BUZZARD

Hamish Fulton (1946 - )

Black and white photograph with printed text

1987

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© Hamish Fulton

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection
    The photograph Buzzard captures a specific moment within, and in interaction with, the landscape during a 21 day walk undertaken by Hamish Fulton in late summer 1987.  Walking from South Wales to North East England, his journey led him over seven hill tops and spanned 604 miles. The title evokes a buzzard sighting – the most common bird of prey in the UK. Words are often included in Fulton’s photographs, adding further layers to the impressions and narrative conveyed in the documenting of his experiences as a ‘walking artist’.
     
    Fulton first came to prominence in the late 1960s as one of a number of artists exploring new forms of sculpture and landscape art. Fulton's time as a student at St. Martin's College of Art in London (1966-68) and his journeys in South Dakota and Montana in 1969, encouraged him to think that art could be 'how you view life', and not tied necessarily to the production of objects. In 1973, Fulton decided to 'only make art resulting from the experience of individual walks.' Since then the act of walking has remained central to Fulton's practice, including walks in the UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, Lapland, Iceland, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, The United States, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, India, Japan, Argentina and Tibet. He has stated 'If I do not walk, I cannot make a work of art' and has summed up this way of thinking in the simple statement of intent: 'no walk, no work'. Although only Fulton experiences the walk itself, the texts and photographs he presents in exhibitions and books allow us to share his experience.

  • About the artist
    Hamish Fulton studied at St Martin’s School of Art in the late 1960s and at the Royal College of Art. One of a number of artists of the post-war generation, including Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy, his work relates to landscape and the experience of nature by working directly with it. His work is in many senses ephemeral but is made permanent by its presentation in photographs with short descriptive texts.
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  • Details
    Title
    BUZZARD
    Date
    1987
    Medium
    Black and white photograph with printed text
    Dimensions
    height: 111.50 cm, width: 116.50 cm
    Acquisition
    Commissioned by the Department of the Environment and Conoco (UK) Limited 1987-8, transferred to the GAC 1997
    Inscription
    below text: Hamish Fulton
    GAC number
    17254