Hamish Fulton


Hamish Fulton is an English walking artist. Since 1972 he has only made works based on the experience of walks. He translates his walks into a variety of media, including photography, illustrations, and wall texts. His work is contained in major museums collections, such as the Tate Britain and MoMA. Since 1994 he has begun practicing group walks. Fulton argues that 'walking is an artform in its own right' and argues for wider acknowledgement of walking art.

Biography

He first attended the art foundation course at Hammersmith College of Art. With help from a tutor he was accepted straight into the advanced course at Saint Martin's School of Art, London, 1966–68, and the following year studied at the Royal College of Art, London.
Fulton follows a leave no trace ethic, and does not collect materials on his walks for display in galleries. Instead, his work combines text-based descriptions with a photograph, illustration, or, more recently, vinyl wall texts, to communicate his walks to viewers in a gallery. Fulton has stated that walking is an experience not an art medium, and that what he builds is an experience, not a sculpture. More recently, Fulton has referred to his walks as 'invisible objects' and has discussed his group walks as artworks that are created and observed by the participants. Fulton has emphasised the political aspects of his work, particularly in concern to the situation in Tibet and the degradation of the environment.
In 1994, Fulton first experimented with the creation of group walks while working side-by-side with Marina Abramović at CCA Kitakyushu. He has created a variety of group walks since, including Slowalk in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern to bring attention to the restrictions on artist Ai Weiwei's freedom of travel and artistic production. In 2002 he worked with artist Christine Quoiraud on a series of group walks in France.:59 Since working with Quoiraud, Fulton has adopted her style of equi-spaced walking during his group walks.
In 2010, Deveron Projects commissioned Fulton to create 21 Days in the Cairngorms, which included two group walks in Huntly, Scotland.:55 :3 This project continued Fulton's engagement with the Cairngorms, where he previously created a number of walking works, and resulted in the book Mountain Time, Human Time. Zeiske, the director of Deveron Projects, cites Fulton as the inspiration for the establishment of The Walking Institute, which has continued to develop artistic projects based in walking.:3

Solo exhibitions