WALK ON: Kielder

Tim Knowles, Forest Walk

WALK ON Art-Walking Northumberland enabled Tim Knowles to complete a new piece of work for Kielder. The resulting documentation consisting of an 8 hour video and large still images, was shown in the gallery at Kielder Castle 15th June – 28th July 2013.

Tim had proposed an extraordinary walk of endurance through Kielder Forest which he made in May 2013. He attempted to walk in a straight line for eight hours in the forest through areas of varying age of plantings with a variety of densities, canopy height and species, all of which affected the amount of space, light levels and nature of the forest floor. These areas included one of the original forests planted in 1927 and others where 10 year old trees grow tightly together in a dark, near impenetrable mass. The artist documented  the entire eight hours with HD video camera accompanied by stereo audio recording and with still shots taken every 12 seconds.

The resulting video and sound piece was shown in real-time in the gallery alongside prints, photographs and a map showing the artist’s position along the route at any given time.
The project and exhibition was hosted in collaboration with Kielder Art & Architecture and with the generous support and help of the Forestry Commission.

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