[FCT: TOUCH]

Brief: Read the chapter ‘Walking The Future’, in Pujol, Ernesto, Walking Art Practice : Reflections on Socially Engaged Paths (2018) Triarchy Press.

This extract leans towards questioning how we, as artists, deal with the unexpected through a meditative lens.

Recently, the most unexpected experience I had on a journey was finding discomfort in peace.

Unburdened by responsibilities or ideas to wrestle with, there was nothing to push against. No contrast.

Mental and Practical chaos bring energy and character to each moment. An ability to appreciate rest or ease. And the challenge of harder times. I want to be tested, and wrestle. I want to be resourceful. And then I want to go into nature to restore myself and allow the passage of ideas to filter through and out into the abyss again.

Nature is not peaceful, it is chaotic and savage. There are moments of beauty and harmony, but they pass on into destruction and survival. We are bound by cycles that reoccur or expire. Rotations around the sun, seasons, cause and effect.

So I don’t look for peace anymore.

Many years ago I went to Japan. I have many images committed to memory but the most predominant one was the experience I had in the white out.

“There were glimpses of blue skies, but mainly the climate was stormy or overcast. This gave the subjects a fragility and installed a sense of solitude. Even though we travelled in groups on the mountain, it felt like I was the only person looking at the surroundings. Maybe this was influenced by the fact that it was my first experience in this country and therefore it felt more personal. Non the less it invoked the mood.

There were things present in the landscape but the weather hid them. It was like it all belonged to another time. Like the winter had it’s eyes half shut.

It was strangely soothing.”