INCORPORATING THE CRITICAL:
ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S VITALITY IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
by
ALLEN PRATT
(Under the Direction of Katherine Melcher)
ABSTRACT
The realms of art and landscape architecture are inherently in a state of overlap, juxtaposition, and reference of one another. This suggests art’s importance in the development and understanding of landscape architecture. This thesis examined environmental art’s potential to be used as an explorative design process to generate new ideas and perspectives. It used a series of environmental art case studies, including the author’s own installation in the Founders
Memorial Garden, to investigate environmental art’s value to the study and practice of contemporary landscape architecture. This study revealed that the boundaries between the spatial disciplines of art, architecture, and landscape architecture are artificial and that these boundaries can be dissolved in practice. It concluded that environmental art possesses the ability to alter perceptions of space and place, generate new ideas and perspectives, and enhance the human condition to address issues of site, sight, and insight.
INDEX WORDS: landscape architecture, environmental art, land art, contemporary art, site- specific art, Monet, El Lissitzky, The Garden of the Lost Steps, Mirror Lab, Tree Drawings, Red Ball Project, Founders Memorial Garden, adaptive design, integrative design, design research
INCORPORATING THE CRITICAL:
ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S VITALITY IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
by
ALLEN PRATT
Bachelor of Architecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2012
A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
ATHENS, GEORGIA
2014
© 2014
Allen Pratt
All Rights Reserved
INCORPORATING THE CRITICAL:
ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S VITALITY IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
by
ALLEN PRATT
Major Professor: Katherine Melcher
Committee: Marianne Cramer Tad Gloeckler Maureen O’Brien
Electronic Version Approved:
Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2014
DEDICATION
I dedicate this thesis to my family and friends who have supported me to develop and act upon my ideas and professional pursuits. In particular, this thesis is dedicated to my loving fiancé, Laura, for her unconditional support and assistance throughout this entire process. It has been quite an adventure, and I look forward to many more (hopefully more fun) adventures with you.
A secondary shout out goes to the UGA MLA class of 2014. It’s been great working and learning with all of you, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Thank you all for participating in the conversations, venting sessions, and social events that have made graduate school memorable.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank those who offered their time and resources to assist in the exploration and execution of this thesis. In particular, thank you to the Lake House guys –
Thomas Peters and Zach Richardson – for the use of their land and the relaxing bamboo harvesting explorations and experiments. I know whom to call if I ever need information regarding boo, goats, pigs, chickens, invasive species, or cane. Additionally, I would like to thank Sig Sandzen for his time and sledge hammer skills in helping with the installation of the environmental art piece and for his input and critique throughout the process. Lastly, I would like to thank my committee for their time, support, critique, conversations, and interest. This has been an intense, extended process and I could not have accomplished it without the help of you all.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... v
LIST OF FIGURES ...... ix
CHAPTER
1 UTILIZING ENVIRONMENTAL ART AS AN EXPLORATIVE PROCESS ...... 1
Introduction ...... 1
Defining Environmental Art ...... 1
Argument ...... 4
Significance ...... 5
Research Method ...... 7
Limitations and Delimitations ...... 8
Chapter Summaries ...... 9
2 APPROACHING SITE, SIGHT, AND INSIGHT: A SYNTEHSIS OF
ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S MOVMENTS, THEMES, AND CONCEPTS ...... 11
Monet and Constable: Sight ...... 11
El Lissitzky: Sight Informs Insight ...... 13
Land Artists: Site and Sight Inform Insight ...... 16
Public Art: Site and Sight, Dismissing Insight ...... 19
Environmentalists to Present Day: An Integrated Approach ...... 21
Synthesis ...... 23
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Summary ...... 24
3 EXAMINING APPROACHES TO SITE, SIGHT AND INSIGHT: A SERIES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL ART CASE STUDIES ...... 25
Selection Criteria ...... 25
Methodology ...... 27
Case Study One: Peter Eisenman, The Garden of the Lost Steps ...... 28
Case Study Two: VAV Architects, Mirror Lab ...... 33
Case Study Three: Tim Knowles, Tree Drawings ...... 38
Case Study Four: Kurt Perschke, RedBall Project ...... 42
Case Study Synthesis ...... 48
Summary ...... 52
Moving Forward ...... 54
4 RESEARCH THROUGH DESIGN: INDEXING THE IN BETWEEN ...... 55
Selecting the Founders Memorial Garden ...... 55
Direct Observation ...... 58
Site: The Concept ...... 63
Sight: Material Selection and Scale ...... 66
Insight: Design Implementation Phase One ...... 70
Design Implementation Phase Two ...... 74
Design Implementation Phase Three ...... 78
Design Implementation Phase Four ...... 82
Final Form ...... 86
Design Critique ...... 91
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Reflecting on the Approach ...... 95
Moving Forward ...... 98
5 CONCLUSION: EXPANDING ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S VALUE TO
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ...... 99
Diffusing the Boundaries ...... 99
A Model for Practice ...... 100
Future Research ...... 102
Conclusion ...... 102
REFERENCES ...... 104
APPENDICES
A Founders Memorial Garden Historical Synopsis ...... 106
B Implementation Observations Journal ...... 109
C Time Lapse Photography Contact Sheets ...... 114
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LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1: Traditional Approaches vs Environmental Art Approach ...... 5
Figure 2: Site Approach Model ...... 12
Figure 3: Monet, London Series, 1905 ...... 13
Figure 4: El Lissitzky, Proun Room, 1923 ...... 14
Figure 5: El Lissitzky, Proun D, 1922 ...... 14
Figure 6: Site Informs Insight Approach Model ...... 16
Figure 7: Walter de Maria, Lightning Field, 1964 ...... 18
Figure 8: Sight and Site Informs Insight Approach Model ...... 18
Figure 9: Richard Serra, Tilted Arc, 1981 ...... 20
Figure 10: Integrating Sight and Site, Forgetting Insight Approach ...... 20
Figure 11: James Turrell, Aten Reign, 2013 ...... 21
Figure 12: Fully Integrated Approach Model ...... 22
Figure 13: Peter Eisenman, The Garden of the Lost Steps, 2005 ...... 31
Figure 14: Peter Eisenman, The Garden of the Lost Steps, 2005 ...... 32
Figure 15: VAV Architects, Mirror Lab, 2011 ...... 36
Figure 16: VAV Architects, Mirror Lab, 2011 ...... 37
Figure 17: Tim Knowles, Oak on Easel #1, 2005 ...... 40
Figure 18: Tim Knowles, Dragon Spruce, 2012 ...... 40
Figure 19: Tim Knowles, Circular Weeping Willow, 2005-2012 ...... 41
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Figure 20: Holistic Integrated Approach Model ...... 45
Figure 21: Kurt Perschke, RedBall Project, 2001-present ...... 46
Figure 22: Kurt Perschke, RedBall Project, 2001-present ...... 47
Figure 23: Site Context Map ...... 57
Figure 24: Founders Memorial Garden Illustrative Plan ...... 57
Figure 25: Founders Memorial Garden Rooms Diagram ...... 57
Figure 26: Founders Memorial Garden, South Lawn area diagram ...... 58
Figure 27: Existing Desire Line diagram ...... 60
Figure 28: Existing Desire Line – Plan View ...... 60
Figure 29: Founders Memorial Garden, existing conditions ...... 61
Figure 30: Founders Memorial Garden, South Lawn existing conditions ...... 62
Figure 31: Founders Memorial Garden, circulation pattern diagram ...... 65
Figure 32: South Lawn panoramas ...... 66
Figure 33: Experimental mock-up ...... 68
Figure 34: Mock-up eyehook connection ...... 69
Figure 35: Installation Phase One ...... 72
Figure 36: Installation Phase One ...... 73
Figure 37: Installation Phase Two ...... 76
Figure 38: Installation Phase Two ...... 77
Figure 39: Installation Phase Three ...... 80
Figure 40: Installation Phase Three ...... 81
Figure 41: Installation Phase Four ...... 84
Figure 42: Installation Phase Four ...... 85
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Figure 43: Final Form ...... 88
Figure 44: Installation Phasing Diagrams ...... 89
Figure 45: Installation Phasing Images ...... 90
Figure 46: Integrated Design of the Built Environment ...... 101
Figure 47: Installation Contact Sheet ...... 114
Figure 48: Grommet Installation Contact Sheet ...... 115
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CHAPTER 1
UTILIZING ENVIRONMENTAL ART AS AN EXPLORATIVE PROCESS
Introduction
Throughout history humanity has interpreted landscape as an inspirational reference for art, a physical location for settlement, and as an essential resource for which life to exist.
Environment is an aggregation of the surrounding things, conditions and influences that humans may perceive or experience, of which landscape is a significant contributor. In other words, humans, art, environment, and landscape have been, and perpetually are, related. Bronowsky states, “Man is a singular creature. He has a set of gifts which make him unique among the animals: so that, unlike them, he is not a figure in the landscape – he is a shaper of the landscape.”1 This important distinction places people in a position to construct and critique the landscape, defining humankind as the ultimate form-maker and potentially the greatest influence upon the land. Kastner echoes this thought: “Subject both of science and art, the landscape functions as a mirror and a lens: in it we see the space we occupy and ourselves as we occupy it.”2
Defining Environmental Art
Throughout this investigation, the term environmental art pertains to an umbrella of artistic work that includes land art, sculpture, in-situ performance, and other forms of expression.
Kastner and Wallis describe the extraordinary diversity of environmental art:
1 Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man, 1st American ed. (Boston: Little, 1974). 1. 2 Jeffrey Kastner and Brian Wallis, Land and Environmental Art, Themes and Movements (London ; New York: Phaidon Press, 2005). 13.
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“The range of Land and Environmental Art encompasses a wide variety of postwar art making. It includes site-specific sculptural projects that utilize the materials of the environment to create new forms or to adjust our impressions of the panorama; programs that import new, unnatural objects into the natural setting with similar goals; time- sensitive individual activities in the landscape; and collaborative, socially aware interventions.”3
Environmental art is a medium that often critiques the relationship between human and environment, focusing on “the land and the individual’s responses and activity within it.”4
Although environmental art has the potential to effectively bridge the disciplines of art, architecture, and landscape architecture, seldom do landscape architects or other designers recognize environmental art as a design tool to study design concepts, ideas, or issues pertaining to site, sight, or insight.
This thesis defines environmental art as the products of a diverse, process-oriented artistic approach that presents few constraints and explores relationships between space, place, and person. The thesis uses this definition to explore environmental art’s potential as an explorative design process. Weilacher sums up environmental art’s potential contribution to landscape architecture: “In short, Environmental Art seems to restore landscape architecture to its old and largely lost concern for the melding of site, sight, and insight.”
Building in part on Weilacher’s statement, this thesis establishes the traditional definitions of site, sight, and insight as a framework to interpret and understand environmental art as a process that may be useful in generating new ideas and perspectives.
• Site is defined as “a position or location of an object, especially in relation to its
environment.”5 This thesis particularly examines environmental art’s various responses
to site; physical, conceptual, process-based or otherwise.
3 Ibid., 12. 4 Ibid. 5 "Dictionary.com," IAC Corporation, http://dictionary.reference.com/.
2
• Sight is defined as “an act, fact, or instance of seeing or viewing.”6 In the context of this
thesis, sight primarily addresses what is seen or what specific objects look like and what
a person may see or view within a site. This may include descriptions of form, material,
scale, or actions.
• Insight is defined as “an instance of apprehending or understanding; perception.”7 This
thesis considers insight as a cognitive function of environmental art: what is understood
or questioned as a result of a person’s interaction.
This framework provides consistent themes to be addressed in each section of this investigation, which will reveal a progression of understanding of environmental art’s potential to serve as an explorative design process. “This is to look at concerns or approaches within art that deal particularly with context and experience that are useful in art and that can overlap with concerns within landscape architecture in terms of creating an approach rather than a formal method.”8
This approach will ultimately be tested in the author’s own environmental art installation.
The research question posed, then, is: “How can environmental art be used as an explorative design process to generate new ideas and perspectives?” In order to answer this primary question, a series of sub questions are also presented, including:
• How has environmental art been used in the past?
• What are the approaches to context and human experience used in environmental art?
• How is environmental art used today?
• How may using environmental art as an explorative process be useful to landscape
architects?
6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 Simon Bell, Ingrid Sarlov Herlin, and Richard Stiles, Exploring the Boundaries of Landscape Architecture (New York, NY: Routledge, 2012). 122.
3
This thesis explores each of these questions in order to develop a conclusion regarding environmental art’s ability to be used as an explorative design process to generate new ideas and perspectives.
Argument
Landscape architecture is seldom given the opportunity to consider the function between people and landscape as its most important purpose. It rarely provides an integrated approach to the concerns of site, sight, and insight, resulting in an often-underwhelming user experience. It is the author’s contention that designers can learn from a more integrated, process-based approach, and can utilize environmental art to explore such an approach. “Environmental art’s great appeal to landscape architecture rests upon its emphasis on process,”9 and architects “value art as an unfettered form of creativity… that is relatively free from economic pressures and social demands.”10
The important distinction between the fields of art and architecture is the motive for which they are typically created. Art is traditionally created for self-defined reasons, to express or examine an individual’s idea. On the other hand, design is created for the user, to provide a specific service and meet a set of criteria typically put forward by a client.11
“Art is functional in providing certain kinds of tools of self-reflection, critical thinking and social change. Art offers a place and occasion for new kinds of relationships to function between people. If we consider this expanded version of the term function in architecture, we realize that architecture is seldom given the opportunity to have no function or to consider the construction of critical concepts as its most important purpose.”12
9 Udo Weilacher, Between Landscape Architecture and Land Art (Boston: Birkhauser, 1999). Foreword by John Dixon Hunt, 6. 10 Jane Rendell, Art and Architecture: A Place Between (London, New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2006). 3. 11 Ibid., 4. 12 Ibid.
4
A potential use for environmental art, and what this thesis proposes, is for designers to utilize environmental art as a process to explore ways of integrating and expressing their own ideas, with the intentions of applying those ideas as part of their more practical pursuits. There is also potential in understanding how to better communicate design intentions, concepts and conditions, since art is typically a better communicator than architecture.13
Additionally, the study of environmental art approaches (Figure 1) may diffuse the unproductive boundaries between the disciplines of art, architecture, and landscape architecture, and present opportunities for landscape architects to expose the greater population to the possibilities of our profession; to incite curiosity and discussion concerning the study, practice, and place of landscape architecture in contemporary society. Environmental art has the potential to bring together the insight-based approach of traditional art with the site-base approach of landscape architecture, creating an integrated approach that considers site, sight, and insight.
Figure 1: Traditional Approaches Versus Environmental Art Approach (diagram by author)
Significance
The significance of this investigation lies in the potential application of environmental art in the study and practice of landscape architecture. Environmental art can be used to explore
13 Bell, Herlin, and Stiles, Exploring the Boundaries of Landscape Architecture: 118.
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integrated approaches to site (place), sight (view), and insight (perception). Environmental art provides a flexible, process-based approach that can be useful to landscape architects and designers. Judith Rugg describes environmental art’s potential:
“The temporal and spatial ‘cut’ of short-lived artworks is capable of complex acts of dis- location and re-positioning… The context of enabling art events and new strategies of disseminating information, evaluation and response has produced a new international realm of awareness of the potential of short-lived art works and their capacity to animate and linger as catalysts for memory and debate.”14
These environmental art investigations may include inquiries into a diverse range of subjects and interests, and can be applied to real-world scenarios as a method to commence a dialogue or raise awareness about a specific situation, while also providing personally motivated explorative opportunities for designers. Jane Rendell, in her 2006 book Art and Architecture: A Place
Between, suggests a new area of inquiry:
“Critical Spatial Practice allows us to describe work that transgresses the limits of art and architecture and engages with both the social and the aesthetic. This term (critical spatial practice) draws attention not only to the importance of the critical, but also to the spatial, indicating the interest in exploring the specifically spatial aspects of interdisciplinary processes or practices that operate between art and architecture.”15
Instead of looking to art for inspiration, or creating a new area of practice, can landscape architects utilize environmental art as a process to explore their own agenda and generate new ideas, perspectives and approaches? What can landscape architecture expect to gain from a closer examination of environmental art?
