River Avon Mud drawings, Ten Mud-dipped papers 1988

Curator: Here we have Richard Long’s "River Avon Mud Drawings, Ten Mud-Dipped Papers." Editor: They're… unexpectedly calming. The repetitive vertical lines create a subtle rhythm. Curator: Long is well-known for his land art and his practice often explores man's relationship with landscape. The "River Avon Mud Drawings" are a series of ten works in which Long applied mud from the River Avon to paper. Editor: Mud… as pigment. The repetitive act of dipping the papers could be seen as a meditative ritual, a grounding act. There’s an immediate connection to earth here. Curator: Absolutely, and Long's work often challenges the traditional art world by taking art outside the gallery. But here he brings the outside in, asking us to reconsider nature’s place within cultural institutions. Editor: It seems to blur the line between document and artwork, a record of an action but also a visually compelling arrangement. Curator: Long’s process becomes the artwork, a gesture towards the environmental movement of the late 20th Century. Editor: I find it amazing how he captures the quiet beauty and inherent value of something so ordinary as mud.