ALEX BORGEN

The body that moves with intention through its landscape is “an extension of the terrain that sustains it,” as Andre Lepecki suggests. It is a form of mapping with the body, which Rebecca Solnit argues is a way to become immersed in a landscape—to comprehend and appreciate the place fully. The bicycle is one vehicle for immersion: the action of pedaling the body, metering the breath, and sensing the world from a human-time perspective is how one discovers flow. It is a meditation—vital in life, art, and the process of becoming. In 2014, I mountain-biked from Montana to New Mexico along the US Continental Divide. I made an artist book called Open Range: Mountain Passage, which was exhibited at the University of Puget Sound in 2015. I am currently writing a book with the same title about the importance of human interaction, and how the moving body in a landscape is a contemplative practice and can make for a better understanding of an environment and culture. Thereby embodying the experience.

Conversation and storytelling are integral to the work, and it continues to build and evolve. If you are interested in more information, or seeing my portfolio, or reading sections, please contact me directly, alex.borgen@gmail.com. I am happy to share stories, my portfolio and expand on the workshops I teach on experimental art/athletic writing and total-body-immersion.