0.68mi Walk Around a Tree in Maplecrest NY, USA 2024

LINK TO THE FULL VIDEO

Shortlisted for the 2024 Marsarto Award

Special thanks to Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts for the support and opportunity to

create this work.

FEATURE ON WALK.LISTEN.CREATE WEBSITE

In this walking art piece, a simple yet evocative action unfolds over 18 minutes and 20 seconds, transforming a rural Catskills landscape into a meditation on connection, presence, and the changing dynamics of perception. The work takes the viewer on a journey around a tree in Maplecrest, NY, using the act of walking as both an artistic practice and a means of creating an evolving relationship with the environment.

The video is filmed from the artist's perspective, looking towards a central tree that becomes both anchor and partner in this walking ritual. A white rope is tied around the artist's waist, its other end fastened to the tree, forming a taut line that connects them. As the artist walks in a slow, clockwise path, the rope wraps progressively around the tree, shortening the distance between them and altering the visual and emotional relationship between artist, viewer, and landscape. The durational action is deliberate, paced to evoke contemplation, as the rope gradually pulls the artist closer until, by the video's end, the tree fills the frame.

This act creates multiple linear paths and connections: the literal line of the rope connecting the artist and the tree, and the spiraling path traced by the artist's movement. This unicursal line—a singular, unbroken path—is a slowly evolving connection between artist and tree, with each circumnavigation drawing them incrementally closer. The rope line tightens with each rotation, reducing the distance the artist must travel with each spiraling circumnavigation. The shortening rope and tightening of the spiral materializing a slow tension between distance and proximity, as well as the inevitability of convergence.

Initially, the tree serves as a visual anchor in the composition, surrounded by the expansive elements of the rural landscape—cloudy but bright sky, tree-covered mountains in the distance, the repeated views of a farm, a white house, fields, and a cemetery. These elements continuously reveal and repeat themselves in subtle variations as the artist circles the tree, creating a sense of rhythm and layering. The grassy field, freshly mowed, features visible mow lines that flow across the screen, offering a subtle linear counterpoint to the spiraling path of the walk.

As the artist draws closer, the tree shifts from being an element within the composition to the dominant focal point, changing the spatial dynamics of the frame. This transition—from the tree as an object in an expansive scene to a close, intimate presence—mirrors the artist's own movement and the changing perception of proximity and connection. The shifting perspective underscores how something as familiar as a tree can transform in meaning and presence when approached with sustained, meditative focus.

The ambient sounds enhance this slow, unfolding narrative. Wind rustles, punctuated by the sound of footsteps in the grass, distant passing cars, and the occasional voices of children playing nearby. These sounds ground the video in the everyday, reminding the viewer that this intimate, almost ritualistic engagement is set against the backdrop of a living, breathing world.

Through this piece, the artist invites us to consider the power of simple actions and the relationships forged between self and environment. The rope acts as both a physical and metaphorical tether—a connection that both limits and draws together. The slow, spiraling journey around the tree becomes a visual and conceptual representation for how we connect to and center ourselves within the world around us. The mundane yet poetic act of walking, the interplay of distance and closeness, the tightening spiral, and the changing frame all contribute to a sense of evolving relationships over time—between artist, landscape, and viewer.

CHRIS KACZMAREK

CHRIS KACZMAREK