This July studio member Ellie Berry took part in the WAC Walking as a Question 2021 conference – held in Greece, but this year featuring remote participants all around the world – such as Ellie.
For the conference she wrote a research paper, titled “Emerging Questions and Considerations on Leave No Trace and Walking Practices”. In this paper, Ellie looks at how Leave No Trace, the outdoor ethics education programme, has been designed as a guiding mindset for how one interacts with and influences the natural environments. As the act of walking experiences an upsurge in participants, our collective mark on the environment and its natural processes increase. As artists, one can argue that there is a responsibility in how one’s engagements shape the culture around an activity, and as walking spreads into more fields of life and research, this consideration becomes all the more important.
This paper aims to ask some emerging questions into how walking practices could incorporate or consider Leave No Trace within the practice. To investigate this topic I will be drawing on my artistic research into walking as practice, and my experience of both becoming and working as a Leave No Trace Ireland trainer.
You can find her paper to read here on her website.
She has also created an audio paper, designed as an immersive experience for people to listen to while walking. You can find the MP3 on her website at the above link, or listen to it via the below youtube video.
Ormond Art Studios 