Of course it will end
Just as all the parts that make a person
That make a thing
Will tear themselves apart in time
And go drifting to the infinite
It will end, only much, much sooner
For you
For all of us.
Come here, come here.
I’ll shake you by the shoulders
It’s not yet over
It’s barely begun
Whole and alive, you person thing.
The universe set seed
Cast you, cast all of us in furrows
Careless as the wind in hope of nothing
No it is we who want to live
As beneficiaries of time
Wilting while still fresh
But nonetheless,
Facts
And enders, all.
Art Monk
I call humanity into potency, into meaning, agency, peace and light as a way of resisting our suffering, our impotence, our nihilism, fears, addictions and their products. My work is made to bring about the acceptance of mortality, of transitions, transformation and endings because these are the blocks that prevent our emergence as a species of artists; the stewards of consciousness; the custodians of the divine.
In practice, I strive to live and lead by example, that my work and I become one. My work is longform, instructional and cyclical. I am both pilgrim and missionary, but one who travels, listens and returns with news of the frontiers of resistance. I do it in the hope that those who have given up, become frightened, who have lost their voice or who have yet to find it, can find their own light in the strange disquiet of existence.
In philosophy, my work is questions: can I look death, that unknowable void, in the eye? Can I do it with wonder? What wisdom does it hold for humanity? I ask of it, what causes our tendency to destroy, what makes us pollute the only environment we know of that can sustain us? Are we so impotent that the act of collective and personal suicide is the only sovereign act we can imagine? I ask and I listen for replies. What if I hear them? What then?
Art making is discernment, a process where meaning is gained by choosing to point at one thing over another and declaring, “look, this is a thing that is worth looking at, this is a thing that is beautiful, this is a thing that has wisdom, this is joy, here is the antidote”. My task is to find those things and to point at them in beautiful and interesting ways. Not for their own sake, but because in this life, where pointing has become noisy, arbitrary, polarised and nihilistic, to discern is to provide medicine for the soul of humankind.
Begin.
Graeme Walker, 2020-2023
Scavenger, listenist, ferryman, monk, ender
Graeme Walker
contemplative objects
Institutions
The Frugal Society. 2022
The Peaceful Order of Antarcticans. 2021
Member of The Order of The Good Death. 2021
Member of the Winchester Institute for Contemplative Education and Practice. 2020.
Living Well, Dying Well. Ferryman Training. 2017 - 18.
Research Pilgrimage. UK. 2015 - 18.
Northumbria University, Newcastle. Fine Art. First Class Honours Degree. 2002.
Representation
Outside Gallery, United Kingdom
Boekie Woekie, The Netherlands
Bookartbookshop, United Kingdom
Cassidy Hall, USA
Exhibitions + Projects
2023
Flatpack Festival - with Ian Nesbitt
Basia Irland - Repositories Book Design
Dark Mountain 23 - Dark Kitchen
2022
Dark Mountain - Ark
Wat is Dit? - Plantage Dok, nl
Dark Mountain ~ Confluence.
2021
Maps from the Peaceful Order of Antarcticans. Antarktikos Magazine.
It’s ok to look. Dark Mountain ~ Requiem.
2020
Add Texture. Sound art app. addtexture.com
2013
The Wild School, Brighton. A school of agency, collaboration + emergence.
2008 - 2013
Coachwerks. Activated building. A place for artists + community.
2007 - 2013
Mummers Theatre Company. Plays that celebrate the turning seasons.
2009
Seven Hills. Installation. SKART. Gorzów, Poland.
The Great Orchidaceous Travesty. Cabaret of joy + wonder. Resistance Gallery, London.
2008
Now Wash Your Hands. Solo exhibition. Oosterbeek, NL
Glad you’re not here. Installation. Epic, Auto Italia, London, UK.
2007 - present
The Pebble Museum. Online museum of poetry + geology.
2007
Coming Down The Mountain. Solo durational performance. Scheemda, NL.
Flag. Tattoo, flag + performance. Rotterdam Vlaggenparade.
Therapy. Installation + performance. Novellus Castellum, Newcastle.
Auto Reflex / Micro Response. SKART, Cork.
2006
The Publishathon. Collaborative publishing, community + performance. Hull Art Lab.
2004 - 8
Baart Store. Activated building. Gallery representing book arts + multiples. Rotterdam, NL
2005 - 2010
Bookville. Activated buildings, book arts + performance. Newcastle, Rotterdam, Brighton.
2003
Four Plus: Writing DNA. Group Exhibition. Wellcome Trust, London. Northern Graduates. Curwen & New Academy Gallery, London. 2002 Fresh Art. Business Design Centre, London.
Selected Publications / Multiples
Publications in the following collections: British Library, Baltic+, Cardiff Metropolitan University, University of West of England, Centre for Artists Books
Postcard series. 2017-present.
Do Less. Multiple. 2019.
Hobo Compass. Multiple. 2012
Noisegate #12. 2006
BV! 2006.
The Drift Book. 2003.
Crisis! 2002.
Selected Awards
Crinklecut Field Research Grant. Auschwitz/Oświencim Poland. 2019.
Seedbed Grant. Research Pilgrimage. 2018
a-n NAN research grant. 2005 + 2009
Arts Council Funding 2003 + 2006