Successive Inconceivable Events

In Successive Inconceivable Events, Richard Turner Walker attempts to record a direct dialogue with nature. At first, we see a panorama of landscapes, forests and mountains that radiate seclusion and serenity, but are not without a certain coolness, giving the video the impression of a painting. Then the artist himself appears amidst the scenery. He places a CD player on a tree stump from which issue the gentle sounds of an acoustic guitar. The performer sits down in the landscape – his back turned to the viewer - and begins, as soon as the music stops, to carry out an intimate conversation with nature. He articulates his feelings when faced with the unapproachable distance of the nature around him and its lack of acknowledgement for his own presence. While nature encounters him with overwhelming beauty, this is coupled with a raw frigidity. He senses not only a dearth of warmth and comfort, but ultimately also the absence of any kind of connection at all. He admires nature as if she were a far-away loved one, but at the same time feels isolated, even alienated. Richard Turner Walker's work takes up the long tradition of nature dialogue, reflecting on the impossibility of man truly knowing nature as she always eludes his grasp. (Corina Charalambous)