A WELL WORN WALK : PATH
STEPS THAT HARDENED : PATH
A FOLLOWING HELD IN COMMON : PATH
walking is an archaic pursuit (except for the clothes)
a walk is a thought; a path is a judgement
the only way slower than walking is looking (after Fréderic Gros)
walking threads sight
every walk must own its horizon
every walk produces a ratio – distance : landscape
walking undresses thinking
how we walk the hills is how we would like to live our lives
when Naismith made his rule regarding the distance a fit walker can walk in an hour on the hills – three miles – he did not allow for photography
some walks are rehearsed daily, some happen only once
a walk is a thought; a path is a judgement
the only way slower than walking is looking (after Fréderic Gros)
walking threads sight
every walk must own its horizon
every walk produces a ratio – distance : landscape
walking undresses thinking
how we walk the hills is how we would like to live our lives
when Naismith made his rule regarding the distance a fit walker can walk in an hour on the hills – three miles – he did not allow for photography
some walks are rehearsed daily, some happen only once
there
are those who speak of how many miles they have walked
and those that mention how many hours
and those that mention how many hours
when night falls on a walk it becomes a different walk,
beneath what Rimbaud called the ‘gentle fuss’ of the stars
puddles are a walks speech bubbles
a walk is a rite that can make mountains appear
there are tales that last as long as a walk and stories
that bring walking to a halt
each step marks a moment that the walk drifts in an out of
if walking sets a rhythm well-fitted to thinking then a heather moor
is duh-duh-dumb
so far walking has survived irony, though there are warning signs:
Watch-out, Flâneurs About!
if we knew how to say: on the walk I absorbed
this much
of the landscape, but all we have are miles and hours
late autumnal walks should be circular or you will end up with one
russet cheek
a walk takes possession of the distance by means of memories
not milestones
what we see renders the walk unrepeatable
no matter how many times a walk is taken you can never step
into the same walk
I walked my inside out
I walked until the hills were inside me
my ‘short walk’ may be far longer than your ‘long walk’
we say that we made a walk, for making is happiness
in Scotland everyone says that you are free to walk where you wish, but no one does
of the landscape, but all we have are miles and hours
late autumnal walks should be circular or you will end up with one
russet cheek
a walk takes possession of the distance by means of memories
not milestones
what we see renders the walk unrepeatable
no matter how many times a walk is taken you can never step
into the same walk
I walked my inside out
I walked until the hills were inside me
my ‘short walk’ may be far longer than your ‘long walk’
we say that we made a walk, for making is happiness
in Scotland everyone says that you are free to walk where you wish, but no one does
a path should merge into the wild on either
side
trust a deer path over a human path
paths are maintained by use
paths are never straight no matter how flat the country
paths decide between us
a song for a path, a pibroch for the great wood
plan a path with broad feet and narrow eyes
paths move the edges of the mountains
a path translates muddled ground into arranged land
a path holds the foreground and assembles vision –
only as far as the horizon
a path is not static
this path is off the map
paths are interludes between episodes
a path is a rod and a road (after Watkins)
I follow the path that is my guide (after Reverdy)
after Frank Fraser Darling, GF Dutton and Alfred Watkins
trust a deer path over a human path
paths are maintained by use
paths are never straight no matter how flat the country
paths decide between us
a song for a path, a pibroch for the great wood
plan a path with broad feet and narrow eyes
paths move the edges of the mountains
a path translates muddled ground into arranged land
a path holds the foreground and assembles vision –
only as far as the horizon
a path is not static
this path is off the map
paths are interludes between episodes
a path is a rod and a road (after Watkins)
I follow the path that is my guide (after Reverdy)
after Frank Fraser Darling, GF Dutton and Alfred Watkins
bibliography
Augustus
Grimble: Deer Stalking and Deer Forests
of Scotland
Frèderic
Gros: A
Philosophy of Walking
Sheila Young: ‘Lochnagar Route Names’, in Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal,
No. 210, 2010
Adam
Watson: The Place Names of Upper Deeside
photography
walker, Glen Feardar: Hannah
Devereux, 2015
Bealach Dearg: Hannah
Devereux, 2015
path,
lower slopes of Càrn Crom:
Hannah Devereux, 2016
Glen Callater: Hannah Devereux,
2016
path, Linn of Quoich: AF,
2015
Ornette Coleman
described the notion of style, in playing music, as ‘phrasing that had hardened.’
A text on walking, ‘wild gardens’ and GF Dutton’s philosophy of paths will appear shortly on The Perthshire Tour blog.
A text on walking, ‘wild gardens’ and GF Dutton’s philosophy of paths will appear shortly on The Perthshire Tour blog.
Gathering was commissioned by Hauser & Wirth, for the
Fife Arms Hotel, Braemar; the project was launched in 2015 and will conclude in
2018.
The artist residency at University of Aberdeen is funded by The Leverhulme Trust; the project was launched in July 2016 and will conclude May 2017.
The artist residency at University of Aberdeen is funded by The Leverhulme Trust; the project was launched in July 2016 and will conclude May 2017.