Gardening the Ruins
Gardening the Ruins, multimedia installation, 7 channel surrounding sound, loop duration 15mins, 2023
Gardening The Ruins is a multi-media installation. The building of this garden is an embodiment of the alternative approach seeking. It plays into all expectations of what gardens should be——quiet, secluded, and beautiful places to heal both body and mind. But it is also violent at the same time as there is no natural and real element in it. Land, water, farming tools, human bodies, movements, architecture, and oceans are rebuilding by using artificial materials. While it could be a place where we shelter from the world’s brutal reality.
“A garden opens up space for making and experiencing. It ritualizes our existence and gives it meaning. Attention and care weave living nature together with our human condition.”
— Erik A. de Jong Like a Mirror
Installation overview
“The Land”, canvas, ink, acrylic, oil pastel, metal powder, hand-made machine, 138” × 59”, 2023
“The Land”, detail view, canvas, ink, acrylic, oil pastel, metal powder, hand-made machine, 138” × 59”, 2023
“The Water”, wood, metal powder, transducers, hand-made machine, 8” × 47” × 16”, 2023
“The Ocean”, 2023, mirror, video, 8” × 47” × 16”
“The Altar”, sheet metal, commodity label, cocktail shaker, daintiest mirror, screw, adapter plug, washer, dry pear, wood board, wood chip, 24” × 13” × 12”, 2023
“The fragments of our bodies”, projection mapping, dimension variable, 2023