Bodhidharma is thought to have been a Buddhist monk who travelled from India to China in the 5th or 6th century. Part of the story is that he sat in a cave in meditation for nine years – in contrast to being caught up in words, whether presumptions or speculations or rationalizations. In Zen texts, this is often referred to as his “nine years of wall-sitting”. It is considered a paragon of sincere practice.

Last October, in the mountains in Northern California, I realized I had been walking for nine years. This is a small survey exhibition, presenting one work from each of the years 2009-2017.

Coinciding with this exhibition is the publication of a book. It is a collection of writings made through reading, and others made through walking, in the years 1998-2013. Similar to some of my favorite books, it is in two languages, on facing pages. Some of the Spanish texts I constructed with the same mesostic method that I had used in the English, by writing through similar books found in Mexico; some of the indexes were parallel-indexed (with the German versions of the same titles) by Daniela Helbig; and the rest of the texts were translated into Spanish by Toni Sadurní Viñas and Hebe Garibay.

Helen Mirra