Stanley Brouwn has been obsessed with line—and, in particular, line derived from human movement—as a form of expression. Brouwn’s work originally developed out of the Fluxus movement, and it is still well within a conceptual format. In one such work, he painstakingly registered and counted his footsteps, which he then logged on index cards and sheets of paper. Brouwn is not the first person to make art from simply walking. Hamish Fulton and Richard Long both present their walking expeditions in photographs, postcards and other material collected en route. Brouwn does not use any anecdotal supporting material in documenting his walks.
His latest exhibitions have been simple; here, he compared a line the length of an average pace (80 centimeters) with a line one meter long and another of indeterminate length. These elements were presented as black lines on white strips of wood, hung at eye level.
Brouwn is an introverted and extremely individualistic artist. In the ’60s, while making “This Way Brouwn,” he would ask pedestrians at one point to explain on paper how they intended to walk from that location to another one. Some passersby made notes, while others did not; every sheet was later stamped, “This Way Brouwn.” The pieces of paper had topographical notations scrawled all over: circles, lines, loops and arrows. But in his newer work the chance element is replaced by Brouwn’s firm decision-making process; the results are autobiographical works in which he is scarcely present. The length of his own footstep is exalted to a universal standard of 80 centimeters, a measurement almost as fixed as the meter.
Brouwn’s concerns have moved from the subjective to the objective world. Certainly those aware of the academic discussions about the primacy of line or color will recognize that his choice of line maintains a pure and classical position. With this new work, he shows himself to be one of Europe’s most important artists.
—Paul Groot