Commenting specifically on the legacy of Land Art (a form of environmental art), John
Dixon Hunt describes the benefits of conceptual art in the landscape:
“What has privileged Land Art (environmental art) in the essentially barren conceptual field of landscape architecture is its sense of creative purpose – the confidence of its
14 Judith Rugg, Exploring Site-Specific Art: Issues of Space and Internationalism (London, New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2010). Foreword, 1. 15 Rendell, Art and Architecture: A Place Between: 6.
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practitioners and critics alike that has a firm basis in ideas. Ideas of how to respond to land, ideas of art and design, together with no fear of conjoining them.”16
The thesis uses the author’s own environmental art intervention in the Founders
Memorial Garden located on the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens, Georgia, to explore these ideas, pulling from historical precedent and from a series of environmental art case studies explored in Chapters Two and Three.
Research Method
In order to execute this design-research thesis, a series of research methods described by
Elen Deming and Simon Swaffield in their book entitled Landscape Architecture Research:
Inquiry, Strategy, Design were used.17 Secondary Description was used to assemble an applicable historical narrative of the evolution, forms, and approaches of environmental art. This same method was used in the gathering of a series of environmental art case studies. A
Descriptive Case Study approach was used to execute the environmental art case studies, which were then further analyzed by the author to reveal different processes and approaches to site, sight, and insight. Another descriptive strategy, Direct Observation, was conducted during the site exploration phase of the thesis to determine appropriate siting and scale of the author’s environmental art installation. It was also used to examine how people interacted with the author’s environmental art installation throughout the implementation process. Projective
Design was used to frame and guide the design process of the author’s environmental art installation. Projective Design was used because art is an individualized, subjective process - and the best way to investigate the process was to become an integral part of it; this will be revisited in Chapter Three.
16 Weilacher, Between Landscape: 6. 17 M. Elen Deming and Simon R. Swaffield, Landscape Architecture Research : Inquiry, Strategy, Design (Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2011). Chapters 4, 5, 12.
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Limitations and Delimitations
There were also various delimitations to this thesis, primarily due to the author’s predisposition. The definitions of site, sight, and insight were established to compare and contrast environmental art processes and approaches. It is understood that there is historical and contemporary debate concerning the definition and role of each of these terms, but for the purposes of this thesis they were not fully considered. Although this thesis uses the subjects of site, sight, and insight as a framework through which to interpret and understand environmental art, the author acknowledges that other frameworks and approaches undoubtedly exist. This thesis focused on environmental art’s potential use to designers and landscape architecture primarily because of the author’s background and interest in the overlaps between landscape architecture, architecture and art. The investigation particularly considered contemporary work in selecting the case studies in order to apply and appeal to contemporary society’s actions and concerns. Although a survey of environmental art’s history was conducted, the umbrella of environmental art is too vast and diverse to completely consider or critique. Therefore, in the author’s survey, a selected set of major Western works were discussed and compared. The case studies and examples were drawn from Western culture and were selected to apply to the author’s artistic interests and to the design of the author’s own environmental art installation.
This thesis transpired in the spring semester of 2014, and presented a range of limitations.
These include the time frame in which to construct the environmental art piece, as weddings and other events tend to occur beginning in March in the Founders Memorial Garden (the Garden).
The implementation needed to take place in time to leave ample opportunity to observe and evaluate the behavior of people as they move through the site, resulting in a small study period and expedited design time. There was no funding available, so cost was another constraint;
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particularly concerning material selection. Because of the constrained time and budget, the intervention was relatively small in scale, and used affordable and renewable materials.
Additionally, the implementation of the environmental artwork was intended to promote interaction between people, the piece, and the Garden; however, people’s reactions cannot be fully controlled. It is important to acknowledge that the interaction between people and their environment was not fully under the author’s control, although attempts to provoke interaction between people, the piece, and the Garden were implemented, observed, and critiqued. The
Garden was selected as the site for the author’s own installation due in part to its ease of access, size, and location between main campus and downtown Athens. The South Lawn of the Garden presented a limited and manageable site in which to construct and observe the installation.
Chapter Summaries
Chapter Two presents a historical recollection of environmental art’s processes and approaches, specifically considering the evolution of approaches to the subjects of site, sight, and insight. It diagrammatically displays the different approaches in order to identify potential overlaps between the various movements of environmental art and landscape architecture and to provide a basic understanding of the evolution of environmental art’s approaches. Chapter Two concludes by identifying contemporary environmental art’s approach to context and experience, and revisits the definitions of site, sight, and insight.
Chapter Three examines four environmental art case studies. Each case study’s elements are presented based on their processes and approaches to the subjects of site, sight, and insight that were defined and developed in Chapters One and Two. Each case study displays unique approaches to site response and human interaction, and generates new ideas and perspectives concerning environmental art’s use as an explorative process for designers. Chapter Three
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concludes by identifying an approach to two more subjects – incite and in-situ – that reveal new relationships that place the designer within the site and amongst the process as a participatory element in the exploration.
Chapter Four introduces the project site, the Founders Memorial Garden South Lawn, and discusses the conceptual ideas behind the author’s approach to site through the lens of environmental art. The chapter then presents the author’s approach to sight, discussing the ideas revealed through direct observation and the perceptions of the South Lawn. Next, the four implementation phases of the author’s environmental art installation, Indexing the In Between, are presented. Each phase is organized by the author’s responses and observations considering the approaches to site, sight, and insight and concludes with the presentation of the installation’s final form. A critique of the installation and explorative process follows and the chapter concludes with lessons learned from the investigation.
Chapter Five discusses environmental art’s potential use as an explorative design process that generates new ideas and perspectives. It makes the argument that environmental art can be used as such a process, and suggests its place within the contemporary study and practice of landscape architecture. Chapter Five revisits the research process, beginning with the historical synthesis, transitioning to the case studies, and concluding with the design-research. It concludes by suggesting areas of future research and presents questions that surfaced during this investigation that were not fully addressed or answered.
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CHAPTER 2
APPROACHING SITE, SIGHT, AND INSIGHT: A SYNTHESIS
OF ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S MOVEMENTS, THEMES, AND CONCEPTS
This chapter identifies the evolution of environmental art’s processes and approaches to better understand how environmental art has historically addressed the subjects of site, sight, and insight. Through a survey of major events and players involved in the development of environmental art, and, building on Hunt’s consideration of the fundamental ambition of all landscape architecture (site, sight, and insight), a valuable relationship between environmental art and landscape architecture is developed.
Monet and Constable: Sight
Although not truly recognized as an artistic movement until the 1960s, environmental art’s roots point to the “Representational Environmental Art”18 work of John Constable’s 19th century sky paintings and Monet’s 1905 work entitled London Series. Both bodies of work represent the ever-present flux of the environment, specifically the atmospheric changes of weather and light. Constable’s sky paintings are described by Thornes as “most closely representing the sky in nature.”19 Monet’s London Series is comprised of many paintings completed from the same vantage point of the Palace of Westminster, although all are created at various times of day (Figure 3). Monet said:
“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life, the air and the light, which vary
18 John E. Thornes, "A Rough Guide to Environmental Art," Annual Review of Environment & Resources 33, no. 1 (2008): 393. 19 Ibid., 394.
11
continually for me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere that gives subjects their true value.”20
Although Monet depicted the environment, he did not seek to change it in any way. His work was an abstraction of what he saw, in two-dimensional form. Monet’s London Series conveyed a relationship between art and the urban landscape and strove to visually represent the conditions of the natural environment surrounding London’s urban landscape. Monet did not suggest any abstraction or interpretation of site, nor did he suggest profound insight that one may gain or experience by viewing his work; therefore his work focused mostly on sight, as a visual experience (Figure 2). Monet was one of the first artists to attempt to portray the process of the natural environment and atmosphere processes, as opposed to a static picture of a landscape.
Monet’s approach can best be described as visual - an act of graphic recording - because there was no physical or cognitive engagement of site.
Figure 2: Sight Approach Model (diagram by author)
20 Ibid., 397.
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Figure 3: Monet, London Series, 1905 (source: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/parliament/)
El Lisstizky: Sight Informs Insight
The popularity of landscape in art continued throughout the early 20th century, but the work evolved further into abstraction of environment. In other words, 1920s environmental art abstracted the re-presentation of the land beyond recognition, creating hypothetical environments indistinguishable from real landscapes or actual physical sites.
Russian architect, painter, and graphic designer El Lissitzky was one of these Modern abstract artists. Through his tutelage under Suprematist founder Kazimir Malevich, Lissitzky formed his own visual art language that abstracted and challenged the environment of two- dimensional compositions. These Proun compositions (Figure 5), short for ‘project for the
13
affirmation of the new’ were akin to conceptual architectural designs or maps.21 Lissitzky described his Proun in an issue of De Stijl Magazine:
“Proun begins as a level surface, turns into a model of three-dimensional space, and goes on to construct all the objects of every day life. In this way Proun goes beyond painting and the artist on the one hand and the machine and the engineer on the other, and advances to the construction of space, divides it by the elements of all dimensions, and creates a new, many-facetted unity as a formal representation of our nature.”22
Through Proun, Lissitzky realized a new kind of environmental art, a visual (sight) abstraction and manipulation of a space with no real concept of place (site). Lissitzky’s Proun were understood as site-less,23 and he described his Prouns as, “Existing at stopping point between traditional two-dimensional painting and three-dimensional architecture.24 This idea manifested in the construction of his Proun Room at the 1923 Great Art Exhibition (Figure 4).
Figure 5: El Lissitzky, Proun D, 1922 Figure 4: El Lissitzky, Proun Room, 1923 (source: http:// wikipaintings.org) (source: http://www.museum-joanneum.at/)
21 Jennifer A.E. Shields, Collage and Architecture (New York: Routledge, 2014). 68. 22 El Lissitzky, "Proun," DeStijl 6, no. Year V (1922). 23 Margarita Tupitsyn et al., El Lissitzky : Beyond the Abstract Cabinet : Photography, Design, Collaboration, English ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999). 13. 24 Ibid.
14
The exhibition was held in the Lehrt Railroad Station, where Lissitzky designed all six faces defining the space; the four sides, ceiling, and the floor, although the floor was not fully realized. The room was composed of large scale, multi-axial geometric abstractions (similar to his Proun compositions) that were meant to direct the spectator in and around the room.25 This was certainly an attempt to engage the viewer and relate ideas about the space that he or she inhabits; an intentional correlation created between sight and insight. Lissitzky wrote of his space:
“The first form designed to ‘pull in’ a person coming from the great hall is placed diagonally, ‘directing’ the visitor toward the large horizontal of the front wall, and from there to wall number three with a vertical. At the exit-STOP! A square at the bottom- the basic element of all design. A relief on the ceiling, placed within the same visual angle, repeats this movement.”26
Here Lissitzky described his new art’s ability to engage people in space, and suggests the utility of translating from abstract two-dimensional painting to real spatial design; in other words a translation from canvas-space to real-space. He noted the importance of creating movement within a space, both of the user and of the design itself, expanding upon his thoughts through defining space: “That which is not looked at through a keyhole, nor through an open door.
Space does not exist for the eye only, it is not a picture; one wants to live in it.”27 This marked a pivotal point in the chronology of environmental art as a realm of practice between art and architecture; Lissitzky’s art was no longer a drawing, nor was it architecture. Environmental art was no longer constrained to the canvas, as in Monet and Constable’s work, and brought a focus on the viewer’s experience; a correspondence between sight and insight (Figure 6).
25 Ibid. 26 El Lissitzky, Russia: An Architecture for World Revolution (Cambridge,: M.I.T. Press, 1970). 38. 27 Ibid.
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Figure 6: Sight Informs Insight Approach Model (diagram by author)
Land Artists: Site and Sight Inform Insight
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, sculpture, performance, and other art forms within the gallery continued to evolve. Wars and industrialization became significant focuses of art, marking somewhat of a removal from art’s focus on landscape. However, the 1950s and the ending of Modernism marked new interpretations of landscape from a performative and non- traditional viewpoint.
The Land Art movement in particular rose out of the rebellion against traditional forms of sculpture and antiquated art forms seen as out-of-harmony with the natural environment. Land
Art was “seeking to break with the cult of personalized, transcendental expression embodied in
American post-war abstraction.”28 The Vietnam War, civil rights movement, and assassinations of key political figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John F. Kennedy contributed to an “essential crisis of faith in the Western body politic,”29 resulting in the formation of a multitude of art forms addressing new considerations of insight; physical, psychological and social space - the often overlooked considerations of art and design.
Although hesitant to be recognized as a specific art movement, the unique, land-centric art works of Michael Heizer, Nancy Holt, Carl Andre and Walter De Maria, among others, were
28 Kastner and Wallis, Land and Environmental Art: 12. 29 Ibid., 13.
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brought together in Robert Smithson’s 1968 exhibition at the Dwan Gallery in New York, entitled “Earthworks.”30 This exhibition demonstrated a rebuttal to conventional art displays and art forms. The works showcased were too large to be collected, and were only represented through a photographic lens, as in Walter de Maria’s Lightning Field (Figure 7). They were not necessarily public works, as they were typically funded by individual patrons and existed so removed from any sort of public space. Additionally, all “shared a conviction that sculptural gestures could have a life away from the institution, out in the world, inflected by a variable and
‘organic’ location.”31 Land Art was a response to society’s shortcomings; an attempt to move from aesthetic art to art that addresses critical implications of the environment, site, and user.
Particularly, Land Art looked to examine the associations between art and the cultural, societal, temporal, and ecological implications of a place.
This site-based work was predicated on the concept that a user’s insight was directly related to his or her experience with site and sight. In other words, the Land Artists’ approach tended to address a user’s insight as a byproduct of site and sight. This was a shift from art’s traditional concept of the viewer simply observing an “art object,” instead approaching the viewer as the user and participant as a mode for understanding the art.32
This new concept of art, paralleled by the rise of environmentalism, resulted in environmental art that “lies between the arts,” and that simultaneously considers the previously isolated fields of sociology, science, history and art by “conflating all of them into a messy and frequently exuberant expression of ‘postmodernist’ twentieth-century life.”33 In other words,
30 Ibid., 14. 31 Ibid., 13. 32 Bell, Herlin, and Stiles, Exploring the Boundaries of Landscape Architecture: 125. 33 John Beardsley, Earthworks and Beyond : Contemporary Art in the Landscape, 3rd ed., Abbeville modern art movements (New York: Abbeville Press, 1998). 127.
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an art that pedagogically considers human engagement and experience ahead of spatial or formal considerations. In other words, how and understanding of site and sight informs insight (Figure
8).
