Jean Robert, to think with one’s feet

Abstract

Thinking with your feet is a rare art in present times, times in which technological power–automobiles, telephone lines, computer screens, cell phones, heteronomous industries–disembodies us from the earth, deforming our perception and making us believe that we are possessors of the power of the gods who do not inhabit a ground, but the ubiquitous space of the ether. Thinking with our feet means thinking from a walk on our own legs. The walker Jean Robert, who gave up the car before arriving in Mexico, was a master of this art. This text seeks to be a brief tribute to his mastery.