Meditation Walking

Originally conducted during the “Silence. Awareness. Existence.” Residency at the Arteles Center in Haukijärvi, Finland, Meditation Walking is an evidential study of transitory meditation practices and sensory intake. Scientific research has determined that meditative actions change the interior landscape of the body. Examples of such changes include the physical structure of the brain, increased speed of neurons, growth in circulatory enzymes, and the alteration of genetic code. Separate research has determined that the body’s somatosensory and interception networks are triggered when an individual performs a familiar task with their eyes closed, resulting in heightened brain activity and personal awareness. But what happens to the body when these two actions are combined?

Meditation Walking challenges notions of measurement and explores the biologic impact of engaging in a walking meditation without sight. By using a marker to trace the continuous movement of the walking meditation, the installation becomes an immeasurable seismograph of internal experience. The wavering marks on the paper function as quantifiable measurements of the performed experience while the compression of the collected data bypasses all means of accessible analysis. Every ebb and flow of meditation is recorded, but every moment is indistinguishable from the rest.

Meditation Walking has had multiple iterations including the original installation at the Arteles Residency in Finland; in my former studio in Jacksonville, Illinois; and as an interactive workshop at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.