Hamish Fulton - Museum Haus Konstruktiv

Hamish Fulton – WALKING CUTS A LINE THROUGH 21st CENTURY LIFE
March 17 through September 5, 2004
A key statement by Hamish Fulton (born in England, 1946) is that WALKING TRANSFORMS. Fulton sees himself as a
WALKING ARTIST, as someone who transforms into art his experience of walking. He was initially inspired by a walk
in 1973 during which he covered over a thousand miles. Since then he has gone on regular walks covering varying
distances and creating artistic records of them for himself and other viewers. These walks have taken him all over the
world, to Alaska and Peru, to India and Tibet, as well as across European wildernesses and urban areas. Fulton
considers WALKING an artistic and intrinsically existential act by which he focuses both physically and mentally, STEP
BY STEP, on the traversing of time and space. SLOWNESS is an important element because walking forces the
walker to adapt to the rhythm of nature. Fulton takes with him food and water, and a tent for shelter along the way, as
well as maps, a camera, his diary, paper and pencil (but no telephone) to record the walk for later use. If required the
walk is done in a group, as in the year 2000 when Fulton, Messmer and a group of sherpas climbed Cho Oyo in Tibet.
Occasionally Fulton organises a group walk to provide participants the direct experience of a walk becauseWALKING
IS PRACTICAL, NOT THEORETICAL.
However, Fulton does not wish to be equated to a romantic nature lover or adventurer. His concept of walking is
concerned with the immediate experience of space, with MOVEMENT – his own and that of time. He accepts and
respects the state of his (urban) environment. Fulton never intervenes, nor ever leaves any traces. TO PRACTISE THE
‚WILDERNESS ETHIC’ OF LEAVE-NO-TRACE is an immutable principle. Hence he does not remove any objects but
rather returns the rocks whose contours he transfers to paper to the exact spot where they were found. Unlike
Richard Long, whose objective it is to demonstrate the merging of nature and culture, Fulton does not collect, remove
or artistically manipulate any objects found along the way
Fulton perceives WALKING as an art form: A WALK CAN EXIST LIKE AN INVISIBLE OBJECT IN A COMPLEX WORLD,
but he also creates physical works of art. However, they will disappoint anyone who expects to catch a glimpse of
Fulton the private person. He informs by presenting facts, ‚as rationally, as purely, as clearly, as simply, as factually
succinctly as possible. None of his experiences can be guessed, none of his feelings are re-stimulated. No
impression is turned into a moment of association, no incident stimulates memory.’ (Raimund Stecker)
Fulton records his walks for other viewers in photographs and drawings, preferably in large-scale wall drawings
(Great Hall). He provides the date and place, the distance covered and, perhaps, a few other significant details. He
summed up the extreme climb of Cho Oyu thus: A GUIDED AND SHERPA ASSISTED CLIMB TO THE SUMMIT
PLATEAU OF CHO OYU OF 8175 METRES VIA THE CLASSIC ROUTE WITHOUT SUPPLEMENTARY OXYGEN TIBET
AUTUMN 2000. The hardships suffered are evoked by three words, BRAIN, HEART and LUNGS. It is not only Fulton
but anyone undertaking this kind of ‚walk’ who will have to muster the necessary mental and physical strength.
Language, or rather the word, is an important ingredient to the information provided by Fulton's works of art. Words
stand for the steps taken along the way; they grow into sentences as a distance is covered step by step. Signpostlike,
Fulton's sentences indicate the road taken. He occasionally includes topography, for example by drawing
contours to reproduce differences in elevation, or – as in the wall drawing presented here – the steps in the pyramid.
However, these drawings are not re-productions in the traditional sense but stylised symbols borrowed from the
world of cartography.
The Cabinet (1st Floor) reveals the artist's poetic side. Here Fulton presents photographic works, drawings and
objects, as well as graphic designs. He also expands his artistic concept to secondary materials by designing cards,
brochures and books himself. Again, texts accompany each image. Photographic works are commented in print,
whereas comments on the drawings are handwritten. In either case, any allusion to the artist's personal state is
avoided. When photographing Fulton focuses on what he sees, which may be banal or overwhelming. At other
moments, he may draw something after nature, such as the rocks whose contours symbolise the endless variety of
natural forms.
Stiftung für konstruktive und konkrete Kunst, Selnaustrasse 25, 8001 Zürich, T 01 217 70 80, F 01 217 70 90
info@hauskonstruktiv.ch, www.hauskonstruktiv.ch

In Fulton's opinion art is not about stroking the artistic ego. Basically, MAKING ART SHOULD BE AS SIMPLE AS
SWEEPING THE FLOOR. Fulton chose walking as an art form: „Hamish Fulton walks the way a painter paints.“
(Raimund Stecker) His works are about walking and refer to the characteristics of this activity. The actual experience,
however, is absent and may at best be intuited: AN ARTWORK CANNOT RE-PRESENT THE EXPERIENCE OF A WALK.
Fulton emphasises that it remains elusive, immaterial, unique, impossible to apprehend through mere description,
and gives us an idea of what EXPERIENCE may mean. WALKING not only has a basis in reality, but claims a
philosophical position of cultural criticism. One might want to accept the invitation extended by Fulton's art to make
one's own experience, reach one's own insights.
Elisabeth Grossmann, Curator
We greatly appreciate the financial support by Allreal AG, the British Council, the Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation
and Ringier AG. This exhibition was created in cooperation with Häusler Contemporary, München, Germany. The wall
drawings in the great hall were executed by Cordula Huber and Marlyse Meyerhofer.
Opening hours:
Public guided tours:
April 29, 2004, 6pm
June 22, 2004, 6pm
Wed/Fri 12-6pm, Thur 12-8pm, Sat/Sun 11am-6pm
Thursdays 12:15pm; Sundays 11:15am; every first Thursday of the month, 6:30 pm. Guided
tours for groups upon request.
Hamish Fulton – Guided tour in English by Felicity Lunn followed by an apéro (sponsored by
the British Council). Free admission.
Hamish Fulton – Public talk by Hamish Fulton, „Between Image and Reality.“
ETH Hönggerberg, Auditorium HIL E4. Free admission.
(Please note that this event has been postponed from June 15 to 22.)
© Translation from German:
Margret Powell-Joss
mpowelljoss@swissonline.ch
Stiftung für konstruktive und konkrete Kunst, Selnaustrasse 25, 8001 Zürich, T 01 217 70 80, F 01 217 70 90
info@hauskonstruktiv.ch, www.hauskonstruktiv.ch