UP and DOWN Vertical Shift Altitude Walk Elevated Walk
Fiona Runjia Chen
Introduction UP and DOWN is a bushwalk project in Otway Ranges, near the Cumberland River. The walk is designed to allow the walker to encounter different layers within the rainforest by manipulating the vertical proximity of the human body with the landscape. The walker will be engaged with the sutble changes happening during the walk, particularly smell and humidity. By repeating this cycle at various locations with similar conditions, the human body will be familiarised with this underlying pattern within the rainforest.
Reflection on THE AFFECT THEORY READER As stated in “The Affect Theory Reader”, affect passes between bodies, where bodies are “defined not only by an outer skin-envelop or other surface boundary but by their potential to reciprocate and co-participate in the passage of affect”. The relationship of the human body and the wilderness during THE WALK is no more than a relationship of two bodies, while affect allows the intimate encounters to happen. Every single affect is one small encounter of a human body with the whole wilderness-body. The overall experience of the human body or THE WALK is shaped by the sum of every affect, which also establishes the relationship and understanding between this particular human being and that particular wilderness body.
Key Readings 2010, ‘An Inventory of Shimmers’, in The Affect Theory Reader, edited by Gregg, M and Seigworth, G J, Duke University Press, pp.1-25 William, C, ‘The trouble with wilderness; or, getting back to the wrong nature’, pp.69-90
Personal Position towards Wilderness Regardless of the original form, regardless of whether being interrupted by humans, as long as something is able to survive and develop on its own without the aid of human beings, it should be seen as wilderness. Wilderness is seemingly disordered, spontaneous and irregular in its form. However, there is an underlying systematic rhythm that allows it to function and flourish over time.
1:750000 on A0 Humidity - ground condition
1:250000 on A1 Humidity - ground condition i.e. topography, vegetation density
1:250000 on A1 Context of the section 1:250000 on A1 Longitudinal section
In steep terrains, the dryness can be tasted with mouth and it automatically closes soon after the breathing becomes faster and faster. The moment when the human body comes to stop is when a large amount of air is taken in and the nasal cavity is filled with the surrounding olfactory molecules. However, in a flater terrain, the breathing does not change dramatically, while the olfaction is easily adapted with the environments. But still, since there is not a dramatic change of the environment, the smell sensitivity is quite low.
Film stills & Diagram Exploring olfactory reation as walking through different terrains
Altitude Walk
Walk Type Walk Grade Walk Length Walk Duration
Morning, Spring/Autumn Hard 15km 5hr
name of drawingStarting the walk at an altitude of 160m above the bottom of the valley, the walker is invited into a vast overall view of densely-vegetated valley. Sunshine is extremely bright with little canopy around. Taking a deep breath, moisture air from the last-night rain is taken into the body. The walker then follows steep, continuous steps down to the valley, as walking further down, the body becomes warmer and the breathing becomes faster and faster. Mouth is closed as the dryness is tasted through tongue during the exhausting walk. After around 7 minutes of the slop-walk, the walker comes to a resting point, when a large amount of air is taken into the body at once. There is an intense smell of the mouldy tree trunks and the leaves as the wind blows from the bottom of the valley. The tree canopy is denser which creates patches of shades. During the following alternating slopes and rests, the environment becomes cooler and more humid, while sunlight and wind gets less intense. It all leads to the very bottom of the valley, where the walker gets more intimate with the low tree canopies. Shrubs are much higher and crowded, which besiege the walker. The walker can see or even touch the drops of water on the ferns that haven’t evaporated from the morning. The walker is breathing heavily after the long walk, the air around is filled with water vapour from the creek, an earthy and mouldy smell from the soil. The walker will then be following a much gradual and gentle slope uphill leading towards a different valley and another cycle of walk starts.Â
Altitude Walk
Altitude against Time Altitude (m)
160
Altitude (m)
100 160
80
50 100
80 20
50
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Time (mins)
5
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Time (mins)
Olfactory Phase 20
Breathing Pattern
Olfactory Sensitivity High
Low
Sensing Phase Recovery Phase
Fast Breathing Breath Easing Normal Breathing
As the human body moves along the steep steps downwards, from the top of the valley to the bottom, the breathing becomes quite fast. However, the olfactory sensitivity is low. This is an olfactory recovery phase. While when thebody comes to the flat space, the breathing starts to ease and a large amount of air is taken into the body and nasal cavity, which is when the olfactory sensitivity is being fully stimulated, called sensing period. Also, as the humidity increases while walking down the valley, the intensity of smell is also increasing. As experiencing different intensities of smell at different altitude. The walker will be able to identity the shift of smell and humidity through both mouth and nose.
