Walk Off, 2007

With his Walk Off edition, Robin Rhode transforms a simple pair of shoes into a sculptural and performative object loaded with conceptual weight. Cast in charcoal and chalk – materials Rhode frequently uses in his wall drawings – these opposing black and white shoes are both delicate and symbolic. They come with a sheet of blank rag paper, inviting the viewer to activate the work by creating their own “action drawing,” echoing Rhode’s own performative practice. The shoes reference a large-scale performance at Haus der Kunst in 2007, where 88 similar pairs were used to choreograph a rhythmic, mark-making dance across space. Here, the miniature edition distills that ephemeral act into a tactile relic. Walk Off, a term borrowed from basketball and used by Rhode to signify the final step or image in a sequence, becomes a poetic metaphor for movement, transition, and the artist’s enduring interplay between drawing, body, and urban narrative.