Ok, this ought to grab a lot of you out there. Ran across this company / corporation that performs in botanical gardens, and, unfortunately, at trade shows, nfl games, Disney (yuck), et cetera.
Couple issues:
1) I love mimes. I've always loved street performers like this. Many people take issue with this since I can watch them for an hour and not lose interest. It started in London with a man painted gold.
2) I can't help but find trouble with the title of this group. It seems to me gardens are already living, right? To imply it takes a human element to define / sustain / create life seems a bit hubristic. But then again, if there weren't humans to garden, there'd be no garden (nature might be appreciative of that in some respects); there'd also be no one to comment on the philosophical ramifications of what's alive and what isn't and how it is alive and if it feels anything or has a soul. You follow that? I didn't. If a coreopsis bloomed among coneflowers and no one planted and tended to it, is it still a blooming coreopsis?
3) The idea of a sculpture coming to life IN the garden is, I think, fun and appealing. The idea of it coming to life on a stage is, well, deflating and silly.
4) I've seen posts on other garden blogs labeled NIMG, or Not In My Garden. Well, here you go, simply cuz it puts too much human in the garden--and it'd be too darn expensive while my wife would think I was eyeing the statue with water coming out of its finger tips for all the wrong reasons. I think you can make the leap for yourselves....
2 comments:
I'd be somewhat sketchy on those who sell dehumanization + objectification for a living.
Hello Benjamin,
Philo and I saw a performance by this Living Garden group at the Wildflower Center here in Austin a couple of years back. It was sure not something I'd go out of my way to see again, but in reality, gardeners like us were not the target audience. As part of a family day celebration the concept worked - the children were totally entranced.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
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