Walking Man Response

A response to "The Walking Man" by William Kentridge

Emerging from the bottom left corner of the artwork, the Walking Man’s body is seen twisting like the bark of a tree. Moving up from his large shoes, we are introduced to a lower half of a human form with small broken lines indicating where his trousers might be. His torso is next, twisting in different directions with a jacket that is full of wrinkles and a hint of wear. We see an arm emerging from the left hand side of his body with an open palm as if he is waiting for something. Still moving up the figure we stop at his shoulders to acknowledge the thick and sturdy branches growing in the place of where we imaging his head should be. The branches stretch toward the top of the artwork until the branches become smaller with twigs attached to all sides and many leaves growing along them. The lines that allude to leaves are at all kinds of angles, which contrasts with the horizontal lines that form the background of the piece. The horizontal lines make up a skyline of clouds, which is indicated by the difference in thickness of every other layer. Right at the horizon line lays a small farm with two twin electricity towers interrupting the quiet landscape. Also caught in between the towers is a small tree that almost points straight up to the sky with not very many branches. The man seems to be looking at the tree as if to let it know that he sees the impending doom of the tranquility of the nature around them. The towers symbolize the modern hustle and bustle seeping through the cracks about to engulf everything in its path. In an attempt to concur back nature from “the man”, the figure begins to transform from a solid black figure with small, broken white lines into a more fluid and natural object.