Art and sports do not exist in different worlds. California artist and runner Lenny Maughan proves just that with his incredible works of art created while jogging in San Francisco. For the past four years, Maughan has been carefully choosing paths and movements so that, seen on a map, they form spectacular figures such as characters from the Star Trek series, Batman, as well as objects like a guitar or a beer. And even portraits of well-known artists such as Frida Kahlo! So far, Lenny Maughan has created more than 50 artworks. Metro chatted with the artist to find out more about his peculiar hobby.
Q&A
Lenny Maughan, artist-runner
Q: How did you come up with the idea of creating these figures?
– The advent of GPS smartphone apps that record runs fascinated me, and I’m always looking for shapes in things, ever since I was a kid and looked at clouds and constellations. It occurred to me that I could plan a specific shape in advance, so I planned ahead and controlled the outcome of these runs.
Q: Are they difficult to create?
– It often takes more time to sketch out the shape than to run it. I just draw it on a paper map, working with the constraints of the city streets. I go through several sketches (with a highlighter) until I get it as good as possible. Then I hold the map and very carefully follow it as I run.
Q: How has your work been received on social media?
– I don’t promote this. It’s just a personal creative challenge I do for my own amusement. Somehow others have noticed and it’s become a global interest.
Q: How do you decide what the next figure or a theme of your artwork will be?
– There is no theme, really. I just use San Francisco as my canvas and I like to draw random, timeless, unexpected, whimsical, widely recognizable, quirky, kitschy “doodles.” I’ll either start with an idea or I’ll gaze at a map and “see” something in the street lines.
