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Friday, November 11, 2011

Sculpture in the Garden

How do you feel when a designer takes something from bad to worse?
photo by Todd Coleman
Garden Design Magazine helped the James Beard Foundation refurbish the garden of the famous chef.

Look at the bench on the left in the photo above, at the end of it is a portrait sculpture of Mr. Beard.
It's not great placement of the art but you might sit down next to it to commune with his spirit.

In the newly redesigned garden the bust has been moved... to hiding in the bushes!

That's no way to respect a sculpture. 

It's not a great piece of sculpture, but the garden designers should have either featured the work or  placed it in the dumpster and denied any knowledge of its whereabouts. Hiding it in the garden behind potted ferns doesn't work. Do you get down on your knees to view it? What were they thinking?

See all that blank lattice work fencing? The sculpture should be on a pedestal at least 5.5 feet high and placed in front of one of the lattice panels.  The near panel would allow closer viewing, while a central placement would be more formal. The surrounding planting would anchor it, lighting it would give interest to the garden in the evenings. The art would then have presence and meaning.

What do you think?

2 comments:

David Bales Design said...

original placement was an after-thought, new placement is a complete lack of thought.

since the work seems to be posthumous (is that something Beard ever would have commissioned himself?) it deserves either a quiet little corner or well lighted niche in an intimate interior halllway, or in the area delegated to (3) tropical ferns in the garden.

nice axis to play with there formed by the open space and the tree, and has great visual access to the phalanx of benches in the corner for contemplation.

on a pedestal and well illuminated of course, for evening events.

Beatriz Cunha said...

I just hate it when I see poorly exhibited sculpture.
If properly displayed, for example in the manner you suggest, they could even have saved a not so good work.