38 Dartmoor Climbs |
A list of 38 routes first named and climbed in 1999, the artist’s birth year, holds an exploration between body, geology, and place name. Through travelling to each location, the 22 years since their first climbing is revealed within the rock. Some are completely overgrown, forgotten or too hard to repeat and others have become popular routes, which changes the landscape through erosion and degradation. The nature of trad climbing is invisible; gear is placed by the first climber and then
removed by the second, the lines of the routes hidden to the untrained eye. Feldspar crystals, handholds emerging from the granite, become a medium for movement, language, and imprint. Ephemeral traces of chalk from the climber’s hand, dusted onto the rock through grip, is often the only marking of the route. |
(Click the image above to view trailer)
Dispersed throughout the National Park, the igneous tors coalesce into a deep mapping of the moors.
From disused quarries, to popular tourist spots, to areas since revoked of their public access, the list
investigates the moor through a vertical mapping and a non-cartographic exploration of environment.
The list acts as a collection, a marker of time and change on the moors, and as a question for how they
might change in the future. The climbs highlight the changing demographics of climbing and the
outdoors; descriptions of the routes lend themselves to the male body and the naming of some of the
climbs is derogatory. The documentation of these routes can be indistinguishable, but each route holds
its own collection of narrative which is revealed through climbing it.
Dispersed throughout the National Park, the igneous tors coalesce into a deep mapping of the moors.
From disused quarries, to popular tourist spots, to areas since revoked of their public access, the list
investigates the moor through a vertical mapping and a non-cartographic exploration of environment.
The list acts as a collection, a marker of time and change on the moors, and as a question for how they
might change in the future. The climbs highlight the changing demographics of climbing and the
outdoors; descriptions of the routes lend themselves to the male body and the naming of some of the
climbs is derogatory. The documentation of these routes can be indistinguishable, but each route holds
its own collection of narrative which is revealed through climbing it.
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38 Dartmoor Climbs (2021-ongoing), split screen high definition video projection, looped, 44 mins 21 sec.
A video documenting my attempts of the routes from 1999 so far. The clips in the full video are compiled in order of the routes on the list, 1-38. Each clip lasts as long as it takes for me to complete or attempt the route. Due to the rules stated in the proposal and other factors such as weather, not all climbs have been attempted yet. When more climbs are attempted, their clips will be inserted in numeric order. The video is designed to be dipped in and out of. |
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