What is Tracking Art--short version
Animal tracking art--wildlife tracking art--is deep-time art of the human/animal interface as seen through the eyes of animal trackers and wild life artists and others who are inspired by wildlife and the signs of passage they leave. Although the arts have always been central to tracking--especially story telling and dance--- there has never been a gallery show focused on the visual art as seen through the eyes of trackers. Signs of Passage aspires to exhibit a juried collection of these images as expressed in painting, drawing, photography, fabric art, sculpture and possibly other media.
Animal tracking art--wildlife tracking art--is deep-time art of the human/animal interface as seen through the eyes of animal trackers and wild life artists and others who are inspired by wildlife and the signs of passage they leave. Although the arts have always been central to tracking--especially story telling and dance--- there has never been a gallery show focused on the visual art as seen through the eyes of trackers. Signs of Passage aspires to exhibit a juried collection of these images as expressed in painting, drawing, photography, fabric art, sculpture and possibly other media.
What is Tracking Art? Long version
Over the last few years I’ve run into quite a few trackers who are excellent artists. They bring both art and tracking into just about every aspect of their lives: into their homes, into their businesses, into the clothing they wear, into the food they eat and into the music they listen to. Moreover, many trackers have learned that art is not confined to aesthetics, but that art is in itself a form of meaning, and that being able to sketch, for example, or work with color, can be invaluable portals to learning. Sketching is among the most efficient ways to learn to how to identify tracks out on the dirt.
It is not surprising that trackers should gravitate toward the arts. Evidence for the primordial connection between art and tracking abounds around the globe in the tremendous body of rock art, from the desert varnish peck-art of the Mojave to the elaborate song-line-art of Australia, not to mention the fantastic 30,000 year old cave art of Southern France and Spain, Lascaux, Altamira, Chauvet, etc. This art was all made by trackers!
Why do trackers go to all the trouble to make art out of their tracking? I don’t exactly know the answer, but as a plein air painter myself, I feel the pull. The longer I track, the stronger the urge to express what tracking means to me, how beautiful it is, how integral to daily life. It is impossible to miss the aesthetic excitement of tracking. All trackers recognize beauty. Not only are tracks themselves often beautiful, but the mud, sand, dust, or snow they are found in become newly beautiful too. The tracks and signs of passage left by wild animals can reassemble and energize the beauty of a landscape in ways almost impossible to describe. Finding the fresh tracks of a cougar out on clean sand can vitalize your sense of beauty. The whole day is made artful. The glow can last for days. You see better. You appreciate more deeply. You are suddenly walking in a numinous world, which is also the numinous world of art.
II
Over my lifetime the word art has morphed from describing the visual arts to just about any activity accomplished with an artful spirit. This fits well with tracking, because trackers have always expressed themselves artfully through story and dance, visual art, body decoration, ritual, and probably with found art. This show is open to paintings, drawings, notebook pages, sculptures, performance, fabric art, advertisement art such as artful business cards, photos and images of tracks or trackers that express larger art values, photos that tell a story, expressions of bird language. Think about some of the other genera of art forms--marine art, cowboy art, fashion art, cat art, dog art, hunting art, railroad art, landscape art, spiritual art, botanical art--all these specialty art forms have superb practitioners. We, as trackers, hold what is probably the oldest lineage in art. We should be represented out there.
III
Any artist who “gets it” about tracking and/or bird language is welcome to contribute. However, I would recommend that inexperienced trackers, who are interested in submitting make contact with one of the tracking teachers and take an introductory course to become familiar with the basics. Consult any of the really excellent contemporary tracking books that have been published recently: Jon Young and Tiffany Morgan’s Animal Tracking Basics or What the Robin Knows; anything by Mark Elbroch, Paul Rezendez, Jim Lowery, Louis Liebenberg, Jim Halfpenny, and, of course, Tom Brown, Jr., and others. My own experience is that students coming to my classes usually get a working understanding of tracking within one or two sessions. There is still a lot of work before you become a competent tracker, but even a single session can open you eyes to this most ancient of arts.
And, of course, tracking and bird language are two sides of the same coin, so bird watchers may find they already have an inside track and a world of imagery to draw from. I think of tracking as the static side: making meaning out of signs of passage. Bird language is the dynamic side: making meaning out of the sounds and body language of birds (and animals) in the immediate present. Hunters track. Law enforcement, search And rescue and even fossil hunters all track and have something to contribute.