Walk (Square), 2011

Single channel video, aspect ratio 2.39:1, 18 min 5 sec, HD, stereo sound

“In her video Walk (Square), Melanie Manchot coordinated the procession of one thousand schoolchildren into Deichtorhallen Square in Hamburg to explore walking as a means of reclaiming space. Manchot has stated that the orchestrated performance was part homage to Bruce Nauman’s Walking in an Exaggerated Manner around the Perimeter of a Square, and part investigation of collective walking as a form of address. As the children march into the civic square, they translate Nauman’s study of the gait from the private space of a studio to a public space designed for cultural gatherings and political demonstrations. This walk examines the body as an instrument of expression as a single unit and as an element in a collective populace.”

Lexi Lee Sullivan, curator, showed the work as part of ‘“Walking Sculpture”, 2015, at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum,USA.