Figure 7: Walter de Maria, Lightning Field, 1974 (source: Beardsley, 1998, p. 61)
Figure 8: Sight and Site Informs Insight Approach Model (diagram by author)
The end of the 1970s saw these works move into the urban public realm. Artists such as
Christo, Robert Morris and Herbert Bayer engaged public art commissions to create environmental art in urban public spaces. As Beardsley describes:
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“Paradoxically, it is in the city that the greatest legacy of the earthworks movement can be seen. While the iconic works of land art – Heizer’s Double Negative or Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, for example – were made in the virtually trackless expanses of the American West, quite a few of the most significant recent environmental art projects have been incorporated into intensively developed urban spaces.”34
Public Art: Site and Sight, Dismissing Insight
In the 1980s, the federal government began sponsoring public art commissions, through the Art-in-Architecture program at the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Art in
Public Places program at the National Endowment for the Arts. The reasons for such sponsorship were born out of the beliefs that art in the public realm produced great benefits, including the belief that: environmental art is educational; exposure to art is morally beneficial; environmental art can stimulate tourism and economic development and may help promote civic identity and result in greater pride of the population.35 Related to the sponsorship was the realization that art, architecture, and landscape architecture had become greatly disconnected during the modern-era, resulting in the desire to “reintegrate the arts of painting, sculpture, architecture and landscape design in order to create the best possible public environment.”36
Commissioned in 1981, Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc was one of these environmental art works created as part of the GSA’s art sponsorship (Figure 9). Its resulting public controversy and ultimate removal in 1989 helped to further define what environmental art meant to postmodern society.”37 Artists and public officials alike realized that the general public may not have quite understood the intentions behind Serra’s work. Although it was certainly site specific and confronted the viewer in a very direct manner, its rational was unclear. Furthermore it interfered too greatly with the function of its site. People were forced to walk around a large
34 Ibid. 35 Ibid. 36 Ibid. 37 Kastner and Wallis, Land and Environmental Art: 40.
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object, actually increasing people’s commute time. This disconnection from the user was somewhat common in public art, as it focused on addressing the subjects of site and sight without full consideration of user experience or insight (Figure 10). Because of the public controversy and eventual removal of Serra’s work, artists have strived to make more direct reference in work’s form or content with surrounding context and users.38 Tilted Arc’s legacy, in addition to further societal shifts and technological advances, has evolved into today’s greater emphasis on the ephemeral, social construct. This translated into an enhanced focus on engaging the user through an integrated approach to the subjects of site, sight, and insight.
Figure 9: Richard Serra, Tilted Arc, 1981 (source: http://www.wevux.com/)
Figure 10: Integrating Sight and Site, Dismissing Insight Approach Model (diagram by author)
38 Beardsley, Earthworks and Beyond : Contemporary Art in the Landscape: 129.
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Environmentalists to Present Day: An Integrated Approach to Site, Sight, and Insight
Today, environmental artists are still very much engaged in performative, site-specific, environmentally-conscious works. Artists such as Richard Long, Andy Goldsworthy, and James
Turrell (Figure 11) are extremely popular, with both ephemeral and permanent work on display internationally. Today more than ever, architects and artists collaborate and overlap in a common scope of work. The Venice Biennale exhibition is an example of this, where a diverse range of artists and designers come together every two years to create inspiring and critical works of environmental art. Since the focus of these works is communicating the messages concerning the environment, emphasis has been placed on the user’s experience and understanding of the work. Today’s environmental art facilitates an interest in investigating particular social or political practices for particular regions, as they require the presence of the artist to create topical and site-specific installations.39
Figure 11: James Turrell, Aten Reign, 2013 (source: http://web.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/turrell/)
39 Kastner and Wallis, Land and Environmental Art: 40.
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Today, there is a focus on climate change. However, environmental art maintains a diverse range of representation and themes. Thornes summarizes:
“It must be stated that environmental artists have a host of differing approaches, methods, and beliefs. Generally, however, they are actively involved in a mix of raising awareness about he fragility of the environment, using green methods and natural materials to create their works, and investigating how the environment works.”40
Today, works explore the nearly infinite spectrum of environmental issues through art forms and architecture, with specific attention paid to site specificity, visual appeal, and engagement of the user; in other words site, sight, and insight (Figure 12). There is a
“proliferation of new aesthetic strategies that make nature visible in terms of its spontaneous changes, its temporality, and the intangible qualities that constitute the environments in which we live.”41 Environmental art’s journey from the two dimensional paintings of Monet, to
Lissitzky’s three dimensional Proun Room, to the massive scale and minimalism of the Land
Artists, to the more recent move into the urban public realm by artists such as Richard Serra, demonstrate the diversity of what constitutes environmental art.
Figure 12: Fully Integrated Approach Model (diagram by author)
40 Thornes, "A Rough Guide to Environmental Art," 407. 41 Amanda Boetzkes, The Ethics of Earth Art (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010). 3.
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Synthesis
The historical synthesis of environmental art’s processes and approaches identified the evolution of the emphasis on the user, from essentially none in Monet’s London Series, to today’s approach that the user is an integrated part of the art; that the art could not exist without the participation of the user.
To summarize, environmental art’s evolution can be categorized by its approaches to site, sight and insight.
• Sight
Perhaps the subject of sight evolved least in definition through the interpretation of the history of environmental art, although it was applied and used in different ways. The evolution of environmental art began with Monet’s two-dimensional paintings that represented his view of
London’s Parliament building during different times of the day and during different weather events. His London Series was one of the first attempts to visually represent the environmental flux of the landscape, but presented no physical engagement with a site. Lissitzky understood the subject of sight as a way of perceiving and gaining insight, while the Land Artists understood sight as an integrated element with site that influenced insight. Sight is primarily influenced by physical features, such as form, material, context, and scale and will always be a fundamental element of any art or design because it is the initial stimulus between humans and their environment.
• Site
Although site has traditionally been considered as a physical location, site can manifest as an experience, an event or something else. The work of Goldsworthy, Long and Turrell exhibit projects that consider the site experience as the project; there is little manipulation or
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intervention of a specific physical site, but the documentation of site through the artist’s and user’s sight and the resulting insight gained create the site experience. In other words, the site can be seen and understood as a process.
• Insight
The subject of insight evolved from a minor consideration to the most important consideration of environmental art. This presents a direct element of overlap with the fields of architecture and landscape architecture, where user experience is a by-product of any design consideration.
Perhaps designers can use environmental art as an explorative process to better understand how considerations of site and sight impact user perception and understanding.
Summary
In sum, this chapter identified key moments in the evolution of environmental art’s processes and approaches. It presented the moments in order to gain a better understand of how environmental art has historically addressed the subjects of site, sight, and insight. The synthesis revealed new approaches to these subjects, and established that contemporary environmental art:
• is exploratory (El Lissitzky, Land Artists, contemporary artists)
• is process-driven (Land Artists, contemporary artists)
• considers site, sight, and insight holistically (contemporary artists)
• is engaging, often involving user and designer participation (contemporary artists)
These conclusions set the argument for the following chapters. Identifying the relationships between the three themes of site, sight, and insight will frame how the case studies in Chapter
Three will be selected and examined. Each case study will examine unique approaches to the integration of site, sight, and insight using environmental art as an explorative process.
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CHAPTER 3
EXAMINING APPROACHES TO SITE, SIGHT, AND INSIGHT:
A SERIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL ART CASE STUDIES
This chapter presents four environmental art case studies that build on approaches identified in Chapter Two and that are intended to ultimately apply to the author’s own design and implementation of an environmental art intervention. Therefore the case studies selected provide a range of interpretations from which to draw inspiration and conclusions. The studies were conducted primarily using secondary description from the work’s creators, and from visitors and critics. Each case study exhibits intriguing interpretations of site, sight, and insight, and further reveal environmental art’s ability to serve as an explorative process.
Selection Criteria
Due to environmental art’s depth, breadth and diversity, the author established selection criteria intended to narrow the focus of this study. However, this framework intentionally provides a certain level of diversity, specifically concerning location and site typologies. The selected case studies each met the following four criteria.
• Environmental art that is ephemeral.
In order to be useful to this thesis, each work needed to be temporary in form, meaning that the installation or event must not have existed in a state of permanence. However, the ephemeral environmental art piece may have created byproducts more permanent in nature; for example drawings, photographs, or films, created in order to display the work’s relationship with its
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context and produce a intimate perspective of people’s interaction with the environmental artwork.
• Environmental art that has been created within the last ten years.
Limiting the potential work to the last decade situates each project firmly within contemporary practice. This is important due to this study’s focus on how contemporary environmental art can be used as a process to produce new ideas and perspectives. Additionally, selecting current examples of environmental art works provided a better representation of today’s societal perception of the environment.
• Environmental art that exists, in some capacity, outside.
This thesis is interested in exploring how landscape architects may consider environmental art as a useful process, and landscape architecture is an outside-oriented profession. Therefore each example offers some sort of investigation of exterior conditions, although representation of the projects may exist on display in an interior environment. Each case provides new interpretations of environment and landscape, whether the viewer experienced the work in-situ or as a post-event representation – such as though film or photography.
• Environmental art that is created by different designers in different locations.
By intentionally selecting works created by different people in different locations the author is provided with various approaches to different design settings and the corresponding different approaches to site, sight, and insight. The range of processes and approaches examined provided the author with a diverse assortment of ideas and perspectives concerning the approach to his own environmental art installation.
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Methodology
With the four selection requirements in place, the author organized each case study around the approaches to site, sight, and insight. This continues the framework that was established in previous chapters to interpret and understand environmental art as a process to generate new ideas and perspectives. These three considerations (site, sight, and insight) served as a starting point for comparison and contrast, and established a structure that allowed each study to stand independently while simultaneously working as a set.
Using the selection criteria, the author selected the following four case studies for further investigation: Architect Peter Eisenman’s Garden of the Lost Steps installation at Castelvecchio;
VAV Architects’ Mirror Lab apparatus under a historic bridge in Spain; Artist Tim Knowles’ personification of trees through his Tree Drawings series; and finally artist Kurt Perschke’s ongoing global RedBall Project. Practicing architects created the first two projects, while the latter two were created by contemporary artists, which provide a set of examples created from varying design perspectives and with differing agendas in mind.
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Case Studies
• Case Study One: Peter Eisenman on Site at Castelvecchio o Title: The Garden of the Lost Steps o Creator: Architect Peter Eisenman o Location: Musio di Castelvecchio, Verona, Italy o Duration: seven months, June 2004-January 2005
Peter Eisenman’s work strives to “free architecture of its own traditional language and concerns,”42 often creating ambiguous interpretations of place and directly engaging the user in powerful ways; sometimes to the point of disorientation or even nausea. The Garden of the Lost
Steps at the Musio di Castelvecchio was an exemplary manifestation of Eisenman’s
Deconstructivist ideas at play. There existed a sort of tension and architectural dialogue between the historic castle, its renowned restoration, and Eisenman’s overlaid environmental art intervention. Eisenman established the work as a sort of architectural overlay that created new readings of space and highlighted the relationship between the interior of the museum and its courtyard.
• Site
To fully appreciate Eisenman’s work at Castelvecchio, one must first reference the historic dialogue that exists between the site, building, and the art housed within. The 14th century building was restored by architect Carlo Scarpa from 1958-1974. Scarpa carefully crafted a user experience organized around the intimate “gaze” of the user with the Italian statues and fine art within the museum.43 Each statue was oriented to specifically address people’s movement through each room, creating multiple perspectives from which to observe and interpret each work; literally positioning people in-between art and architecture.
42 Peter Eisenman, Stan Allen, and Cynthia C. Davidson, Tracing Eisenman : Peter Eisenman Complete Works (New York: Rizzoli, 2006). 28. 43 Gianna Stravroulaki, "The Spatial Construction of Seeing at Castelvecchio," ed. John Peponis (www.scribd.com, 2008).
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Particularly important in Eisenman’s intervention were Scarpa’s five sculpture rooms, each similar in size and roughly square. Eisenman stated that the work “would try to reinvent the project as a metacritical one, an idea that is more problematic, but also more realizable, because it must address the fragmentary and the poetic aspects of Scarpa’s work.”44 Eisenman established this dialogue with Scarpa’s work and the site by reproducing the footprints of the five sculpture rooms and relocating them parallel to the existing footprints, as a series of “excavated pads” in the courtyard (Figure 13, top). These pads “cracked and peeled” to reveal an “amalgam of Eisenman projects,”45 demonstrating Eisenman’s desire to bring his own architectural concepts into the site. Influenced by the rotated room at the end of Scarpa’s sequence of spaces,
Eisenman then overlaid a skewed grid that overlapped and intersected with Scarpa’s pads.
Eisenman addressed the site initially as a location and canvas, but integrated the subjects of sight and insight in order communicate deeper meaning and understanding of Scarpa’s work at
Castelvecchio.
• Sight
Areas of the grid, both inside the museum and outside in the courtyard, were realized through a bright red steel construction, serving as a physical and visual diagram within the landscape.
Outside, the grid is exposed in the central courtyard and overlaid within a historic fountain. This exposure at prevalent public intersections challenges the viewer to follow the grid, and potentially to understand the origins from which it came. It communicates a relationship between old and new, and adds visual intrigue to an otherwise underwhelming exterior experience. Inside, the grid acts as an element in-between the castle’s historic walls and
Scarpa’s modern floors, further developing the dialogue between time and space, architecture
44 Eisenman, Allen, and Davidson, Tracing Eisenman : Peter Eisenman Complete Works: 392. 45 Ibid.
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and art, and human and environment (Figure 13, middle). Eisenman’s grid actually contrasts with Scarpa’s choreographed movement through the gallery spaces, opting to highlight the architectural form, material, and edges of the space instead of the content within.
• Insight
Eisenman’s deliberate diagram considerably altered the human perception of
Castelvecchio, especially by bringing Scarpa’s magnificently crafted sequence of rooms to the forefront of attention. The Garden of the Lost Steps interacted with people at multiple scales, not only through the physical manipulation of the site as in the courtyard, but also by inquiring into temporal associations, as in the galleries – between the original building, its restoration, and
Eisenman’s ephemeral overlay (Figure 14). The installation was such a success its display was extended three months from the original end date.46
The Garden of the Lost Steps was installed on June 26, 2004, and was removed on
January 24, 2005. This ephemeral environmental art piece existed as a literal overlay of Scarpa’s masterful architecture and Eisenman’s abstracted grid, creating a sense of hierarchy and ambiguity within the museum, and producing a changed perception of place. In Eisenman’s words, “the work is no longer a museum exhibition (an exhibition in a museum) but rather a transformation of the nature of the museum itself.”47
Garden of the Lost Steps Summary
This environmental artwork reflected the architectural identity and interests of its designer. Eisenman’s use of color and material address the site and human experience similarly to methods that landscape architects and architects traditionally use – with form. However,
Eisenman’s abstracted grid and its underlying relationship with the site’s physical and temporal
46 "Il Giardino dei Passi Perduti," Museo di Castelvecchio, https://serviziinternet.comune.verona.it/Castelvecchio/cvsito/eisenman/giardino02.htm. 47 Eisenman, Allen, and Davidson, Tracing Eisenman : Peter Eisenman Complete Works: 392.
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history evoke a deeper function; an environment that provides, in Rendell’s aforementioned words, “certain kinds of tools of self-reflection, critical thinking and social change.”48 Eisenman demonstrated environmental art’s value as a useful process through which designers can explore concepts and ideas. He explored his design infatuation with overlaid grids through a small-scale environmental artwork, and offered generated new ideas and perspectives of a historic site.
Figure 13: Peter Eisenman, The Garden of the Lost Steps, 2005. Top: parts of Castelvecchio and Eisenman’s overlay; Middle: interior of Castelvecchio with Scarpa’s modern floors and Eisenman’s steel grid; Bottom: Eisenman’s pads in the central courtyard. (source: https://serviziinternet.comune.verona.it/Castelvecchio/cvsito/eisenman/giardino.htm)
48 Rendell, Art and Architecture: A Place Between: 4.
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Figure 14: Peter Eisenman, The Garden of the Lost Steps, 2005; images show central courtyard scenes with red steel elements and its continuation into the gallery spaces (source: https://serviziinternet.comune.verona.it/Castelvecchio/cvsito/eisenman/giardino.htm)
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• Case Study Two: VAV Architects Reflecting Sight o Title: Mirror Lab o Creator: VAV Architects o Location: Bridge de Sant Roc, Olot, Spain o Duration: five days, June 2011
An addition of an interactive mirror within an old bridge created new perceptions of its site, and evoked the user to contemplate its deeper meaning and relation to its environment. VAV
Architects’ interests in exploration of simple materials and environmental phenomena led them to create Mirror Lab in June 2011. According to the architects, “The idea of exploring the mirror came from the desire to capture, explore and experiment with the landscape, rather than with built form.”49
• Site
The five-day manifestation of Mirror Lab engaged a historic bridge structure on the outskirts of Olot, Spain. A lush walkway underneath the bridge typically allowed pedestrians to move from one side of the bridge to the other. However, a delicate dialogue was initiated between the historic, crumbling structure of the bridge and the unassuming pedestrian when VAV Architects placed a large, revolving mirror in the middle of the pedestrian tunnel (Figure 15). This material intervention physically altered the site, and forced user interaction.
