From our house to the summit of Europe: text by Neal Beggs.

The film work 'From our house to the summit of Europe' exists in two forms Side-A and Side-B, and is derived from an art-walk of the same name I made in 2009 from my home near Nantes in France to the summit of Mont Blanc. A distance of 762km.

My walk was straight out of the Fulton mould and as such was nothing new conceptually, it simply added to the list of walks made by artists since the 1960's. Aware of this I decided whilst walking to make a second work; one that rose to the challenge of adding something new to the discourse on art and walking. The film, particularly side A, is the result of this endeavor. It's my attempt at covering new ground and time will tell if it works.

I had no fixed ideas of form or media for this parallel work, I figured it would turn up somewhere along the way. In fact I had long since abandoned the idea of filming as it seemed too predicable and besides I did not own a video camera. But during walk three I tried some experiments using the video facility of my stills camera. The results where interesting enough to devote my entire memory card to repeating the process on walk four. And this is how and where the film began, just east of Chateauroux on the D925, during walk number four.

Having mentioned 'walk four' I should explain that for reasons of practicality my walk was divided up into nine separate walks, each around three days with nights spent under canvas. At the conclusion of each walk I took a train home and then later returned by train to the same point to begin the next stage. Except for the final walk to the summit made in the company of my friend artist and climber Thibaut Espiau I walked alone and all video was shot by myself. The 762km's followed roads except for the last 17km which followed a mountain path to the summit. It may surprising some to hear the ascent of Mont Blanc describe as a 'path' but in summer it is; all be it a very dangerous, precarious and icy path known as the Goûter route. This path without fail claims several life's each year and I do not recommend it! However, it is possible with appropriate planning and a little luck, for any able bodied person, baring accident, to walk with the occasional use of the hands to the summit. This theoretical fact underwrote the artistic logic of my walk, in that the 'summit' however we interpret this word, is and should be in theory at least if not in reality accessible to ALL. This in a nutshell is the idea behind the walk.

Walks four and five were filmed on a small Lumix still camera with better than expected results. Walks six, seven, eight, and nine are filmed using an HD Video camera acquired through funding.

In both films structure takes priority over content with 'Side A' taking the more hard-line approach giving nothing away and never deviating from the artistic form set down in the first few minutes. The viewer has no rest. Each frame descends the screen in continual motion without stopping. First we see the feet then the camera moves up to the forward horizon, pans left or right, returns to the horizon, and finally descends back to the feet. This action is repeated without fail throughout the film until the viewer, with concentration exhausted, find themselves standing on top of a mountain. But even on the summit there is no respite, no time to rest and enjoy the view, for once the camera has returned to the walkers feet the film stops without ceremony and jumps immediately to the credits. We never see the face of the walker or here him speak except to say 'bonjour' twice to passers-by. We do not know why he has made this walk. The only clue is held within the title "From our house to the summit of Europe'. The film begins at an unidentified location which the viewer can only presume is 'Our house', an abstract term that could mean anybodies house or all people's, and ends on the summit of a mountain that likewise the viewer presumes is the summit of Europe. No reason or explanation is given. Side 'A' follows a logic known only to itself, and a rhythm integral to itself and the walker. Each frame like a footstep follows the next in anticipation of a new horizon in perpetual motion toward a goal. It is addictive, medetive and tiring.

Side 'B' retains the same economic and hard-line structure as Side 'A' but with the addition of commentary to camera whilst walking. It is more generous then Side A and allows the viewer to enter into the mind of the walker attaching a face and a personality. Side B is not a 'making-of' film but a different more personal mix. One that is easier to locate within a specific time and space.

Both films have their place and for this reason using the terminology of 'Pop' I chosen to release both as if they are were two sides of the same record. The title also reflects a Pop influence in that 'Our house' echo's the lyric "... in the middle of our street. Our house was our castle and our keep" from the 1980's band Madness. The 'Summit of Europe' refers to 'The European Summit' and as such contextualizes the work within a 'small-p' political frame. But this is only one frame and it is not the most important, just like the 'summit', it is not where it is at.

Neal Beggs 19-09-2011