822859070.
- ISBN 9780936080383.
- ^ "Richard Long | Artists | Collection | British Council − Visual Arts".
- JSTOR 20075034.
- ^ Haas, Phillip. "Stones and Flies. Richard Long in the Sarah". Alexander Street. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ^ "Artist Richard Long's groundbreaking A line made by walking". Public Delivery. 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
- ^ a b c d e "Sculptures". Richard Long. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ^ "A&A | A Line Made By Walking". www.artandarchitecture.org.uk.
- ^ "A Line Made by Walking (Getty Museum)".
- ^ "A Line Made by Walking". National Galleries of Scotland.
- Guggenheim Museum. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
- ^ Cross, Stephanie (March 12, 2017). "A Line Made By Walking by Sara Baume – review". The Guardian.
- ^ Gujarathi, Chika (April 18, 2017). "Sara Baume: Portrait of an artist in retreat". BookPage.