• Sight
Although nearly invisible from afar, the simple addition of the double-sided mirror to the passage’s entry augmented any human interaction with the site. Pivoting on a central steel pole, attached to the bridge at the base and top, the plywood-structured, mirror plated door allowed visitors to directly interact with and become part of the installation. VAV Architects played with
49 VAV Architects, "Mirror Lab 2.1," http://www.vavarchitects.com/mirror-lab-2-1.
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the user’s view, installing an unexpected reflection of the user within the site that strongly integrated the subjects of site, sight, and insight (Figure 16).
• Insight
VAV Architects described the resulting interaction: “As visitors engage with the mirror, they become immersed in the exploration and interpretation of both the real and reflected landscape.”50 Thus, Mirror Lab addresses the critical and insightful components of design, “the ways of understanding place and people’s interaction with it; the physical, psychological and social space.”51 The somewhat forgotten pedestrian passage was transformed, distorting people’s perception of depth, light, texture, and spatial understanding; providing a literal reflection of people within the landscape. Mirror Lab also prompted intimate user interaction, creating a tactile relationship between person and place. This tactility highlights VAV
Architect’s holistic approach to the subjects of site, sight, and insight; one subject could not be understood without experiencing the other two, even if it was subconsciously.
Mirror Lab revealed a deep association with its site, and demonstrated how minimal design intervention can be extremely powerful in altering perception of place. In today’s urban environment, “Treating the city as a living organism requires solutions as dynamic as life itself,”52 and Mirror Lab exemplifies such a solution. Its short existence provided a new interpretation of an isolated site, and engaged people in the landscape at a carefully-curated, intimate level.
50 Robert; Ehmann Klanten, Sven; Borges, Sofia; Hubner, Matthiuas; Feireiss, Lukas, Going Public: Public Architecture, Urbanism, and Interventions (Berlin, Germany: Die Gestalten Verlag, 2012). 51 Bell, Herlin, and Stiles, Exploring the Boundaries of Landscape Architecture: 129. 52 Klanten, Going Public: Public Architecture, Urbanism, and Interventions.
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Mirror Lab Summary
VAV Architects, in a similar fashion to Eisenman at Castelvecchio, physically engaged the site through an environmental art installation that reflected their self-interests in material research and small-scale experiments without permanent built form. The literal reflection of site and sight created by Mirror Lab forced users to reflect their location within the physical site, on the surrounding environment, and to self-reflect; it most certainly slowed people’s movement through the site and altered the every-day experience of the site. The short-lived nature of
Mirror Lab potentially fulfilled Rugg’s hypothesis concerning:
“The temporal and spatial ‘cut’ of short-lived artworks is capable of complex acts of dis- location and re-positioning… has produced a new international realm of awareness of the potential of short-lived art works and their capacity to animate and linger as catalysts for memory and debate.”53
Although there is little discussion, if any, regarding post-occupancy evaluation of Mirror Lab, it is reasonable to surmise that the site’s perception was forever altered for common users. A new layer of insight was presented that created an entirely new understanding of the individual’s relationship to the site.
53 Rugg, Exploring Site-Specific Art: Foreword, 2.
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Figure 15: VAV Architects, Mirror Lab, 2011 (source: http://www.vavarchitects.com/mirror-lab-2-1)
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Figure 16: VAV Architects, Mirror Lab, 2011 (source: http://www.vavarchitects.com/mirror-lab-2-1)
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• Case Study Three: Tim Knowles Personifies Trees o Title: Tree Drawings o Creator: Artist Tim Knowles o Location: United Kingdom o Duration: varies, 2005-2012
United Kingdom based artist Tim Knowles’ work includes projects entitled Nightwalks,
Insect Flight Paths, Restorative Device, Postal Works and Tree Drawings. Knowles’s experimentations carefully consider the process of drawing, recording movement and environmental phenomena. Specifically, Knowles explores the natural phenomenon of “chance versus control.”54 Knowles points to the importance of experimentation in his creative process:
“I think a sense of playfulness is very important and often goes hand in hand with a desire to explore. According to Stephen Nachmanovitch, play is the root and foundation of creativity in the arts and sciences also as in daily life. Improvisation, composition, writing, painting, theater, invention, all creative acts are forms of play, the starting place of creativity in the human growth cycle, and one of the great primal life functions.”55
• Site
Knowles’ Tree Drawings are a series of environmental art works created in the United
Kingdom between 2005 and 2012 that were produced by attaching a number of pens and other marking devices to various tree branches situated near canvases. Wind then moved the branches, which created the drawings, akin to “tree signatures.”56 Knowles recorded the drawing process through video and photography. When on display, the drawings are often complimented with these videos and images that portray the process of making, and engage the viewer. The physical site was removed from the viewer’s sight, and perhaps not even addressed. Although Tree
Drawings do not directly engage with humans in situ, they do provide a record of an ephemeral
54 Tim Knowles, "Tree Drawings," http://www.timknowles.co.uk/. 55 Helen Homan Wu, "Featured Artist: Tim Knowles," ARTCARDS Review(2011), http://artcards.cc/review/featured-artist-tim-knowles/4000/. 56 Knowles, "Tree Drawings".
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event. Thus, the site became a representation of the process through video and photography, or the artifact itself; the tree-marked canvases.
• Sight
Knowles’ Tree Drawings record the process of branches moving in the wind, reflecting conditions of the natural environment. The process is visually communicated through the use of video or photography, and the product is typically displayed near by. Knowles’ Oak on Easel #1 was produced using an oak tree and pens on a small canvas that sat easily on a typical easel
(Figure 17). His Dragon Spruce drawings were similar to the oak tree studies, but used multiple tree branches and dozens of pens (Figure 18). Because of the density of the branches, and the differing wind patterns, each set of drawings has a varied level of density and darkness in them.
His Four Panel Weeping Willow drawing included a total of fifty pens and is a massive piece once combined (Figure 19).
• Insight
Tree Drawings challenge people’s perception of trees. When people think or ask “Who made this?” and are informed or realize it is a sort of tree-signature, created by a branch’s oscilation in the wind, a sort of displacement occurs. The tree is suddenly understood as a unique individual, perhaps similar to a human being, giving it meaning and purpose. The works thoughtfully humanize trees, challenging people that are removed from the physical context of a landscape to adapt new perceptions of their every-day environment.
Tree Drawings Summary
Tree Drawings exhibit Knowles’ acceptance of “chance versus control”, and a unique ability to capture and record natural patterns otherwise not within the human periphery.
Although the drawings are permanent art, they represent an event; a distinctive process that
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abstracts nature at a critical scale. The act of personifying trees, tracing their movement, serving perhaps as an index of their anatomy, renders a rare vision of nature’s delicate movement.
Figure 17: Tim Knowles, Oak on Easel #1, 2005 (source: http://www.timknowles.co.uk/Work/TreeDrawings/tabid/265/Default.aspx)
Figure 18: Tim Knowles, Dragon Spruce, 2012 (source: http://www.timknowles.co.uk/Work/TreeDrawings/tabid/265/Default.aspx)
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Figure 19: Tim Knowles, Circular Weeping Willow, 2005 Top: photograph of drawing process showing array of panels Middle: installation view (London, 2014 ) Bottom: individual panel detail photographs (source: http://www.timknowles.co.uk/Work/TreeDrawings/tabid/265/Default.aspx)
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• Case Study Four: Kurt Perschke Incites o Title: RedBall Project o Creator: Artist Kurt Perschke o Location: Worldwide o Duration: varies, ongoing, 2001-present
The RedBall Project is an ongoing, international installation project. It presents a fourth subject of environmental art: that of incite. Incite is defined, “to stir, encourage, or urge on; to stimulate or prompt to action.”57 The integration of site, sight, insight, and incite generates a new model of environmental art that demonstrates environmental art’s potential use as an explorative design process to generate new ideas and perspectives. Incite challenges the user or viewer to act, to approach, and to feel; it is that action that is seen as the art.
• Site
RedBall Project originated as a commission for Arts and Transit in St Louis, Missouri, and then the creator moved it to Barcelona, Spain before exhibiting in Chicago, Portland, and
New York in the United States, and cities from Toronto and Taipei to Abu Dhabi internationally
- a total of seventeen cities to date. The premise is simple: place a massive red ball in a public area in order to engage people in fun and evocative ways. RedBall is both site-specific and site- generic; it can go anywhere, yet is intimately connected to any given location; it is literally inflated within the site. The use of vinyl and air – extremely adaptable and flexible – renders it site specific anywhere it is placed. RedBall engages the user; either in a direct, playful manner or in a passive manner of wonder or surprise.
Also integral in Perschke’s approach RedBall is the designer’s participation in-situ. That is, while at the site, the designer himself decides the exact location and shape that the installation will be given. Beforehand Perschke has a general idea about site, but it is not fully worked out until the moment of installation. This in-situ approach demonstrates the flexibility and
57 "Dictionary.com".
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adaptability present in the process of environmental art. It has the ability to respond in real-time at real-scale to unforeseen or unexpected conditions, and potentially challenges the designer to become an element of the work his or herself. In-situ decisions create an intimate relationship between the physical site itself and the designer’s sight and insight.
• Sight
Creator Kurt Perschke describes the RedBall Project: “It’s fifteen feet high. It weighs about
250 pounds. it takes about forty minutes to inflate and deflate. I always inflate it into the site, and there’s only one. My work is very concerned with architectural space and people moving through space.”58 Perschke selects a diverse range of settings in which to intervene, although the majority are located within prominent urban fabric. Specifically, Perschke seeks to address the
“forgotten or uglier areas of the public realm.”59 The intervention can be located anywhere within a city, but is often tucked into alleyways or pushed between a monument or landmark.
The size and color of the ball create a highly visible and curious object within any urban realm, causing pedestrians to approach, touch, and even play with the object.
• Insight
Chicago’s RedBall Project is a prime example of the influence the ball can have. A common situation the RedBall may find itself in is being shoved in-between buildings. This condition distinguishes RedBall as environmental art “in-between” architecture. In Chicago, the RedBall was specifically placed around the historic architecture of Mies van der Rohe. The urban plaza outside his Federal Center was a perfect site for RedBall, especially because of the large
Alexander Calder Flamingo sculpture that sits towards the plaza’s center (Figure 21). The organic, bright red nature of Flamingo starkly contrasts with the rigid, black steel Mies is famous
58 Kurt Perschke to UICA Interview, 2011, Video Interview, http://vimeo.com/13772968. 59 Ibid.
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for. The RedBall was perfectly situated within Calder’s sculpture, almost as if protected by it.
The color of Flamingo and RedBall corresponded well, creating a subtle change that even the every-day passer by may not fully observe until a closer examination. However, the RedBall did attract human attention, and offered a contrasting sense of play to the rigid and ordered architectural conditions created by Mies.
RedBall Summary
• Incite: to stimulate or prompt to action.60
RedBall Project introduces the subject of incite because of its capacity to move the user beyond cognitive stimulation or contemplation of insight into a position of action, movement, or physical involvement – such as initiating dialogue, touching the work, approaching of the work or distancing from the work. In his artist’s statement, Kurt Perschke describes the action
RedBall facilitates:
"Through the RedBall Project I use my opportunity as an artist to be a catalyst for new encounters within the everyday. Through the magnetic, playful, and charismatic nature of the RedBall the work is able to access the imagination embedded in all of us. On the surface, the experience seems to be about the ball itself as an object, but the true power of the project is what it can create for those who experience it. It opens a doorway to imagine ‘what if?’ As RedBall travels around the world people approach me on the street with excited suggestions where to put it in their city. In that moment the person is not a spectator but a participant in the act of imagination. I have witnessed it across continents, diverse age spans, cultures, and languages, always issuing an invitation. That invitation to engage, to collectively imagine it, is the true essence of the RedBall Project. The larger arc of the project is how each city responds to that invitation and, over time, 61 what the developing story reveals about our individual and cultural imagination.”
At any given moment, anywhere in the world, anyone can stumble across a large red ball sandwiched “between a rock and a hard place,”62 creating new perceptions of place and sparking conversation between complete strangers. RedBall engages people both spatially and critically,
60 "Dictionary.com". 61 Kurt Perschke to Kurt Perschke's RedBall Project, 2009, http://redballproject.com/about. (author’s italics). 62 Klanten, Going Public: Public Architecture, Urbanism, and Interventions: 186.
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encouraging physical interaction up close, but serving as a sort of signifier and provocation from a distance. Placement is a crucial consideration: On the ground? Between buildings? Shoved into a bus stop? There are nearly infinite forms to which RedBall can adapt (Figures 21 and 22).
RedBall’s approach will be further explored through the projective design phase of this investigation because it addresses not only the subjects of site, sight, and insight, but also integrates the designer and user as a participant and facilitator driving the design and implementation process. The adjustments, actions, and events that occur during the process form the art itself; it is a work of process and participation (Figure 20). A strong correlation exists between this approach and the study and practice of landscape architecture. The landscape itself is a process, and landscape architecture’s challenge is to bridge that process with the human experience. Both RedBall and landscape architecture highlight the juxtaposition between humans and environment, and process and participation.
Figure 20: Holistic Integrated Approach Including Designer and User (diagram by author)
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Figure 21: Kurt Perschke, RedBall Project, 2001-present Left Column: Abu Dhabi, UAE Right Column: Chicago, Illinois, USA (source: http://redballproject.com/)
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Figure 22: Kurt Perschke, RedBall Project, 2001-present Left Column: Paris, France Right Column: Taipei, Taiwan (source: http://redballproject.com/)
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Case Study Synthesis
• Site
1. Site typology may need to be the initial consideration.
The case studies revealed that site may be understood and explored in a multitude of ways.
Site can be more of an architectural consideration of intervening upon a physical location, such as in Garden of the Lost Steps. Eisenman was clearly responding through form to Castelveccio’s grid, and did not challenge the traditional definition of site. A parallel can be drawn between
Eisenman’s approach to site and that of the public artists, except that Eisenman more effectively integrated the concepts of sight and insight with the site response to create a compelling and evocative user experience. The primary difference between Serra’s Tilted Arc and The Garden of the Lost Steps is the sites in which they existed. Tilted Arc was in one of the busiest public spaces in New York City; a space made to walk through and function well from a circulation stand point. The art compromised the function. On the other hand, The Garden of the Lost Steps was sited within a historic museum, and was made for strolling and wondering. Thus, any sort of intervention would not have compromised the function of the space. This comparison is presented to demonstrate that site typology is pivotal in the approach to site, sight, and insight and that the designer may need to consider site before the other two.
