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 Room 3: Handmade Works 

Unlike the photographs, which are printed and mounted to the artist's specifications, and the vinyl works, which are installed by technicians, the works in this room have physically been made by the artist. Much of Fulton's work is concerned with simple acts of counting and measuring: distance travelled, days spent walking. The wood and ribbon works in this room measure time, each element representing a day spent walking. The shapes of the wooden constructions resemble simple pictograms of landscape features - mountains and rivers - and are inspired by American Indian bead work and basketry. The works made with pencil on paper also bear the marks of the artist's hand. Fulton's 'drawings' however deny traditional notions of draughtsmanship; instead they are hand-written texts on graph paper, skylines or the traced outlines of objects like stones and leaves encountered whilst walking.

Mountain Skylines, Wyoming 1995 Pencil and ink stamp on paper © Hamish Fulton

These works demonstrate Fulton's concern with simplicity, and his attempt to make works that do not harm the environment. It is important for Fulton that such works can be easily carried, and that a work such as Insect 'could be folded up and posted off in an ordinary envelope'. However, Fulton recognises the paradox that lies at the heart of his practice: is it possible to make environmentally friendly art? He has said, 'Ironically, given that my art is about a lightness of touch out on the hills or down country lanes, the truth of the matter is that as an artist I probably generate more 'pollution' than the so-called average person'.