Joshua Graham: Walking In Place

Walking In Place is a site-specific installation consisting of found objects, strange artifacts, and other ephemera collected while in residence at the museum. The work on display reflects Joshua’s commitment to a year-long practice of walking the paths that zigzag across the foothills above Salt Lake City. Eschewing human-made trails in favor of the paths created by animals, Joshua is practicing a method of “de-centering” – letting go of his anthropocentric or “human-centered” perspective and opening up to alternate ways of engaging with the local environment.

The artifacts were selected and arranged to inspire wonder and spark curiosity while simultaneously questioning traditional notions of artistic production and media. Restoring their meaning by arranging them afresh, the artist is highlighting the uncanny characteristics of the quotidian or everyday objects we take for granted. Functioning as a collection of sculptural prompts, the work asks the viewer to consider their own relationship to our more-than-human world. In this way, the installation can be viewed as both “a portrait of a place” and “the landscape of an artist,” promoting a closer examination of the areas we inhabit and the communities we coexist with.