2. Site can be a reflection or reinterpretation of place.
Site can be understood as more of an experience than a physical location, which is typically accomplished when the creator places emphasis initially on sight and insight. This is evident in the projects of Mirror Lab, Tree Drawings, and RedBall. Each of these projects address what
Martin Hogue describes site as, “the structure of action that conditions our experience of the
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environment.”63 These projects demonstrate an explorative process that generates new ideas and perspectives from both the vantage point of the designer and the experience of the user. A parallel can be drawn between the Land Artists of the 1950s and 1960s and the
Environmentalists of the 1990s to these examples of contemporary environmental art. “There is a conceptual elegance to the idea that a site can be a project in itself. One can design with this sense of time and change in mind, rather than follow the logic of the term project that in architecture suggests a more arrested state of things.”64 This process can be used in landscape architecture to research and understand the site beyond the methods of site analysis commonly practiced today. In Hogue’s words:
“For architecture, it suggests the possibility that completed projects be seen as open- ended projects that seek to work with an ever-changing set of conditions. It proposes a design approach to intervene minimally, where needed, and in reference to what is already there. It invites the designer to recognize the potential of a site and tease out its qualities without overpowering them.”65
3. Site interpretation can change with the involvement of the designer.
A third concept or vantage point of site is the in-situ perspective of the designer. As described in RedBall’s examination, this approach is potentially the most useful process in generating new ideas and perspectives through the use of environmental art. This is because this approach directly includes the designer, in real space, at real scale, in real time, and forces the designer to make and respond to a range of conditions that occur throughout the process. In other words, this process of “learning by doing” sets up mini experiments that the designer can actively observe and respond to within the larger experiment or installation. This approach allows the designer to gain from “micro-considerations” such as orientation and placement of
63 Martin Hogue, "The Site as Project: Lessons from Land Art and Conceptual Art," Journal of Architectural Education 57, no. 3 (2004): 57. 64 Ibid., 58. 65 Ibid., 59.
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smaller elements, while maintaining an investigation into more “macro-considerations” such as site, material, and scale.
• Sight
Although the subject of site took on new sorts of interpretations and definitions, the subject of sight was addressed similarly in each of the case studies except perhaps Knowles’ Tree
Drawings. In Tree Drawings the user was completely removed from the site itself, and had no in-situ view or experience of the process whatsoever. Through this approach, Knowles controlled exactly what the user did and did not see or recognize of the site; he could present as little or as much as desired. In contrast, The Garden of the Lost Steps, Mirror Lab, and RedBall controlled the form, material, and aesthetic of their installation but could not completely force the viewer to look at only one part of the site or one element of their installation.
However, a few conclusions can be drawn about the process of addressing sight.
1. Material can change the perception of a place, as is evident in all four case studies.
Whether it was the contrasting red color and materials present in The Garden of the Lost
Steps and RedBall, the mirror in Mirror Lab, or the tree-marked canvas in Tree Drawings, each project demonstrated material decisions’ ability to alter what the viewer sees.
2. Scale has a large impact on what the viewer sees.
The scale of The Garden of the Lost Steps made it impossible for the user to fully observe the totality of the installation, whereas Mirror Lab, RedBall, and the presentation of Tree Drawings could be fully seen and examined from any one of numerous vantage points.
• Insight
1. Environmental art interventions have the ability to engage people in evocative ways by
establishing unforeseen relationships at diverse scales.
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Whether it is Eisenman’s grand abstraction at Castelvecchio or Knowles’s Tree Drawings, interaction between humans, environment, and art can occur at many levels and scales. As demonstrated in The Garden of the Lost Steps and Mirror Lab, environmental art serves as an appropriate medium in which architects and landscape architects can explore conceptual ideas and investigate more appropriate methods of engaging humans through design. Environmental art offers a scale, both physically and conceptually, between two-dimensional art and full-scale architecture. The Garden of the Lost Steps negotiates this scale particularly well, as it engages in an intimate dialogue between building, site, time, and user.
2. Effective presentation of the process is key to communicating the concept.
Tree Drawings explored a new level of insight concerning the reconsideration of form and re-presentation of process. As discussed in the site and sight sections, Tree Drawings removed the user from the site, creating an experience that was predicated on the presentation and effective communication of the process, not on a user experience based on first-person experience. This removal further abstracted Tree Drawings’ process, leaving a great deal to be imagined, questioned, and uniquely understood by the viewer. This further strengthened the abstraction of a tree’s individuality and allowed the viewer to further identify with the process.
• Incite
1. Work that incorporates the user’s interaction as an integral part of the process
progresses beyond the approaches to site, sight, and insight.
Incite relates to the physical engagement, participation, and tactile interaction that a user displays in response to his or her preconceptions concerning site, sight, and insight. Specifically,
RedBall incites users to react – physically, verbally, or otherwise noticeably - as the integral part of the process. RedBall’s ability to facilitate action directly addresses the research question of
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“How can environmental art be used as an explorative process to generate new ideas and perspectives?”
2. Environmental art not only has the capacity to generate new ideas and perspectives –
through approaches to sight and insight - but has the potential to incite emotion and
action in users.
Environmental art’s capacity to incite or stimulate the user into action, in tandem with the considerations of site, sight, and insight, will be explored further through the author’s own environmental art installation. Perhaps Asdum describes this potential within landscape architecture best:
“The aim here could be to steer away from the idea of landscape architecture as a picture, but understand it as a physical design for subjects that feel, move, possess weight and size, rest, move at different speeds, and also look at each other and at the space. If the body of the viewer is understood in this way, the physical and bodily relationships that are set up are perhaps even more important than the way a landscape composition looks.”
Summary
At the very least, each case study makes a statement concerning the processes, formal response, and critical inquiries existing between environmental art and landscape architecture.
The Garden of the Lost Steps and RedBall Project initiate the engagement through provocative elements that resonate at various scales and from many perspectives before transitioning to intimate investigations of the built environment. Mirror Lab, Tree Drawings, and RedBall
Project engage the user through participation and interpretation; perhaps less obvious inquiries, but certainly engaging and throught provoking. Additionally, RedBall Project engages the pedestrian in a similarly playful way as Mirror Lab, forcing the user into becoming an integral element of the art. The Garden of the Lost Steps dismisses the concept of chance, replacing it with extremely precise design decisions while Tree Drawings celebrate a lack of control and
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embrace the beautify of spontaneity; yet both works strongly investigate new perceptions of environment.
In sum, this chapter examined key approaches of environmental art concerning the subjects of site, sight, and insight. It built off of the approaches identified in Chapter Two, and examined contemporary approaches in order to gain a better understanding of how environmental art can be used as an explorative process, particularly to investigate the relationships between the subjects of site, sight, and insight. The case study synthesis revealed new approaches to these subjects to be moved forward with in the design-research phase. Of course each subject of site, sight, and insight could be examined from multiple scales and perspectives, as exemplified by the structure of this paper.
Revisiting the conclusions concerning environmental art from Chapter Two, environmental art: is exploratory, is process-driven, considers site, sight, and insight holistically and integratively, and is engaging on multiple levels. This chapter examined environmental art through a series of case studies, concluding that in addition to the bullet points above, environmental art:
• is useable in practice (Eisenman and VAV Architects used environmental art to pursue
self-interests and personal design agendas)
• is a public and social process, akin to landscape architecture (RedBall)
• exposes new relationships and scenarios (provoking thought, resulting in insight)
• has the capacity to incite or stimulate the user into action (Mirror Lab and RedBall)
• has the ability to be participatory (in-situ design process and user reaction as in RedBall)
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Moving Forward
How, then, can environmental art be used as an explorative design process to generate new ideas and perspectives? The combination of the historical synthesis in Chapter Two and the case studies conducted in this Chapter have revealed a environmental art process that considers
“site as sight and insight.” In other words, the research has revealed a process that’s “art” is the facilitation of human interaction or social response; not necessarily the physical or visual form of an object but the corresponding user response (incite) to that object. Moving forward into the design-research phase of this investigation, a series of hypotheses drawn from the previous chapters will be tested.
• Environmental art’s process includes the holistic consideration of site, sight, and insight;
they should not be separated as exclusive considerations in the design process.
• Environmental art’s process should address the user as an active element. Methods of
user engagement, participation, and tactility will be explored in the design process.
• Environmental art’s process is potentially most valuable to designers when investigated
and executed in-situ. This is because it places the designer within the site, forcing
observation, analysis and response to site conditions and user behavior. It gives the
designer great flexibility to adapt and change, further emphasizing environmental art as
an explorative process instead of a pre-designed object.
The following chapters present the author’s design, implementation, and analysis of his own environmental art installation using concepts developed in the previous chapters, with the intent to investigate environmental art’s value to the study and practice of contemporary landscape architecture.
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CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH THROUGH DESIGN: INDEXING THE IN BETWEEN
This thesis culminates in the design, implementation, and analysis of an environmental art installation in the South Lawn of the Founder’s Memorial Garden on the University of
Georgia. Indexing the In Between, the title of the installation, applied lessons learned from each of the previous research to create a tangible environmental artwork can be used to generate new ideas and perspectives.
This chapter begins with the introduction of the installation’s site, and analyzes why the selected site is appropriate. This chapter then focuses on implementation, and details each phase using the subjects of site, sight, and insight as the organizational elements. The chapter ends by discussing the conclusions drawn from the design-research phase.
Selecting the Founders Memorial Garden
The Founder’s Memorial Garden (the Garden) was chosen as the site for the design component of this thesis for many reasons. The Garden was selected in part because of its similarities to the types of sites described in the case studies studied in Chapter Three. The
Garden compares to all four case studies in that people occupy and move through it daily; it is not a desolate site. The Garden has strong historical connections, in particular to the University of Georgia, similar to The Garden of the Lost Steps site of Castelvecchio and Mirror Lab’s site within a historic bridge.
A major component of studying environmental art’s approach to site, sight, and insight was understanding how each installation interacts with people. Therefore, the site for this
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projective design needed to provide access to people and, ideally, many of them. The Garden’s prominent location between downtown Athens to the west and main campus to the east establishes it as a transitional space for pedestrians. Although people do use the Garden as a destination, the majority of people that go to the Garden are moving through it to get to other places.
The ease of access, history, and current state of the Garden also held weight in its consideration as a site for this thesis. Since the Garden’s creation from 1939-1960, The
University of Georgia has substantially grown, as has surrounding urban development and population. This original context in which the Garden was designed is forever altered, yet the
Garden has maintained its original physical form, consisting of a series of rooms organized around the pre-existing Lumpkin House and its out buildings (Figures 24 and 25). Landscape management and preservation considerations have created debate amongst its users and caretakers, which has led to mild controversy and placed the garden in a conflicting position - between its original form, a sort of coveted artifact, and its contemporary adapted form, a useful laboratory for research, teaching, and creative exploration.
Adding to the controversy and confusion surrounding the Garden’s mission, the College of Environment and Design (CED) recently relocated across campus to the Jackson Street
Building (Figure 23). This has created a physical disconnect for the first time between the
Garden and its traditional stewards at the CED, and posited questions concerning the College’s immediate and future control of and interaction with it. Furthermore, at the time of this thesis the Garden was celebrating its 75th anniversary. This milestone was important to the users and stewards of the Garden, and they expressed interest in events and projects that used or considered
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the Garden. The author wanted to capitalize on all of this; the history, controversy and opportunity presented by the Garden.
Figure 23: Context map (underlay from bingmaps.com)
Figure 24: Founders Garden Illustrative Plan (by author)
Figure 25: Founder's Garden Rooms (diagram by author)
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Direct Observation
In order to better understand the site and conceptualize the environmental art installation, the author directly observed conditions in the Garden at peak-use times. The peak-use times established were: 7:30-9:00 AM, 12:00-2:00 PM, and 4:00 PM-5:30 PM on week days. There were no peak-use times established on the weekends, although the author made an effort to observe frequently. The direct observation was conducted in order to establish informed conclusions about the types of use, amount of use, and environmental conditions present within the site and in order to compare and contrast how or if the environmental art installation altered these conditions.
The direct observation specifically focused on the Garden’s South Lawn (Figure 26).
This smaller section of the Garden was chosen based on conversations with the Garden’s caretakers that identified problems related to the South Lawn’s heavy pedestrian use as a throughway between campus and downtown. Furthermore, due to the time and economic constraints, the South Lawn provided a more appropriately scaled site in which thorough observation and manageable implementation of the environmental art process could occur.
Figure 26: Founder's Memorial Garden - South Lawn area diagram (by author)
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During the author’s observation times, it was assumed that the majority of visitors were students or faculty passing through the Garden before or after classes. Pedestrians moving through the South Lawn area of the Garden were entirely on foot, and mostly were walking alone. There were occasional small groups of people. The benches off of the Camellia Walk were in use for the majority of the time, and were typically being used by a single person at a time. A small percentage of people walking through the Garden did choose to use the Woodland
Walk instead of the cobble stone path, as did people who were not students and were using the
Garden for more leisurely reasons.
The majority of people moving through the South Lawn stayed on the cobble stone path all the way across, especially when moving from the southern edge to the northern edge.
Pedestrians coming from the northern side of the path tended to dip off the path initially and veer back to the path once it leveled out. This is clearly demonstrated by the strongly defined desire path on the northwestern edge of the cobblestone walk (Figures 27 and 28). People who avoided the path were typically of an older age, approximately sixty years or older, or were females wearing non-supportive shoes such as flip-flops or heels (Figure 30, middle). What was most important was not who did or did not use the path, but that the overwhelming majority of people did not look anywhere but forward or at their phones while moving through the South Lawn; almost nobody looked around at the site – left, right, up or down. It was evident that few people see the South Lawn as any kind of special place or destination point; rather it is a means of getting from point A to point B quickly.
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Figure 27: Existing Desire Line (diagram by author)
Figure 28: Existing Desire Line - Plan view showing eroded area in relation to cobble stone walk (diagram by author)
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Figure 29: Founders Memorial Garden - photos show existing conditions of surrounding context of the South Lawn (photos by author)
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Figure 30: Founders Memorial Garden – photos show South Lawn existing conditions and misuse of the cobblestone path (photos by author)
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Indexing the In Between was intended to provide new perceptions of the Founders
Memorial Garden and South Lawn. Based on the author’s observations in-situ, it was evident that few people appreciate the South Lawn; instead they see it as a pedestrian throughway.
Indexing the In Between considered Judith Rugg’s description of the potential of environmental art, “The temporal and spatial ‘cut’ of short-lived artworks is capable of complex acts of dis- location and re-positioning,”66 in order to present new meaning to the South Lawn and challenge users to more closely examine their surroundings.
The rich palimpsest of history, evolution, and controversy surrounding the Garden presented substantial opportunities to study environmental art’s use as a process to generate new ideas and perspectives. The Garden’s use, location, and accessibility further established it as an opportune setting for the author to consider the integration of site, sight, and insight using environmental art as a process-based exploration
The explorative design process was rooted in the conditions of the South Lawn. The direct observation concluded that users of the South Lawn did not dwell in the space, and tended to move through it at a fast pace. The author’s environmental art installation intended to challenge this in some way – to engage people in an insightful manner and provoke thought and curiosity concerning one’s surroundings (to incite).
Site: The Concept
Selecting the site for the design component of this thesis was a pivotal part of the design process. Environmental art is inherently of site, and as revealed in the case studies of Chapter
Three typically presents itself in site-specific forms.
66 Ibid., 60.
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Martin Hogue references the site selection ideology of environmental artists Robert
Smithson and Richard Long in his article The Site as Project:
“Long and Smithson together suggest that it may be enriching to think of a site as the structure of action that conditions our experience of any environment... They question the idea of site as belonging only to the realm of the concrete, the known, and the quantifiable, that is, conditions thought to be ‘received’… In this they dislodge the assumed primacy of location in the definition of a site and place it alongside the site as a concept – as a set of ideas and relationship in the mind.”67
The case studies presented in Chapter Three – The Garden of the Lost Steps, Mirror Lab, Tree
Drawings, and RedBall Project – each accomplished this approach to “site as project” in different but meaningful ways. While The Garden of the Lost Steps was site specific and carefully considered the environment in which it was placed, the project was not the site as much as it was the intervention overlaid on the site. In contrast, Mirror Lab, Tree Drawings, and
RedBall Project each offered a sort of “index” of their respective sites. Mirror Lab is a literal reflection of its site; Tree Drawings are signatures of actual trees; and RedBall takes on a new, site dependent form within each site it occupies. Hogue describes these types of works as:
“Quite literally, site projects – projects concerned specifically with the issue of constructing or making site. They offer provocative ways to rethink the role of the site in architecture. By folding the concept of site into the concept of project – by making the site either a part of or the object of the project – new associations between these terms emerge. When site and project are construed as elements of a dialectic, we are freed to reexamine and/or reenergize the relationship one shares with the other.”68
In other words, these are projects that rely heavily on the site being an integral product of the designed experience, not just as design inspiration or a canvas on which to create.
