Abstract
In a world predominately entangled in economic, political, and social chaos, it can be difficult to find an environment that is free from the clutter of human chaos. I consider, what formations of the natural environment can be found and experienced? Why should the human re-encounter the natural environment? How does one acknowledge a remotely intimate experience, and can this be shared? As an artist I am searching for escape. Driven by notions of romance I explore natural landscapes that heighten the senses and enable intimate encounters with natural phenomenon. Taking myself to remote locations within the UK (North Yorkshire Moors, Galloway Forest, et al), I walk within the landscapes encountering wilderness within its most natural state. Through walking and wild camping, I provide myself a space and platform to approach methods of documentation. Journal writing, image capture and sound recording allow me to record my place within these remote natural environments. These methods provide a direct and immediate form of autoethnographic reflection. In walking, I find a rhythm that allows me to think-through the relationship between the human and the environment and reconnect multiple times often via the artistic approaches captured. My research considers how I might disseminate practical approaches and outcomes to a wider audience to promote other ways of being and to establish or acknowledge that there is a need for the individual to step out of the global entanglement and experience natural phenomena or environmental aesthetics as a positive and intimate re-encounter.
Presenters
Richard AllawayLecturer, Photography, The Northern School of Art, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
PRACTICE, LAND ART, EXPERIENCE, RE-ENCOUNTER, WILDERNESS, REMOTENESS, ENVIRONMENT, INTIMACY, PHENOMENA
