In 1967 art student Richard Long caught a train from Waterloo to an unknown destination in Surrey. He ended up in a field of grass where he 'drew' a line by walking backwards and forwards repeatedly. A black and white snapshot recorded the event and has since been endlessly reproduced in diverse art publications around the world. Indeed, A Line Made by Walking is now the subject of an entire book by critic and curator Dieter Roelstraete, published by Afterall Books, London, in 2010. Deliberately. Roelstraerte meanders as he attempts to scrutinise a straight line. Some obvious contexts, such as early Conceptual Art, Land Art and Performance Art are all dealt with briskly. But he is particularly inspiring when a digression relates Long's work to the less obvious context of slapstick. Slapstick is generally defined as knockabout humour. However, Roelstraerte more specifically pinpoints a deadpan dumbness in Long's 'drawing' that he associates with Samuel Beckett and a comic actor greatly admired by Beckett, namely Buster Keaton.
From the art of walking.