The piece was made when Long walked a continuous line into a field of grass in Wiltshire, England, and then photographed the result.
[6] Stopping in Wiltshire,[6][7] he found a grassy area and walked a straight path in it repeatedly until a line was visible.
[16][17][18] In the context of Long's career, A Line Made by Walking manifested the artist's fascination with trails and traces as mapped histories, a very prevalent theme in his work.
[21] Long created several pieces which hark back to the 1967 original including circles or organic paths, some in snow, dust, or even charred grass.
[22] These include Walking a Line in Peru (1972), a narrow path walked across a wide plain, leading to the foothills of distant mountains;[22] A Line and Tracks in Bolivia (1981), approximately 150 feet long with accompanying tracks intersecting;[22] Sea Level Waterline in Death Valley, California (1982), a path walked at the zero foot contour, representing sea level in low-lying Death Valley;[22] and A Line in Nepal (1983), a forest path approximately 50 feet long.