Mark McGowan starts his journey from Brighton beach. Photograph: Chris Ison/PA
Mark McGowan today started his latest "work" when he set out to cartwheel the 57 miles from Brighton to London in protest at people stealing stones from beaches.
McGowan, who was forced last month by Thames Water to stop his art work the Running Tap, began at Brighton's west pier at around 10am, with 12lb rocks fastened to his feet and 18 sticks of pink Brighton rock strapped across his face.
He told Guardian Unlimited this afternoon that he had stopped after two miles because of "exhaustion" and admitted his forecast of completing the journey in two weeks may have been a little optimistic.
"My arms are really hurting," the 37-year-old said. "And I'm actually not that good at cartwheeling."
There was also an early cartwheeling mishap when he collided with a deckchair and gashed open his right shin. "I've got all this pink rock strapped across my face and I am supposed to have an assistant who is spotting obstacles," he complained.
Tonight, after marking his finish spot with chalk, he was returning to his home in south London for a good night's sleep before heading back in the morning.
He admitted he attracted some funny looks, but that is something he is no stranger to. Many of his stunts are oulined on Artshole.co.uk.
In September 2003 he used his nose to roll a monkey nut for 11 days from Goldsmiths College in south London to Downing Street to protest at his student debt.
Last month, at a gallery in Camberwell, he set up the Running Tap, a work which lived up to its title. He ran a tap at the gallery for a month, wasting 800,000 litres of water before threats of legal action by Thames Water convinced him to turn it off. He claimed he had saved more water than this by making the point that everyone wastes water.
McGowan says his latest work is part of a series he is doing on environmental issues. He claims stone theft is a genuine concern and is prohibited by local bylaws, which, he argues, councils have problems enforcing.
It happens down here on the quieter parts of the beach, away from the tourist area. People come at night and take the stones. And it's not just little ones – they take big ones as well.
It's to save them some money. Rather than buying them from B&Q or Homebase, they think they can just take them, but it damages the beaches.
The plan is to end the cartwheel protest at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. However, he accepts that the best he can hope for is that his journey may shame stone stealers, rather than prompt a big crackdown by central government.
Asked what is more important, the art or the protest, he said: "It is a combination. I am always interested in the aesthetic … I have Brighton rock strapped to me … why don't people come down here rather than stealing the stones?"
McGowan claims that stones being taken from the beaches is a factor in coastal erosion, but surely an awful lot of stones would need to be taken away for this to be true?
"In a way it is also a comment on all these garden programmes on the television, because people watch them and then go out and get the stones," he added.
He said he hoped his latest journey would stimulate debate.
