Ah the foot. A much maligned extremity that deserves our respect. Really. We owe so much to feet and sadly this only becomes apparent, like with so many things, when we lose them.
Or, ironically, when we lose our arms and must rely more on the low born foot in navigating a world as envisioned by Hieronymus Bosch.
Indeed, “some people”, among whom I do not figure on aesthetic grounds but with whom I sympathize, point to the talents of those who develop in their prehensile feet levels of dexterity the majority of us lack with our hands as proof that feet deserve a proverbial seat at the table.
Now, as interesting and striking as foot dexterity may be, I have recently come across feats involving feet that really deserve more attention than they will get as a result of this prejudice.
Some weeks ago I was watching a documentary, whose title I can neither recall nor find, that introduced me to Simon Beck. A man who uses a simple compass and his two feet to create stunning images in the snow. Lest I be accused of that which I lamented earlier, none of what he does is possible without the contribution of his impressive cardiovascular system.
This man is a true marvel. His brain is able to coordinate everything required to produce these amazing patterns, that can only be appreciated at height, from ground level and his body has the stamina to execute the steps.
If Simon Beck is not being studied by neuroscientists, that’s a real wasted opportunity to potentially learn something about the brain’s spatial coordination capacity.
The ancient Peruvian geoglyphs that always show up in those “Ancient Mysteries” television programs are no longer so mysterious thanks to Simon Beck. If a human brain can cause the feet to which it is wired to produce these complex patterns, then the simple line drawings of the Nazca people don’t require Alien assistance.
To be sure, it is all very impressive and certainly remains “mysterious” to those like myself whose brain cannot even begin to approach executing such a precise feat, but it is certainly not otherworldly.
And as it were, yesterday, I came across an article in the Running section of the Guardian that introduced me to Lenny Maughan; another creative athlete or athletic creative who uses a superb cardiovascular system and two feet to make art.
Unlike Simon, however, Lenny’s toolkit isn’t lo-fi. He uses satellites and Strava to produce lines that trace his runs into recognizable images.
Lenny is creating digital drawings in the virtual world, 1s and 0s, by moving, or more precisely in his case, running, in pre-determined directions through space in the real world.
The physical path he takes through the city mimics the digital paths that Strava renders atop the 2D digital map of that city.
Each reflects the other.
I know Lenny has drawn a hand across San Francisco using this technique – I think it’s high time he render a foot.
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