Sunday, October 17, 2010
Floral Sculptures
While in Guangzhou, China in 2008, during the Olympics, I noticed these floral sculptures of the Olympic mascots. These sculptures were beautiful and the time put into placing each and every single flower must have been time consuming. These sculptures, obviously not permanent, are periodically changed.
The location in which they are placed is very restricted. Guangzhou is a huge city and as in most huge cities, there are few medians in the downtown area. However, this sculpture was placed in a median for the public to enjoy. The grounds of the median were again covered with flowers. The height of each sculpture was about 10 feet each.
What is nice about these pieces are that it uses the natural materials of flowers. It brings a more earthly feel to the culture. In a city where it is all about technology, economics, noise, and transportation, it is refreshing to see a bit of natural earth around. I feel as if more cities should follow this lead. It is very opposite of the usual earth art piece. Usually, man made objects or man modifies the natural world. This time though, the natural world is brought into the man made world.
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I appreciate your comment about how man made objects usually modify the natural world but in the case of this garden and these sculptures it is the other way around. Being in this class has helped me to appreciate not just seeing the final product of a work of art but also the process it took to get there. Like you mentioned the specific placement of each individual flower, thinking about the planning of placement of flowers to make this design, selection of the flowers to be used, finding the place to plant this garden and then doing the actual labor to produce it, makes this piece even more beautiful and meaningful. Great post!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, I misspoke. In this case these sculptures are natural, modified by man, but placed in a man made world. Bringing nature to the modern world is also a type of contrast.
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