Therefore, the role of site is integral in the conception of an environmental artwork, particularly in this case when the artwork is being used to investigate its applicability as a design process. Landscape historian Marc Treib proposed the phrase “inflected landscapes” as a way to
67 Ibid., 59. 68 Ibid., 57.
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consider art, architecture, and landscape works that share a formally and conceptually blurred relationship to their site.69 Such works demonstrate the value of environmental art to landscape architecture, and potentially visa versa. In reconsidering the site as part of architecture “is to more fully take charge of the formulation of architectural interventions, and to take initiative in actively shaping the built environment.”70
Conceptually, the South Lawn is experienced as a space in between destinations for most people (Figure 31). The physical location of the site is in between the urban fabric of downtown
Athens and the historic garden fabric of north campus (Figure 32). The Garden itself is in a state of uncertainty; it’s in between a preserved, artifact-like form and a contemporary educational laboratory. The author’s environmental art installation’s design concept capitalized on this site condition of existing spatially, physically, and temporally in between. The design built off of
Hogue’s concept of “project as site”71 applying the explorative process of environmental art to the site in order to generate new ideas and perspectives concerning the South Lawn. Recording, or “indexing”, the visitor use became the framework for the installation.
Figure 31: Founders Memorial Garden - circulation pattern, showing the South Lawn as an "in-between" area (diagram by author)
69 Ibid., 60. 70 Ibid. 71 Paul Dexter Adams, "Historic Campus Gardens: Defining Appropriate Change in the Founders Memorial Garden" (Electronic, University of Georgia, 2004), 55.
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Figure 32: South Lawn panoramas; Top: from west looking east; Bottom: from north looking south (photos by author)
Sight: Material Selection and Scale
Because Indexing the In Between was a project rooted in the integration of site, sight, and sight, material selection was considered simultaneously with site selection. In order to decide which material to use, the author established a set of functional and aesthetic requirements that the materials must be able to fulfill. These requirements were:
• Function: The material had to be able to record the processes occurring in the South
Lawn. The recording of footsteps, debris, precipitation, and other user created and
environmental processes had to be captured and displayed in some way. Additionally,
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the materials needed to be durable enough to maintain integrity through exposure to
heavy foot traffic since people had to walk on them for a period of time, as well as stand
up to the elements, including precipitation, wind, and sun.
• Aesthetics: The material had to be contextually sensitive or at minimum reference visual
and material elements present within the Garden and South Lawn. This included the
colors and textures of historic structures, brick walls, and natural elements present in the
garden. Additionally, the material had to highlight the elements of the site that were not
physically marked; for instance shadows and light.
• Economics: Because of the economic limitations, the material had to be easily accessible,
inexpensive, and ideally renewable.
• Workability: The time frame, fabrication complexity, and scale of the materials had to be
minimal in order to provide an easily adaptable and workable environmental art work.
This was due to the nature of the project being considered an ongoing, in situ process.
Thus, the minimal use of tools, man power, and time-consuming fabrication methods was
required.
With the set of material requirements established, the author chose a short list of materials with which to experiment. The experimentation took place outdoors over the span of a week. The author began with a range of material samples, including cardboard, cotton, polyester, burlap, linen, and spandex as the canvas material, and bamboo, salvaged wooden fence posts, and steel rebar as potential structural elements. While working with the initial set of materials, the author distilled the canvas materials down to polyester and spandex because of their workability and indexing potential, and to bamboo due to its economic and renewable benefits. The materials
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chosen in the end were polyester fabric, bamboo, fishing line, landscape staples, grommets, and eyehooks.
The fabric chosen was 100 percent polyester. It provided the most flexibility with an ability to change with specific environmental conditions. For example, when wet or stretched extensively, polyester provides a translucent quality. It also highlights shadows and lighting conditions effectively and was inexpensive (Figure 33). The color chosen was white, a common color in the Garden; both the house complex’s trim and the arbor near the South Lawn are white.
Bamboo was chosen as the primary structural element because of its physical properties of strength and durability, its availability, and it was free. The bamboo referenced the Garden’s bamboo walk along the eastern edge and also provided a more natural texture as opposed to steel or solid wood.
Figure 33: Experimental mock-up showing polyester sheet hung between bamboo poles (photo by author)
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The attachment connections of Indexing the In Between had to be carefully considered.
The attachment of the fabric to the ground was of great concern to the author. It had to be a well-placed detail to produce a strong connection between material and ground, and also to prevent any kind of safety hazard, such as tripping. The decision was made to use grommets to establish holes where needed in each piece of fabric. These holes could be used to place landscape staples through and create a safe and durable attachment to the ground. These grommet holes would then be used to thread fishing line through in the display attachment to the bamboo structure. Working in tandem with the grommets were eyehooks screwed into the bamboo. This created a tensile system that worked well with the properties of the polyester.
Red fishing line was chosen to attach the fabrics to the eye-hooks. From a distance, the red blended in with the environment, allowing the polyester pieces to seemingly float between the bamboo structure. Upon closer inspection, however, the red fishing line contrasted nicely against the silver color of the eyehooks and grommets, as well as against the white of the polyester (Figure 34). The red also played homage to the reddish brick walls that exist throughout the garden.
Figure 34: Mock-up showing eyehook, bamboo, and fishing line connection
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Insight: Design Implementation Phases
The design implementation of Indexing the In Between transpired over a period of two- week span commencing on Monday, February 24, 2014. The implementation was divided into five phases over the two-week span. The author conducted direct observation during the same peak times: 7:30-9:00 AM, 12:00-2:00 PM, and 4:00 PM-5:30 PM on week days. There were no peak-use times established on the weekends, although the author made an effort to observe frequently. The direct observation placed the author within visual proximity of the site, where explorative processes were used to respond to the uses, environmental conditions, conversations, events, and unforeseen occurrences that took place within the South Lawn. Each phase is presented based on the approaches and responses to the subjects of site, sight, and insight.
Phase One: February 24-26
• Site
The installation of Phase One took place in the morning around 7:30 AM, so that fewer people would be moving through the garden. However, people started passing through about
7:45 and many initially reacted in an apologetic manner, even verbally expressing, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to ruin it.” The first stage consisted of one rectangular polyester piece, about three feet by six feet in size, and one bamboo piece about four feet tall. The polyester piece was stretched across part of the width of the cobblestone path at the north entry in order to see if people would indeed, as hypothesized, avoid the fabric piece if given the opportunity.
• Sight
For the most part, people did avoid the fabric until there were a few footprints and debris that began to mark it. The first footprint happened about noon; a very distinct print, much more distinct than expected. It was noted, however, that throughout the day the majority of people
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passing through avoided the fabric. The markings were relatively faint, and it was unclear as to how the piece may translate once it is on display. However, it was surprising that the markings were very distinguishable as footprints.
• Insight
Day two brought more markings by people, but little else was distinguished. Again, the majority of people avoided the fabric, especially coming from the north (as noted in pre- implementation site observation). The desire line was still often used, and perhaps the fabric’s location even reinforced the intuition to move off of the path.
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Desire Line
Desire Line
Figure 35: Installation Phase One: photos show initial installation piece and first recorded markings (photos by author)
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Figure 36: Installation Phase One (photos by author)
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Phase Two: February 27-28
• Site
Phase Two was implemented under the cover of darkness on February 25th, and consisted of the addition of one more bamboo piece and two additional polyester pieces. The initial polyester laid in Phase One was hung between the two bamboo pieces and was meant to both display the previous days’ marks but also to deter people from walking off of the path. The fabric pieces were initially supposed to be unavoidable, but the author ripped a large piece and had to adjust at the site. The shadows on the bright white fabric pieces at dusk and during the evening were spectacular reflections of the surrounding environment, and produced intriguing silhouettes of trees and pedestrians moving through the site. Although the two pieces on the ground in addition to the one on display served as an obstacle, pedestrians could still get around by way of the path, and the majority continued to do so.
• Sight
Day three of the installation brought the first noticeable ecological process: rain. It had rained overnight since the installation of Phase Two and continued to rain throughout the morning. What the rain created made for an evocative piece. Some sort of fruit had been knocked from the trees, either by wind or rain, and had exploded onto the canvas surfaces. The fruit then “bled” onto the canvas, producing a sort of water-color-like effect (Figure 37). Dark to light brown streaks dominated these two canvases and the fruit pieces added a sort of texture to the surface. This heavy marking influenced more people to step on the fabric, although it was clear that, based on the density of markings on the high side of the path, many people were still attempting to get around it. By the end of day three the author still had not observed any user pause and examine the displayed piece. Day four of the intervention revealed a sort of
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desensitized pedestrian behavior, as nearly all users walked on the fabric without hesitation or even regard for its existence. The fabric pieces displayed layers of markings, including countless footprints, fruit stains, and absorbed debris. These pieces were much more marked and had potential to improve interest and appeal more to people moving through the site.
• Insight
To date, there had been no observation of a person stopping to observe or closely analyze the piece. The author stated in his journal: “I believe once more canvases are present the project will become far more engaging and impactful to the pedestrian experience.” To this point, the display piece has been somewhat disappointing from a design and interactive perspective. The piece was oriented to engage the northern entry of the South Lawn, but seems to get little more than a glance as one enters. The markings are faint, and it seems to be too far off of the path to forcefully impede the pedestrian’s route or sight line. The next display pieces will prohibit movement off of the path, and will force people to walk upon the ground pieces. Perhaps this tactile engagement with the user will create more of a conscious interaction with the process.
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Figure 37: Installation Phase Two: photos show initial clean facbric pieces on ground, then the fabric pieces with fallen debris and resulting marks (photos by author)
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Figure 38: Installation Phase Two (photos by author)
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Phase Three: March 1-2
• Site
Phase Three of the installation occurred at dusk on day four so that there would be adequate light. This stage included the creation of a distinct barrier wall at the north end created by installing two more bamboo pieces and stringing the two marked fabric pieces from Phase Two between them. They were positioned to create a sort of zig-zag pattern along the path in order to leave the eroded area exposed, referencing the ecological problem of people’s typical path. The author also wanted to increase the scale of the piece, and elected to place two remote pieces of bamboo on the periphery of the South Lawn, implying future expansion of the piece. This phase also included the installation of the largest fabric piece to date, a six foot by six foot square piece that when placed at the north end parallel to the barrier created an unavoidable element on the ground; pedestrians had to traverse this large piece, or risk venturing into the planting beds.
Additionally, two pieces of smaller size were placed at the south entrance of the cobblestone path. These pieces stretched across the path in an overlapping manner, adding some interest and physical layering of the material on the ground plane. The fourth piece was laid on the woodland walk to the west of the initial installation point (Figure 39). This was done to reinforce the expansion of the intervention and also in response to the author’s hypothesis that people may attempt to avoid the South Lawn all together and use alternate paths to get through the Garden.
This piece was also visible from the major pedestrian route along Lumpkin Street.
• Sight
Day five marked the first noticeable reactions to the piece. Although the environmental installation had undoubtedly engaged people in a subconscious manner, day five presented a more conscious interaction with the piece. This was probably a direct result of the growth in
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scale of the piece, although it was unclear whether or not people were making the correlation of what they were walking on, to what they were presented with on display (that it was a canvas and that they were part of a process). An unexpected observation also took place during this stage: generally, college-aged females attempted to avoid the fabric pieces on the ground, while males tended to physically step on the pieces without much hesitation. Additionally, groups of people tended to walk on the pieces while single pedestrians tried to avoid them by stepping on the edges of the path instead of the center. These observations stayed consistent throughout the remainder of the study.
Day six was the first weekend day of the installation, which brought new kinds of activity in the Garden. Less people were passing through the South Lawn in a hurried manner, and more people were using the Garden as a destination. People were wandering throughout the Garden, and it was obvious that people were more attune to their surroundings than was typical during previous observation times.
• Insight
The weather on day six was very comfortable for the first day in some time, which may have contributed to the range of activity taking place. This was the first day where the author executed time-lapse photography in order to explore methods of recording the interaction between the intervention and people moving through the South Lawn. People moving through the South Lawn noticed the environmental art piece, but still showed little interest in examining it very closely. The large fabric piece on the ground did challenge people’s movement through the space. This relates to small scale scale and unfamiliarity with the piece. The night of day six brought the last official phase introducing new canvases.
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Figure 39: Installation Phase Three: photos show fabric pieces’ locations (photos by author)
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Figure 40: Installation Phase Three
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Phase Four: March 3-5
• Site
Phase Four consisted of laying eight new fabric pieces throughout the South Lawn and woodland area, as well as the insertion of four new bamboo pieces. The four pieces of fabric from Phase Three were put on display, building off of the two satellite pieces of bamboo and further south off of the initial display edge. The large six foot by six foot polyester piece presented the pedestrians with a clear cobblestone and footprint pattern, and potentially helped to better distinguish the conceptual nature of the process. Two fabric pieces were laid at either entrance of the cobble stone path, one was laid under the bench at the western edge of the camellia walk, one was laid in the woodland walk, and two triangular shaped pieces were laid in the South Lawn marking the path between the pagoda and cobblestone walk. This also was an attempt to better connect all the scattered pieces that were now part of the intervention.
• Sight
Days seven through nine brought no significant revelations to the study. Although the project was at its largest in scale, the markings on the display continued to fade, further abstracting the already obscure nature of the piece. The weather was cold and very wet, which contributed to the fading of marks on the displayed pieces and lack of enthusiasm of pedestrians moving through the space. However, the pieces that remained on the ground received more traffic than previously laid pieces because they were on the ground an extra day. The weather contributed to more tangible mud and dirt, and thus these pieces were extremely marked. Clear cobblestone patterns showed up on every piece from the path, and the pieces placed under the bench and in the woods were equally representative of their local.
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• Insight
People moving through the space began turning heads and looking throughout the South
Lawn instead of just ahead, which was due to the increased scale of the piece. However, many of the pieces looked like cleaner white sheets because of the faded marks, so it is doubtful that many people correlated the entire process. The author spent less time on the periphery of the piece, electing instead to more visibly alter and interact with the piece. This resulted in a range of conversations and looks from pedestrians moving through the space. It was evident that people were interested by the piece, and that it had become a somewhat familiar part of their everyday walk through campus.
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Figure 41: Installation Phase Four: photos show location of pieces and resulting marks (photos by author)
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Figure 42: Installation Phase Four (photos by author)
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Final Form: March 6-10
• Site
The final phase in the process considered in this study included a display of the final eight pieces. The author chose to explore other arrangements of displayed pieces, and created a sort of layering pattern by overlapping the newly displayed pieces with those previously displayed.
This created new shadow and silhouette patterns, as well as interesting depth between the cobblestone path, the art piece, and the landscape beyond. The author also chose to minimally draw on each of the previously displayed pieces, marking an element of interest on each piece with a sharpie pen. This was done to draw attention to the “index” of the site and suggest a human element in the making of the art. Three of the final eight pieces were staked into the ground on one end and attached to bamboo at the other, distinguishing a relationship between path and display, and between the major elements of the environmental art. The two triangular pieces were placed at the north and south thresholds of the piece, across the path, in order to further define an area of the intervention. This last stage created the most cohesive scheme to date, although the markings varied based on which pieces had been off the ground the longest.
• Sight
People could easily step over or go around the two small triangular pieces that were left on the ground. This was not a major concern because those pieces were not going to be displayed; their final form was to mark the thresholds of the piece at the north and south entry to the South
Lawn. People noticed the piece in its final form, and the author was asked many questions concerning the process. Generally, people seemed to comprehend the process and remark that they had been wondering about it since they first had seen it. Most people also noted that they tried to avoid the pieces on the ground. By this time the display pieces had started to fade quite
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significantly, making them potentially less visually appealing and they probably lost the ability to fully communicate the conceptual intentions of the process.
