W I D E O P E N S P A C E S

There it is! Just in front of us. The wide-open space.
See how it invites us, tempts us, entices! It wakes our senses and puts our intellect on hold.
We take the first steps. Departure. The framed vision is left behind as we move into 3D.
Now experience; how we experience! The body takes over. Motion and landscape become one. We are the landscape. The landscape is within us. Exhilarating. Invigorating - a multisensory experience as Pallasmaa would have put it. Our senses integrate and the division of subject/object is only vaguely maintained. Finally it deteriorates.
How is this possible? How can we grasp such a complex entity? Perhaps the answer is one of evolution. We simply grew out of the landscape. Becoming part of it was crucial for our survival.
For the remaining Nomads, Shepherds and people who live off the land it still is. But they are few and in decline. To the rest of us, modern man, the ability to engage with the landscape is of less importance. It serves us as a recreational and therapeutic offer, or, as Susan Sontag has described it, a series of potential photographs; we could say the same of this his exhibition.
We walk! Now how do we walk? We begin to orientate ourselves. This activates our senses at different levels. Our feet investigate the various textures of the earth and prepare for the next step. On one level our vision anticipates the overall direction. Soon we establish a set of marking points, hills, rocks, and canyons etc. that allow us to navigate safely into the landscape. On a greater scale our body senses the subtle spaces of the landscape and gently direct our move.
Our vision has changed. There is no focus now. We see everything, yet nothing is retained. We have shifted to the peripheral vision located on the right hemisphere. The landscape is turned into a Pollock painting. Now we can walk.