The Mud Man: Walking Art in Macao

On a random Wednesday morning in April I climbed over a tall barrier that blocked off the beach. I was covered in mud head to toe and carry office furniture.

To be precise, I was pushing, pulling, carrying and dragging an office chair, a folding desk, a computer and a monitor. This was a mobile office that was being pulled through the city to the obvious bemusement, not to say disdain, of well dressed passers by.

The small wheels were not designed for pavements and slopes. I had to try really hard to control it all and it became quickly clear that this was not going to be an easy task, it was physically demanding. I threw myself into it and became very focussed on the action, this was the only way I would get it done. Most sensible people would give up here, then again, most sensible people wouldn't do something like this in the first place. 

The first part of this walk cum drag took place on flat reclaimed land next to the casinos. All of a sudden a steep hill rises from the ground and, fortunately, there was a public lift that I was able to squeeze into to take me to the top. I was already feeling wrecked.

Now into the old city proper I pushed on. I don't particularly want to explain why I did this, I rather like the fact that the whole thing was unannounced and people in the street, here too for that matter, had to find their own explanation. I think there is a lack of things in our cities that don't fit but which provoke interesting questions even wonder. More often the things that come out of nowhere are less obvious or less benign. You lose your job because of technology developed half-way around the world or your bills jump sharply because a war. Life itself makes less and less sense and is unstable. 

And onto one of the Portuguese style areas which are beautiful but have these small stone cobbles which are a nightmare to pull a loaded office chair over. Well I guess they were not thinking of that scenario when they paved the streets in traditional Portuguese Calçada. There is an interesting history to these stones, which are not as old as they appear. They were put in place in the dying days of the colonial administration leaving a residual Portuguese mark on the city which has come to be embraced. For me they were not welcome at all! 

An hour and much sweat later I arrived at Ox Warehouse where the exhibition will happen next month. One part of it be the video of this walk, which these still are taken from; another part will be the office equipment itself. If it's still working, it might even be used to show the video, let's see. This question of gallery presentation is a persistent question that many artists have worked with: how to show or share a walk? In this case the walk is a spectacle too so the focus is on the walker as much as on the terrain. I might return to this subject in a further post and look at a few examples of walking art presentations but first things first, a long deep shower, a video to edit and an exhibition to install. Opens May 6th.