• Insight
It is clear that the installation altered people’s perception of the South Lawn. No longer were people simply looking at their cell phone as they moved through the space, but instead were looking down to see what they were walking on, and to the sides at the stark white sheets that contrasted the green periphery. The last final form presented newly folded pieces that engaged multiple dimensions instead of either horizontal or vertical. These pieces communicated the process much more directly, as they referenced where they came from, the cobblestone, while being displayed in a more vertical manner. The author wishes that he had explored this sort of multi-dimensional form earlier, as it potentially would have altered the movement and perception of the space much more than the “one dimensional” pieces had done in the first four phases.
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Figure 43: Final Form: photos show multi-dimensional pieces and final marks (photos by author)
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Figure 44: Phasing Diagrams showing evolution of installation’s form (diagrams by author)
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Figure 45: Phasing Photographs: showing progression of installation as seen from north entry to the South Lawn (photos by author)
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Design Critique
• Site
1. By the end of the two-week installation Indexing the In Between had activated the South
Lawn as a sort of interest node.
People gravitated towards the South Lawn, even going as far as to take family photographs with it. The polyester pieces laid on the ground served as obstacles in the everyday path of students and other Garden users, causing the users to look up and around in order to make a decision concerning how to navigate the path. The displayed pieces may have engaged people in a physical orienting matter, but generally did not provoke closer examination. However, from phase two forward the displayed pieces did prevent users from venturing off of the cobblestone path, which dramatically changed the flow of movement through the South Lawn.
2. The process directly interacted with people moving through the space, using them as the
primary generator of the installation’s content.
The white “sails,” as the polyester sheets were called by people using the space, created a contrast to the familiar surrounding context, and brought people into the space from Lumpkin
Street or from other parts of the Garden. Even though it was used as the primary organizational element throughout the process, conversations with people in the Garden revealed that the desire line along the cobblestone walk was still relatively unconsidered and unexposed.
• Sight
1. The orientation of the cobblestone pieces is the major reason why people avoid the
cobblestone path.
The sight of the uneven cobblestone pieces in addition to the uncomfortable walking habit they create have led to the development of a desire lawn across the South Lawn that has resulted
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in erosion problems. This could be solved by re-laying the path with the individual cobblestone’s orientation perpendicular to foot traffic or by using an entirely different material.
2. The location of the path related to the location of surrounding planting beds in the South
Lawn creates an underwhelming user experience.
Throughout the rest of the Garden planting beds are located along paths, with no space between. In the South Lawn, there is a large buffer space on either side of the path, which creates two scenarios distinct from anywhere else in the Garden. First, it gives the pedestrian the option to walk off of the path, which is an option that is generally chosen once the path becomes uncomfortable. Second, the space created between the pedestrian and the planting beds makes the pedestrian more of a viewer of the Garden; it removes the user from a more intimate, tactile position (such as what exists within the Camellia Walk), and places the pedestrian in the middle of an open field condition. Also significant here is that there are few ornamental plants in this area, which has created a sort of green wash for much of the year. All of this may contribute to why people tend to speed through the South Lawn; in essence it is because there is more space and less stimulus.
3. Indexing the In Between placed the pedestrian into an intimate, tactile relationship, and
grasped the user’s attention longer than when the intervention was not in place.
The material and color of the intervention demanded a great deal of visual attention, which then evoked thought. Although the white of the polyester referenced the arbor and other structures, its soft, flexible form greatly stood out from anything else within the context. The resulting contrast challenged people’s every day view of the Garden.
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• Insight
1. Indexing the In-Between was a highly experimental environmental art piece that was
created to study how environmental art can serve as an explorative process to generate
new ideas and perspectives.
Specifically, Indexing the In Between studied and responded to how people interacted with its process and form. The author was able to freely create, and tangibly learned how to better address issues of scale, materiality, and orientation. Had the display pieces been oriented more perpendicular to the path perhaps more people would have paused and engaged in further study of the work.
2. The user perception of the South Lawn was undoubtedly altered during the installation’s
existence.
Indexing the In Between provoked people to examine their surroundings more carefully than usual. At the very least, the installation confused or amused people as they appreciated it as an artistic work or dismissed its value entirely. It was unavoidable for the user to recognize the installation as a new construct of the South Lawn.
• In-Situ
1. The deepest level of interaction occurred between the author and the environmental
artwork.
The author observed, altered, and maintained the artwork every day for two weeks. The author’s constant observation and critique of the artwork as a medium to explore concepts of landscape architecture such as scale, human interaction, materiality, and site response created an intimate interaction between creator and piece. Consideration was given as to the location of the polyester sheets, based primarily on addressing the views of the site and the pattern of pedestrian
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movement that avoided the cobble stone walk in favor of using the lawn. The author decided to use the desire line as a datum from which or organize the display pieces, in hopes of bringing notice to the existing desire line. The desire line was not covered up, but was “framed” by the display pieces.
2. The process of working in-situ allowed the designer to form a deep understanding of the
site’s processes, events, and uses.
The understanding gained through observation and time within the site informed the design decisions during the implementation phases of the experiment. For example, pieces were laid on the Woodland Walk in response to the author’s observation of people intentionally avoiding the
South Lawn in favor of the Woodland Walk. This engagement of the Woodland Walk activated a larger part of the site and may have caused those users who were avoiding the South Lawn to reconsider the intent or reasoning behind the piece.
3. By working in-situ the author was forced to make decisions on the fly, particularly when
something wasn’t working.
This occurred on nearly every installation day while placing the bamboo posts and pulling the display pieces into tension. The polyester was extremely forgiving because of its flexibility, but the author constantly adapted and changed post location and orientation in order to gain a desired effect.
• Incite
The author’s observations concluded that by Phase Three the installation clearly resonated with most users. People looked at the piece confusedly in the first phases, but were more analytically looking, conversing about, and touching the piece by the last phase. After the final form was put into place, the piece was substantially vandalized; bamboo was pulled out of the
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ground and displaced, pieces of polyester were ripped, and fishing line was torn. This action, although not necessarily desirable, did suggest a level of hostile “incite,” or action, from a user.
It certainly proved that environmental art has the ability to provoke people in various ways.
Reflecting on the Approach
1. If this process were to be replicated, the author would make adjustments to better
address issues mentioned in this chapter.
In considering the subjects of site, sight, and insight, Indexing the In Between did not fully address the historical significance of the Founders Garden. Although this was not a focus of the installation, it would be an element to consider more fully in a next iteration. There were decisions that could have been adjusted or altered that may have better engaged or interested people passing through the site.
The major consideration was the orientation of the piece. Although highlighting the desire line was intentional, it also oriented the display pieces parallel to the path. As the installation was altered and built upon, it became more parallel to the cobble stone path than initially intended. This contributed pedestrians’ tendency to move through the space unfazed, and may have even contributed to the general tunnel vision that occurs when people currently move through the South Lawn. An adjustment was attempted in the final stage; the final pieces put on display were manipulated to bend and engage with the ground and edge of the path. This attempt did create a sort of threshold distinguishing the entrance and exit of the installation, but did not forcefully engage the user’s periphery. An appropriate solution may have been to orient the display pieces closer and perpendicular to the path, creating blatant thresholds and forming more of a spatial than linear condition. This decision easily translates to considerations in landscape architecture. Orienting the user is a fundamental decision made by any designer of the built
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environment – in considering everything from signage to benches, to walls and fences, to planting design.
2. The author would conduct a survey of South Lawn users to better understand their
thoughts concerning the installation.
Although the author observed and responded to people’s actions as they used the space, it would have been useful to have a record concerning how people were thinking about the work as they used the space. The impromptu conversations that occurred in-situ between the author and people using the space were very useful and compelling, and should have been acted on more than they were.
An aspect that could have been added was some sort of narrative or explanation that described the experiment and the reasoning for it. It was important to observe how people moved through and reacted to the installation without specific knowledge of its intentions. One goal of the installation was to allow South Lawn users to form their own understanding and perspective of the piece without the designer’s explanation; to explore how the designer’s process may be communicated through and experience rather than an explanation. Neither artistic nor architectural works typically have accompanying explanations of their underlying intent. Thus, the author decided it would have compromised the integrity of the study to implement an explanation, and that it was more important to observe and reflect upon people’s intuitive rather than informed reactions to the piece.
3. Recording the process of the installation was a major issue concerning the purpose of the
installation.
In considering physical documentation, the critique, analysis, and response of the process was informed primarily by direct observation executed by the author at peak occupancy times in
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the Garden. In hindsight, constant time-lapse photography or video may have recorded a slightly different story. This was a result of the limits of direct observation, and could be executed differently in a similar study. As the study was executed, there is inherently a gap of information missing that occurred when the author was not on site. However, the generalizations made by the author based on direct observation and interpretation were appropriately and carefully considered.
Using direct observation in addition to better time-lapse documentation could have been supplemented with a series of diagrams that demonstrated how the user became more observant and interactive with the piece through each implementation phase. Although many decisions could be reasonably made based on what sort of markings were occurring on the canvases and how people generally responded during the author’s direct observation times, more comprehensive and specific documentation would have provided a greater amount of detail and information to analyze. This would potentially form a deeper level of insight into site.
4. The author would have made more adjustments to the display pieces.
Instead of just hanging them once and letting them be, it would have been more engaging, from a designer and user perspective, to adjust each piece at every phase. This would have allowed more exploration considering the potential of the material as well as would have addressed the issues with orientation that were described and observed but not fully acted upon.
These adjustments would have fully capitalized on environmental art’s flexible and adaptable process, and the author would have gained further insight into the logistics surrounding each consideration.
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Moving Forward
The historical synthesis and case studies presented in the previous chapters revealed that environmental art:
• is exploratory (El Lissitzky, Land Artists, contemporary artists)
• is process-driven (Land Artists, contemporary artists)
• considers site, sight, and insight holistically (contemporary artists)
• is engaging, often involving user and designer participation (contemporary artists)
• is useable in practice (Eisenman and VAV Architects used environmental art to pursue
self-interests and personal design agendas)
• is a public and social process, akin to landscape architecture (RedBall)
• exposes new relationships and scenarios (provoking thought, resulting in insight)
• has the capacity to incite or stimulate the user into action (Mirror Lab and RedBall)
• has the ability to be participatory (in-situ design process and user reaction as in RedBall)
In addition to verifying the revelations above, the author’s environmental art installation,
Indexing the In Between:
• tested design approaches to the subjects of site, sight, and insight
• led to a better understanding of the South Lawn’s users, processes, and events
• revealed an environmental art process that focuses on the facilitation of human
interaction and social response in order to generate new ideas and perspectives
• revealed that a thorough documentation of an installation is and integral part of an
explorative design process that can help designers form insight into site
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION: EXPANDING ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S
VALUE TO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
This final chapter seeks to broaden the discussion of environmental art’s value as an explorative process to the study and practice of landscape architecture and advocates the exploration of the spaces and practices occurring between landscape architecture, architecture, and artistic intervention.
Diffusing the Boundaries
Contemporary design culture is challenged with creativity boundaries - probably for a number of reasons – one of which might be egotism for a particular discipline. This thesis revealed that these boundaries between the spatial disciplines of art, architecture, and landscape architecture are artificial and that these boundaries can be dissolved in practice. The research process concluded that environmental art provides an opportunity for landscape architects and other designers of the built environment to experiment with its process oriented approach. As
Katie Kingery-Page states:
“The practice of contemporary art does not exist in a narrow field. Neither should the practice of landscape architecture occur in a narrow field of vision. By understanding contemporary art as a mode and a body of knowledge, students, educators, and practitioners of landscape architecture can compete more effectively with other ‘form givers’ in the 21st century culture.”72
72 Katie Kingery-Page, "Landscape and Contemporary Art: Overlap, Disregard, and Relevance," (2010), 1.
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A Model for Practice
Landscape architects can use environmental art to create freely, while exploring important issues such as site, sight, and insight, which may not typically be considered in practical pursuits. An example similar to this is what is described as adaptive design. Adaptive design, coined by landscape architect and professor Nina-Marie Lister, is an evidence-based approach focused on tracking small-scale examples of ecological design to learn what happens over time. “The idea is to learn from failure, and when we make mistakes, we do so safely, without long-term consequences.”73 Although specifically considering ecological experiments and consequences, the same logic translates to the use of environmental art as an explorative process. It presents less constraints and scale than typical landscape architectural design, can be created quickly and without long-term consequences, and could be done iteratively, building upon and learning from previous mistakes. Furthermore, perhaps such a process could be integrated as part of the site analysis phase of a typical project, either in place of or as a supplement to the traditional method of an opportunities and constraints analysis. Lister continues, saying: “The underlying idea is that if change is inevitable, then we ought to facilitate small-scale, manageable changes to happen without causing catastrophic failure.”74 This further distinguishes environmental not only as a valuable process in the study and practice of landscape architecture and potentially other design disciplines, but also as a viable one (Figure 46).
73 ASLA, "Interview with Nina-Marie Lister," interview,(2014), http://www.asla.org/ContentDetail.aspx?id=31738. 74 Ibid.
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Figure 46: Diagram displaying the potential of expanding the research of this thesis to the scale of contemporary practice, resulting in an integrated approach to the design of the built environment (diagram by author)
The significance of this thesis may not be fully understood until environmental art is explored as an investigative process in professional practice, but it does offer an innovative example of where one may start and proves that, as a stand-alone process, environmental art has the capacity to generate new ideas and perspectives. Lister’s model of adaptive design may be an application that is already present in professional practice that could be applied to the process of environmental art examined in this thesis.
Environmental art is useful to landscape architects because of its lack of constraints and incredible flexibility, which is not often found in landscape architectural projects. For example,
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in-situ design and implementation may not be fully achievable in landscape architectural projects, but offers great insight into the site’s events, processes, and functions, further making a case that it be integrated somehow within the typical site analysis phase of the traditional design process.
Future Research
The time constraints and investigative lens of this thesis limited the directions and territory that could be addressed. Therefore three points of departure for future research have been identified.
• How can environmental art be used as an explorative process outside of an academic
setting? How might this use translate to professional practice, or can it not?
• One might consider an exploration into the representation of site, sight, and insight’s
complex relationships and associations. This thesis uses a primitive graphic
representation technique born out of the spirit of venn-diagramming. How can this be
explored and represented further? Perhaps one can look to art for inspiration or
precedent.
• This thesis was conducted through an artist’s lens. An exploration of the same concept
through a more scientific lens would be valuable, perhaps akin to Lister’s adaptive design
process. How might Lister’s ecological experiments meld and the conceptual
relationships between site, sight, and insight explored in this thesis meld with the a
process centered around the sociological, and psychological sciences?
Conclusion
Environmental art provides the explorative function to “strategically return us to considerations of how place intersects with time and temporality, how ideas haunt cultural
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appropriations of land, and how the re-presentation of land as art is a fundamental ambition of all landscape architecture.”75
This re-presentation of land and critical consideration of people’s perceptions of the environment is in many ways the act of conceptualizing landscape architecture. In other words, landscape architecture is re-presentation of land. Environmental art’s lens challenges the conceptual processes used in creating this re-presentation. As Rendell states:
“The emphasis conceptualism has placed on the need for practice to be self-aware and to critique its own terms of engagement has been highly influential. To ‘practice’ after conceptualism is to think more carefully about procedures – about what we are doing and how we are doing it – and the questions this attention to methodology raises.”76
In order to sustain and evolve as a profession, landscape architecture must be able to adapt to the cultural and technological shifts of society. Environmental art offers an explorative process in which to investigate such shifts. As Asdam explains, “An important part of visual art’s ability to orientate itself and keep its cultural picture relevant is its ability to include the largest possible disciplinary and media approaches.”77 Asdam then goes on to point to ways landscape architecture can adopt such approaches:
“Why is it that we think as a default of landscape architecture as wholly consisting of design with plants? Perhaps more radical approaches are possible, including new technology, new materials as visible components, or even landscape architecture as facilitating events and performances – temporary formations.”78
Weilacher’s thoughts appropriately build off of Asdum’s, referencing the power environmental art has to serve in such a valuable role: “the unexpected ways of doing so are often the most worth to note.”79
75 Rugg, Exploring Site-Specific Art: Foreword, 1. 76 Weilacher, Between Landscape: 7. 77 Rendell, Art and Architecture: A Place Between: 193. 78 Bell, Herlin, and Stiles, Exploring the Boundaries of Landscape Architecture: 127. 79 Weilacher, Between Landscape: 8.