Altitude Walk Matrix
Altitude Walk
Valley wind (during the day) starts from the the bottom of the valley blowing to the top, gradually builds up and becomes more and more intense, which significantly affect the amount of olfactory molecules that are taken into the human body as well as the dynamism of the water vapour in the environment.
Wind Intensity High Low
Relative Humidity High Low
1:250000 on A1 Context of the plan 1:500 on A1 Plan on Humidity and Valley Wind
Altitude Walk 368m
343m
323m
308m
298m
293m
343m
308m
Wind Smell / Humidity Intensity
Emergents Canopy Shrubs
293m
1:500 on A1 Context of the section 1:200 on A1 Sections of part of the Altitude Walk downwards
Elevated Walk
Walk Type Walk Grade Walk Length Walk Duration
Day Medium 4km 1.5hr
After the 5 hour Altitude walk, the elevated walk is followed with less exhaustion. However, the walk starts at a 20m relative altitude, with steep steps leading up to a path elevated 15m above the ground, the walker will be walking though shrubs, ferns, low tree canopies and eventually being brought below the tall gum trees, where both the sunlight and the wind is more intense comparing to the ground surface, even at the same altitude. It is an open space hovering over the ground, while looking down, the walker can see top of the low tree canopies that covers the ground surface completely. There is a wood and dry smell from the tree barks and the leaves. After 5 minute walk at this high level of the rainforest. The walker is descended 5m by steep steps and followed by flat path. The breathing becomes fast and subsequently eases out while walking on the hanging flat path. While walking down, there is a shift from being surrounded by low dense trees to getting intimate to dense ferns and shrubs, from a more open and windy level to a more enclosed and humid space, finally at 2m high, the path splits further down to the very ground level of the rainforest. The walker will be walking through this zigzag path underneath the 2m high path, while the walker will be curious about where this path leads to at every turn of the zigzag. Before realising, the walker has already come to this narrow straight path that leads to nowhere, while the path overhead and the shrubs around create a sense of enclosure, where the walker gets to fully immersed within the environment. There is lack of light and not much can be seen except some dark greens. Take a deep breath, close the eyes, take in all the air, get intimate with the smallest molecules here. After this private encounter with the rainforest, the walker is walking back to the upper deck path, which leads up to another elevation of 15m, then down.. The walker will be experiencing a constant recalling of memory which is almost like deja ve.
Elevated Walk Elevation against Time
Olfactory Phase
Breathing Pattern
Olfactory Sensitivity High
Low
Sensing Phase Recovery Phase
Fast Breathing Breath Easing Normal Breathing
The human body will be experiencing the most intense level of smell at a few resting point during the steps downwards. From walking high above the ground to getting intimate with the ground, the humidity increases as well as the intensity of smell. The walker will be smelling the leaves of the large tree canopies at 15m high while is also able to sensethe mouldy ground at a lower level. The walker will be sensing a shift of smell and humidity through this repetivtive pattern of walking.
Descending Ascending
Elevated Walk Matrix
Elevated Walk Development of a Path Detail
1:100 on A1 Development of the shape of the lower path
1:100 on A1 Development of the linkage between the upper and lower paths
1:50 on A1 Final path
Body reactions towards different angles of the zigzag path
1:100 on A1 Visual impact with reagrds to the length of the path
1:100 on A1 Narrowing and shortening path at different rates
Elevated Walk Under-path Path
1:1000 on A1 Locations of the path
1:20 on A1
1:100 on A1
1:50 on A1 Final path - very first part of zigzag path
1:400 on A1
This under-path path explores interaction of the walker with the very bottom ground layer in the elevated walk. The walker will be walking through this zigzag path, which creates a certain walking tempo (recovery period). This 250m-long path gradually narrows down, but very subtle change happens at each zigzag. Surrounded by dense shrubs and a 2m-high path overhead, the space gradually becomes enclosed and dark as walking further down. The vision of the walker becomes quite limited, while senses of smell and humidity will even be amplified. The walker will finally be coming to a narrow dead-end path and the walking tempo will immediately changes. The walker gets fully immersed within the environment, experiencing a maximum moment of affect. After this intimate encounter, the walker needs to walk back to the upper path to continue the walk. Supposedly, the vegetation (mainly shrubs) nearby will be flourishing over time and even overtaking the path. (Wilderness is able to function and adapt on its own). A sense of enclosure and darkness is not only determined by artificial infrastructure but also the wilderness body itself.
1:10 on A1 Final path - plan and section