Martin Eccles: No. 2: ‘no trace’
16 Nov 2019–14 Jan 2020
exhibition of 8-channel sound installation

Saturday, 16 Nov 2019 at noon (12’00 p.m.), exhibition opening and guided tour
Tuesday, 19 Nov 2019 at 7’00 p.m., live sound event

Photo: Martin Eccles

No. 2: ‘no trace’ examines the interplay of walking and human senses. Walking in the river is walking as touching. Vision, hearing and balance are blunted; the use of two poles turns the walker into a quadruped; it is only this that allows movement with any confidence at all. Progress is guided by the sense of touch through the feet and, through poles, the hands. The boulder-strewn riverbed is uneven: sunken branches snag at the walkers’ boots, balance is uncertain, walking is slow, and there is no discernible rhythm. The assumption that a walker can place one’s foot in the direction one is going is questioned; unseen rocks twist the feet in or out, compromising the ability to bear weight and to balance.

Artist about the work:

“The river feels like a hidden or lost feature of the estate; it is shielded by trees, flowing in the shade of yew and holly, flanked by low vegetation. It makes its own trace, a ‘reductive line’ inscribed into the landscape, an apparent constant, suggesting both a change in the river and at the same time also implying that there is a change in the walking person. Thus, an interpretive translation could perhaps be derived as “the same person can never step in the same river twice”. The river appears constant, yet its constituents change, indeed, are in constant change. The walker, stepping into the river, is in the same state of flux – apparent external constancy yet perpetual internal, physiological and psychological, change – but, unlike the river in the landscape, the walker leaves no trace in the river. I first walked on the winter solstice and replicated the walk on the spring equinox, three months has passed, the year has changed, the seasons have turned and all the while the river traces its same course with its ‘other waters’ – and still my passing leaves no trace.”

No. 2: ‘no trace’ is part of a broader practice reflecting the experience of the artist in, and walking through, natural environments. Using sound and text he responds to time, distance, movement and place in the landscape. Located at an intersection of fine art, music and poetry, works present embodied experience for contemplation and meditation.

Martin P Eccles is a walking sound artist and poet. His practice aims to reflect the experience of his presence in and walking through natural environments. He uses a range of methods (predominantly sound and text) to respond to time, distance and place in the landscape. His sound works explore time through a number of methods such as replicated walks, durational walks, “Cagean” walks and walks that challenge his senses. His poems are presented as text but are also spoken and presented within the sound recordings.

He qualified in Fine Art from Newcastle University and is currently studying part-time for a PhD in Fine Art. He has exhibited in various international galleries and venues. He has had many solo radio broadcasts, in 2018/19 he had a 24-episode radio series and the broadcast of a continuous 24-hour work. He has published work in Alliterati magazine and presented work in ‘Desire Lines, Dawdles and Drifts: Walking Together as Research’, Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference, Cardiff, 2018 and at the 4th World Congress of Psychogeography, Huddersfield, 2018.

Credits:

Artist: Martin Eccles
Organisation: Jasmina Založnik
Curation: Irena Pivka, Brane Zorman
Translation and Proofreading: Urban Belina
Public relations: Katarina Radaljac
Postproduction: Cona, zavod za procesiranje sodobne umetnosti, 2019
Place: Steklenik, galerija za zvok, bioakustiko in umetnost