segment of a note to Roland

Roland...

You asked about what approach I'd like to take with my design. I think aside from using materials in unique ways and using less traditional forms, I’d like to play more with my observations of culture and the environment and express it through design (more specifically in show installations). I’ve always been fascinated by ecology and the natural processes that go on. For example, a woodland area that we may perceive to be relatively (or ideally) unchanged for hundreds of years, evolves as the elements and species interact with it. This could be as simple as a tree falling over, an insect introduction or a forest fire. Each represents a single change that causes a chain reaction potentially manipulating the local landscape and ecosystem on variable scales. Often these changes encourage diversity of the system and as a result fortify it in some way. This, more simply put, is the chaos of nature at work. This chaos is also the fear and fascination that drives western cultures views on the environment. Traditionally as a culture we have fought against these processes and tried to make our environment as stable as possible for reasons of stabilizing our species on this planet. I’ll leave it up to others to decide for themselves if this is a good thing or not.

So how will this be reflected in my designs? One idea I’ve toyed around with is designing gardens that embrace changes, ether by inviting the processes of nature to interact upon it or by mechanically mimicking naturally occurring changes. I was thinking of a garden specify for the Reford festival that would consist of two layers sculptural of forms; one encapsulating the other. The outer form would be composed of a soft and malleable material that is prone to quick erosion. As it erodes over time (through wind and rain) it would reveal the inner sculpture. Thus nature dictates the changes and in a way designs the garden.