EVAPORATION WALKS – WalkingLab

I want to tell you about the walks I have been taking. They help me be in my body where my experiences of the world are more direct. During these walks my feet press firmly against the ground and I become increasingly aware of my environment. My breath connects to the pace of my walking – slow and steady. My hands carry well-utilized dinner plates of pigmented water through vast and unpopulated fields, urban streets, country roads and highway ditches. The color rhythmically sways like waves on a shore until evaporated.

I work to re-discover the familiar to find respite in the less dramatic occurrences of life. During these walks the complexities of mediated existence are reduced to one quiet task carried out with a single intention, to be present.

Evaporation walking is a practice I began in 2012 as a means for letting go of grief. In collaboration with place and time, the process of evaporation sets the duration for each walk. The gesture of carrying evaporated water is a metaphor for carrying a dying body. Along the way, perceived boundaries between space and matter soften.

The first group evaporation walk took place in Columbus, Ohio on August 2^nd 2015. The second group evaporation walk is scheduled for October 31^st in the Hocking Valley of Southeastern Ohio with Compassionate Friends, a support group for bereaving mothers. This project has received support from the Ohio Arts Council and numerous other non-profits including the Santa Fe Arts Institute, Ucross Foundation, and Virginia Center for Creative Arts.