Hamish Fulton

Hamish Fulton

"An artwork may be purchased, but a walk cannot be sold....A walk has a life of its own and does not need to be materialized into an artwork" Hamish Fulton

HamishFulton was born in London in 1946.  He studied art from 1964-1969 at Hammersmith College of Art, St Martin's College of Art and The Royal College of Art all in London.  His website is fairly minimalist, but shows selected examples of his work which involves walking.  I like the way it also plays sounds that he may have encountered on his walks echoing Liz Wells (2011) comment that walking is a sensual experience.  She says that birdsong, wind, sun, rain and noises of machinery hint at seasonal changes, habitat and local land use.  As he walks, Wells (2011) tells us, he keeps notes of feelings and observations and takes photographs.  He regards walking as a means in itself.  He regards himself as an artist who makes walks, rather than a walker who makes art.  Wells (2011) goes on to inform us that he tends to photograph in a traditional landscape style, looking out towards distant horizons, often with a vanishing point in the image.  Captions to his images are literal and succinct.  Early work included text with his images, but gradually text has taken over more and the photograph is only one element.  The Turner Contemporary website (2012) tells us that at the heart of his practice is the belief that walking is an art form in its own right.  The website goes on to say that when he began he wanted to emphasise the activity of walking and his engagement with nature.  It tells us that Fulton regards walking as a meditative activity with a clear beginning and end.  Fulton says that walking can be a physical challenge and mountaineering provides him with with a form of walking based on an extreme relationship with nature.  He feels more empathy with walkers and mountaineers than with other artists.  He believes that he should tread lightly and leave the environment unchanged by his passing.  He lives the well-known saying 'take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints'.  This marks him out as different from 'Land Artists' who actively seek to alter the land in some way.

Fulton, H. (1991) Wind Through the Pines [photograph] [online image] Tate. Available from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/work/P/P77/P77621_10.jpg [Accessed 23.2.16]

Fulton,H. An Object Cannot Be Complete Without an Experience [colour photograph] [online image] Available from: http://www.clarkgoldsberry.com/uploads/7/4/3/0/7430824/3391149_orig.jpg [Accessed 23.2.16]

Turner Contemporary (2012) Hamish Fulton: Walk  [online] Available from: https://www.turnercontemporary.org/media/documents/Hamish-Fulton-background-resource.pdf [Accessed 21.02.16]

Wells, L. (2011) Land Matters: Landscape Photography, Culture and Identity. London, I.B.Tauris