C A M I N H A N D O | Florianopolis | Brasil, 1996

ESPIRALS DE JOAQUINA | Concept

Here, we are in the presence of two gigantic spirals that I have drawn on sand through walking. I walked during four weeks, several hours a day, always following the same path, from the center of a larger spiral (approximately of a diameter of 45 meters) into a smaller one, and then back. With time, despite the sandy ground (the landscape was made out of sand dunes neighboring the sea) and the weather, my traces drew into the ground. They became part of the landscape. In the first place, I wished to experience and conquer outdoor space through my moving and walking. My drawing changed the image of the landscape: the action was documented every day through photographs and video. In a second process, I recorded my own traces on the sand. This happened by placing light strips of paper directly on the foot traces. I gently stroke these strips of paper with my hands, rubbed in with oil and pigments of color. In this way, fossil-like signs came into being, embodying the ephemeral action of walking. Many images were created in this process; they were used to create gigantic fresco in the Museu de Arte Santa Catarina. (see video.) The important aspect of this work – despite a certain loneliness in the act of walking – was the daily encounter with people who walked by and who reacted to the changing of the landscape. In this sense, my contact with the inside and outside world does not only occur in the relation of nature with the human being, but also in the relation of the human being with the human being.