'A Gift'
concrete, gnomes, gold paint, spray paint, plants, flowers, and herbs, and rocks found behind the tree opposite.
concrete, gnomes, gold paint, spray paint, plants, flowers, and herbs, and rocks found behind the tree opposite.
A sculpture garden in response to Yantai, Fuzhou, Fujian in China. The work was made in a concrete factory situated in the middle of a community of artist studios. It comprises of concrete works moulded inside hand-stitched fabric forms. A variety of fabrics were sourced from the local area, and after a few days of curing, this is then carefully stripped away from the concrete. The concept changed throughout the 4 weeks of making, due to restrictions on public space, learning outcomes, and time restraints.
The garden was influenced by the material history of the city, the makeshift nature of locals that occupy outdoor spaces, material exchanges, the banyan tree and - as one of the treaty ports during the late 19th-20th Century- the colonial dregs, that still form the shape and feeling of the place.
Fuzhou appears to be a place of many refuges, a place that has been bombarded by religious moralising, government militarising and revolutionary politicising. It is a place in flow; of exchange and interaction, a place of many outsiders coming and going, much like the Ming river that has housed its trade for centuries. But many of the local people, particuarly the older generations, retain their roots, superstitions, and behaviours (for better or worse). They cannot be easily conrolled.
Previously, many of the consulates that lived here avoided integration, building their own recreational parlours and divisions within their households. I wanted to give a gift, a kind of sculpture garden that merged the experiences here and the hybrid nature of cultural exchanges that spring up in the architecture; such as the baptist churches, temples, and entrances. I was inspired to incorporate images from my own childhood garden and hometown, and the stories I uncovered which show moments of open house policy and generosity among people that would influence the cultural impact of the city.
In an area that had few free public outdoor spaces to retreat, enjoy green space, or to simply enjoy some quiet time, fuzhou is often a noisy and difficult place to live, with the familiar story of rapid development and gentrification seemingly threatening this disorder that makes the place unique. I was initially inspired by my reading of chimpanzees who form their own group identifying hand-clasps. And how when researchers introduced a chimpanzee to another group, she both adapted and introduced a new hybrid greeting. If culture is innate then it is also full of potential morphologies.
The garden was influenced by the material history of the city, the makeshift nature of locals that occupy outdoor spaces, material exchanges, the banyan tree and - as one of the treaty ports during the late 19th-20th Century- the colonial dregs, that still form the shape and feeling of the place.
Fuzhou appears to be a place of many refuges, a place that has been bombarded by religious moralising, government militarising and revolutionary politicising. It is a place in flow; of exchange and interaction, a place of many outsiders coming and going, much like the Ming river that has housed its trade for centuries. But many of the local people, particuarly the older generations, retain their roots, superstitions, and behaviours (for better or worse). They cannot be easily conrolled.
Previously, many of the consulates that lived here avoided integration, building their own recreational parlours and divisions within their households. I wanted to give a gift, a kind of sculpture garden that merged the experiences here and the hybrid nature of cultural exchanges that spring up in the architecture; such as the baptist churches, temples, and entrances. I was inspired to incorporate images from my own childhood garden and hometown, and the stories I uncovered which show moments of open house policy and generosity among people that would influence the cultural impact of the city.
In an area that had few free public outdoor spaces to retreat, enjoy green space, or to simply enjoy some quiet time, fuzhou is often a noisy and difficult place to live, with the familiar story of rapid development and gentrification seemingly threatening this disorder that makes the place unique. I was initially inspired by my reading of chimpanzees who form their own group identifying hand-clasps. And how when researchers introduced a chimpanzee to another group, she both adapted and introduced a new hybrid greeting. If culture is innate then it is also full of potential morphologies.
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below; research notes
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