The Walk
Distance Bruxelles - Istanbul is an artistic walking expedition
through European Union started in October 2007. Practically
speaking, two persons are crossing land by foot. Furthermore
they are crossing land that belongs to a complex union of
different interests called Europe. The path has started from the
centre, is streching to the edge and accross the frontier.
In this project walking is used as a tool to deconstruct (at least our) illusions
of today´s Europe. We want to discover a disparate speed of being and
experiencing - in order to uncover and questionize the images created by
the fast culture of consuming i.e. cheap flights, quick holidays,
new communication, European identity advertised in the media etc.
The aim is to work simultaneously on political and esthetical perceptions.
Distance and discussion between the geopolitical center and the extreme
of Europe Union are under our concious research whereas the daily way of
observing is literaly down to earth: under, in and around our walking bodies.
"Walking" entails the epistemological wonder of being,
at the same time maximally personal and minimally subjective,
Walking is: meeting a landscape on its own terms (and so making it your own),
as well as conquering it step-by-step with your whole body
(and so experiencing it as it is). Walking determines not
just the content [...], it also constitutes
(the) form. Stylistically "walking" ensures maximal
presence - it means that you are present in toto[...], that you don't hitch on the
cheap with what you didn't imagine yourself[...].
- Eelco Runia, about walking in W. G. Sebald's novels.