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APPENDIX A: FOUNDERS MEMORIAL GARDEN HISTORICAL SYNOPSIS
Since its inception in 1946, the Founder’s Memorial Garden (the Garden), located on the
University of Georgia’s northwestern campus edge, has experienced a great deal of change; particularly outside its walls. Throughout the Garden’s history, there has been an inextricable link with the University’s landscape architecture program, serving as a valuable educational resource for students, faculty, and community members.
Hubert B. Owens, founder of the University of Georgia’s landscape architecture program, first proposed the design and construction of the Founder’s Memorial Garden in 1939 to the board members of the Garden Club of Georgia. The proposal stipulated that “the (University of
Georgia) Landscape Architecture Department would be responsible for the design of the various garden units and the supervision of grading, construction, installation of irrigation, facilities and provision for planning, and the maintenance of the area after its completion,”80 forever attaching the College to the Garden’s legacy. The Garden was meant to serve as a memorial to America’s first garden club while additionally providing a valuable educational resource for the landscape architecture program.81
According to Dexter Adams, the Garden can be classified into four historical periods.
The first period (1801-1897), pre-garden, consisted of the creation of the University of Georgia.
Adams says the “first reference to the site was probably an 1801 description of the land selected
80 Hogue, "The Site as Project: Lessons from Land Art and Conceptual Art," 60. 81 Hubert B. Owens, Personal History of Landscape Architecture in the Last Sixty Years: 1922-1982 (Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Printing Department, 1983). 47.
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for the college containing orchards and woodland.82 The other significant occurrence of this time period was the construction of the Lumpkin House in 1857, for faculty housing. The House still exists on the site. The second period (1898-1937), also pre-garden, saw a range of institutional uses of the site, including as a student cafeteria, the first UGA Dean of Women’s home, UGA’s first sorority, a dormitory, and classroom space. The third period (1938-1973) is marked by the relocation of the landscape architecture program to the Lumpkin House in 1938, immediately followed by the beginning of the Garden’s construction in 1939. The garden continued construction and development through the early 1950s, but was constantly refined and altered in cooperation with the Garden Club until Hubert Owens’s retirement in 1973.83 The landscape architecture program moved from the Lumpkin House in 1956, and the property became the headquarters of The Garden Club of Georgia in 1958. The final period (1974- present) shows the maturation of the garden and great physical change to development outside of the Garden. Adams notes the “changes in the operation and configuration of the property and increasingly heavy use by the campus and department,” 84 had forced changes to be made throughout the garden. Particularly relevant to this thesis’s site, were major freezes in the early
1980s that “led to the loss of much tender vegetation, most notable the Jeff Smith collection in the South Arboretum.”85 Although still maintaining a strong relationship with the Garden, The
Garden Club of Georgia moved from the Lumpkin House in 1997.86
Today the Garden exists similarly to its original form,. A variety of landscape typologies are evident throughout the garden, including formal boxwood and perennial gardens, woodland walks, native gardens, and arboretums. A variety of paving and path materials exist; “within the
82 Ibid. 83 Adams, "Historic Campus Gardens: Defining Appropriate Change in the Founders Memorial Garden," 43. 84 Ibid., 44. 85 Ibid., 47. 86 Ibid.
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garden, a variety of walkway textures and widths create a diversity of experience for the visitor.”87
There is a great range of horticultural diversity, form and value; evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, perennials, vines and ground covers. The mature trees have created a dense canopy, further contributing to the visitor’s experiencing of the garden as a series of rooms.
There is a steep topographical change that occurs generally from east to west, from main north campus to the low edge of Lumpkin Street. Masonry walls and iron fences define a strong perimeter around the site, and divide the garden into its many rooms.88
87 Ibid. 88 Ibid., 55.
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APPENDIX B: IMPLEMENTATION OBSERVATIONS JOURNAL
February 26, 2014
It rained overnight, so I was excited to see what the fabric recorded from the process. It continued to drizzle throughout the morning and I was nervous to see how this changed things – did the footprints wash out? Did the fabric pieces rip? However, I was pleasantly surprised to see these spectacular bleed marks appear from fruit that had fallen that morning. These fruit also created a subtle texture on the surface, and added a great deal of visual interest compared to the initial piece of fabric.
As the day progressed, more and more footprints appeared on the sheets. There is still noticeably more marking on the “high side” of the cobblestone path, meaning that people are still attempting to get around it. My observations still have not seen a single person stop and look at the installation. I believe once more canvases are present the project will become far more engaging and impactful on the pedestrian experience.
February 27, 2014
Today the stains from the fruit remained and dried into the fabric. I believe they will stay present regardless of how much rain falls while they are on display. The canvases continued to get further marked throughout the day, as expected, and I noticed that more and more people started simply walking on it instead of around it. The hesitation seems to me much less frequent, and perhaps the piece is starting to blend into the every day routine. I like to think the same people are using the south lawn throughout the week, but I have yet to definitely identify someone I noticed in a previous observation session.
Zach and I returned to the site at about 5 to put in the next bamboo set. I chose to create an unavoidable barrier so that people would absolutely have to walk onto the next iteration of the process. Building off of the initial starting point, we placed two bamboo in a sort of zig-zag pattern to create some depth off of the path and to leave the eroded area exposed – perhaps bringing it more attention to passers by. I also decided to place two remote pieces, suggesting further expansion and integration with the site. These satellite pieces align with the initial installation and will be built upon in the following steps.
Then Sig and I hung the two pieces of fabric in alignment with the zig-zag of the bamboo. These second pieces speak to the natural processes occurring in the garden; particularly the fruit markings and mud lines from the rain. We then laid down four fabric pieces. One piece is about 6’x6’, and will be nearly unavoidable to walk on. It is placed right in front of the major installation piece. Two were placed at the entrance to the cobblestone path from the camellia walk. These pieces are overlapped, creating some visual interest and together forming a larger
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piece that will be harder to avoid. The last piece was laid on the woodland walk, in alignment with the major installation to the east. This again implies an expanded field of the installation. It is partially visual from Lumpkin Street as well.
February 28, 2014
Today more people are reacting to the piece. The expanded scale and multiple pieces have truly made the installation more engaging. Whether or not people are beginning to correlate the process is debatable, but a few have begun to stop briefly and look from display to ground piece, so maybe it is getting through. The large unavoidable piece is forcing pedestrians on, yet some people still brave the long hop to avoid it. Generally, younger aged females are the jumpers, while males tend to either step towards the edges or seek to leave a legible mark. Groups of people walking together tend to walk over without much hesitation. I wish I had set up a camera now – looking back that is my deepest regret thus far.
March 1, 2014
I made it into the garden today and was pleasantly surprised to find a great deal of activity. Families, students, and other people were strolling throughout the garden. Many people were taking pictures, although I did not notice anyone specifically photographing the installation. I downloaded an app to test some time-lapse photography, and I believe I will use it tonight when Sig and I install the next part. I plan to minimally draw on the first canvas tonight, to emphasize a particularly appealing print or mark. This will be the final step in the process, and will continue throughout the week as each piece has been displayed for 4 days.
I used the time lapse photography to record Sig and I’s set up for Stage Four. We hung the large piece at about the mid point of the path, and stretched it at a slight angle to acknowledge the existing desire line. This is the first piece to not be stretched strictly in one dimension, and is something I think I will experiment with more. Two pieces were hung in the north eastern corner of the lawn, implying a sort of corner to the piece and building off of one of the satellite bamboo pieces previously installed. The fourth piece was stretched from the other remote bamboo piece at the southern entrance to the lawn. The large piece is particularly engaging because it has a very defined cobble stone pattern and because it is shaped quite a bit differently than anything else on display. However, I do believe it is too parallel to the path. I am having some anxiety now about letting the desire line have so much influence on the form of the piece.
We laid down a total of eight new pieces. I am shocked at how much space they can take up and am questioning for a variety of reasons whether or not going on to 16 pieces seems worthwhile. Two pieces were laid in a sort of V pattern at the north entrance, two were laid in an overlapping condition at the south entrance, two triangular pieces are located in the western part of the lawn off of the path, directing a line of sight or movement to the pagoda area where the seventh piece is presented under the iron bench. The eighth piece is a small 2’x2’ square and is located on the woodland walk on a sight line with the center of the South Lawn.
March 2, 2014
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I arrived in the Garden today about noon and stayed until close to 2:00 PM. The South Lawn was not extremely active, but there was a decent crowd wondering through the rest of the Garden. I wonder if the installation is somehow deterring people from passing through the South Lawn area? There is nothing extremely invasive as far as a physical obstacle, but as I stated earlier the installation’s growth in scale has certainly increased its presence. I took some time lapse photography again today to record how people were moving through the space. I still wish I had decided to set one up full-time but I think that people are generally reacting in similar ways. I had a conversation with a man from My Athens, some sort of art and community organization here in town. He was with an art student and another young woman and they were interested to know what the piece was. This is only the second time I had been asked any real question, so I was happy to strike up a conversation. In the end, they appreciated the idea but I’m still not sure it fully would register had I told them nothing.
My fiancé and I laid out a blanket on the corner of the South Lawn to promote some sort of occupation of the area and to see if there would be any copy cat behavior after we moved. A few more people did pass through the garden at this point but it is unclear as to whether or not this had any correlation – although I would say probably not. People are at least starting to look around the South Lawn as the pass through, probably wondering what the heck is going on in here. In that regard I am happy that the piece is at least challenging the everyday perception of the Garden, although I still am looking for ways to communicate the idea further.
March 3, 2014
I had a hectic schedule today, and it also rained cold nearly all day today, so I did not spend a great deal of time in the Garden. I did take some photo documentation of the process and noticed that although no fruit had fallen this time, there was a greater amount of marking on every piece on the ground. This is due to the increased amount of tangible dirt and debris, particularly from the camellia walk at the southern end of the cobblestone walk. When the pieces are wet as they were today, a nice transparent quality occurs, revealing the shadows and depth of the cobblestone walk underneath. I am happy with the material’s performance so far, particularly in the polyester’s ability to record physical markings and adapt to the environmental conditions in an interesting manner. This whole chance versus control framework that I have set up has been challenging as a designer, but I think it has made for some pretty compelling art work. Whether or not everything is working as one cohesive piece is debatable, but I have undoubtedly learned a great deal about the cause and effect relationship of the design process.
March 4, 2014
Today was miserable outside. A high of like 40 and it was another wet day. I spent very little time in the Garden today. I walked through twice and took a few photographs. The observations are similar to yesterday; things are very dirty when it’s wet outside. I did notice that some of the display pieces have markings that have started to fade. In particular, the most evocative sheets, the ones with the fruit stains and fruit debris, have faded and the texture is all but lost. This is certainly part of the process, but it is also somewhat discouraging. I wish I had traced on things earlier at this point. The good news is that I have pretty thorough photograph documentation so at least I have evidence and the ability to recall some of the exciting canvases. The wind and
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rain have also pulled a few of the sheets a bit out of tension. Nothing has ripped in the last few days, but the large 6’x6’ sheet is now dragging the ground a bit at the bottom. Hopefully everything hangs on until the weather calms down.
March 5, 2014
Today marks the final step of manipulation in the study period allotted for this thesis. I will observe in the coming days if anything new happens, but for the most part the process is over. The pieces that have been on the ground an extra day have some very evident marks. There are even a few bike marks which is kind of nice. The piece that was laid under the bench is extremely dirty, but it does offer some interesting patterns of density and color gradient.
I decided to use this final iteration of arrangement to engage with the path the best I could while building off of what is already in place. I chose to use the long pieces that spanned the cobblestone walk as elements that are fastened to the bamboo at one end and then staked into the ground at the opposite end. This allows for an interesting folded condition in between the bamboo attachment point and the ground, and also brings the installation in direct contact with the path edge. The two triangular pieces are re-placed on the ground; one at either entrance to the cobblestone path. I do not expect these pieces to get walked on much, as they do not even cover half of the path, but I do believe they serve as a sort of entry marker into the intervention. The extremely dirty piece was displayed in front of the large 6’x6’ pieces, creating an interesting overlapping condition in an elevational sense. The dark, dirty piece contrasts nicely with the large amount of white space on the bigger canvas, and brings out the cobble stone pattern a little more clearly.
This overlapping condition was continued to the eastern corner part of the installation, where I connected the “hypotenuse” of the corner pieces. This makes for some very compelling detail shots, although I doubt it will be very recognizable to people passing through. I also decided to mark on the canvases in a sketchy manner, bringing out an interesting element in each one. This may add some sort of interest to the pieces, although I still think the biggest issue is the orientation of the piece.
Now it is time to further reflect upon this journey and really get into writing the final chapters of this thesis. I will continue observing and looking in on the Garden, as I believe this installation may stay in some sort of form until alumni weekend, March 29th. I have a lot of time until then so hopefully I will be able to manipulate and explore further.
March 6, 2014
Today people are moving through the garden fairly similarly to the have been during the previous week. The scale of the project is now very engaging, and people have been looking at it more and more. When I begin rearrangement I plan to organize more perpendicular to the cobble stone path, as I think that will interact much more directly with users. There is really nothing to document as far as new marks on the ground plane, but I have noticed a few new marks on the fabric that is folded and attached to the ground. Particularly near the ground on
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these pieces are sort of splatter spots from where rain drops turned up dirt and mud which landed on the polyester surface. The triangular pieces on the ground meeting with the pieces that move from the ground to the bamboo has created a sense of enclosure and uniformity to the piece, and I think people are beginning to see it as a cohesive scheme now more than in the past.
March 7, 2014
Nothing too different occurred today wither. The piece is still fine, with few marks on the triangular pieces as the marks on the displayed pieces continue to fade with time and weathering. The display pieces also tend to be sagging more and more, as they have lost some tension due to the environmental processes and flux they have experienced in the past week. I did have a few conversations today as I was taking pictures with people wondering what I was doing. At the least this affirms to me that people are questioning what the work is and some are interested enough to want to find out.
March 9, 2014
I was out of town yesterday and did not get to see the Garden. However, I did go today around 1:00 PM and was immediately faced with a decision. Several pieces of bamboo had been pulled out of the ground and sort of thrown in various places. The triangular pieces on the ground had been uprooted and tossed to the edges of the lawn. The landscape stakes were seemingly everywhere, although I managed to find all but one I think. Two of the pieces attached to the ground and bamboo had been ripped and mangled.
My reaction is not one of sadness or discouragement. Had this happened earlier in the process it very well may have been. However, I feel now that the piece clearly engaged some person or potentially a group of people and caused a reaction. Violent as it may have been, it engaged people in a way that I had not really considered. Vandalism is definitely a risk when installing any kind of public work, which I knew going in. I am glad, and probably lucky, that my materials weren’t used to do any real harm to the garden. Someone probably could have done far more damage than just ripping a few polyester pieces.
I decided to make due with what was left, and clean up the parts that had been damaged so that the overall piece didn’t look too disheveled. I twisted the fabric that was stil attached to one of the bamboo pieces that had been pulled out, and placed the bamboo on the ground. This created a completely new condition but engaged the ground in a kind of interesting manner. I plan to exercise some more thought and creativity into a better adaptation and solution later in the week, but things are just too crazy to tackle it today or probably tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn’t look too bad.
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APPENDIX C: TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTACT SHEETS
Figure 47: Installation Contact Sheet
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Figure 48: Grommet Installation Contact Sheet
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