Richard Long bases his practice on long, solitary walks through the landscape, a process he began in 1967 in Britain and, from 1969 on, continued abroad. Along these walks Long often collects natural materials such as stone, mud, or wood, which he uses to produce installations inside the gallery space. He documents the walks with photographs and texts.

Comprised of black river stones, East West Circle reconfigures a particular riverbed Long visited in Japan. The elegant geometric arrangement affords a sense of his activity in the wilderness, bringing nature into the gallery experience. At the same time, Long creates a tension between the circular form of the arrangement and the irregular forms of the stones.