Grace Hill
By evoking the promise and stakes of paradise, this work reawakens the universal primacy of the art of the garden. The experience of landscape is made physical. Progressing through a deliberate sequence of spaces, the visitor is made to question both the nature of the garden and its potential to represent what was, who we are, and what we want to be.
Shakers founded their utopian communities besides rolling hills meant to represent an afterlife free of the constricting rectilinearity of town. This work creates such a hill.
A charming white picket fence and inviting sign reading "Grace Hill" invite the visitor inside.
One pleasantly meanders upwards along a path past Aquilegia canadensis, Panicum virgatum, and other native species of the St. Lawrence river area only to discover a strangely contrasting space--ornate Baroque gates frame one's view onto a parterre around a golden Venus fountain .
This formal parterre of Ligustrum vulgare seems manicured at first. While groomed towards the center, however, the parterre begins to disintegrate towards the edges. Countless little sprouts of privet convey a sense of disorder. An off key, damaged recording of a Baroque sonata by Arcangelo Corelli plays in the background. Walking past the eerie golden fountain, the visitor descends back into the sea of native plants.
(Competitor's text)
7 scanned / 2 viewable
- Presentation Panel
- Presentation Panel
