Our Mapping A/r/tography study group at the University of British Columbia wrote a paper that explores walking as a form of inquiry. In this work, we makes theoretical links between a/r/tography and walking methodologies and we explore three walking propositions. As a result of these practices, we think more deeply about being present, truly present, to that which we never anticipated.
The first proposition, ‘Go for a walk outside, find an object and do something with it,’ leads us to think more deeply about being present to possibility: kicking the rock. The second proposition, ‘Walk around your neighbourhood with another. When you find unfamiliar ground, pause, and ground yourself,’ leads us to appreciating being present in-between place and relationality. The third proposition, ‘Follow one another in a line without stopping or speaking,’ invites us to explore being present to interiority.
Walking in response to these propositions and coming to think deeply about the impact of being present to presence, became important to us as a community of a/r/tographers.