Stones Along the Path
III
I measure myself
Against a tall tree.
I find that I am much taller,
For I reach right up to the sun,
With my eye;
And I reach to the shore of the sea
With my ear.
Nevertheless, I dislike
The way ants crawl
In and out of my shadow.
–Wallace Stevens, from “Six Significant Landscapes,” Harmonium, 1916.
Richard Long has been using the Earth to measure his humanity for more than half a century. Each step, of the millions he has taken traversing the planet, has the revelatory potential of Neil Armstrong’s leap from LM Eagle to the surface of the moon. Stones Along the Path, like Armstrong’s boot print, records a passage: and is therefore an occasion to consider where we stand.
Text: Dakin Hart
Richard Long
Stones Along the Path
2024
Approx 49.5m x 60cm
(c) the Artist; Courtesy, Lisson Gallery
I measure myself
Against a tall tree.
I find that I am much taller,
For I reach right up to the sun,
With my eye;
And I reach to the shore of the sea
With my ear.
Nevertheless, I dislike
The way ants crawl
In and out of my shadow.
–Wallace Stevens, from “Six Significant Landscapes,” Harmonium, 1916.
Richard Long has been using the Earth to measure his humanity for more than half a century. Each step, of the millions he has taken traversing the planet, has the revelatory potential of Neil Armstrong’s leap from LM Eagle to the surface of the moon. Stones Along the Path, like Armstrong’s boot print, records a passage: and is therefore an occasion to consider where we stand.
Text: Dakin Hart
Richard Long
Stones Along the Path
2024
Approx 49.5m x 60cm
(c) the Artist; Courtesy, Lisson Gallery
