Gardens of Decaying Art

This morning I was lucky enough to spot this article by Lomography detailing an installation by a German architect. The landscape architect lay down piles of books, which have been left to decay in the Jardin de la Connaissance in Quebec.

It reminded me of my visit to the Carl Larsson garden in Sweden - you can find some information here but I'm sure I'll write a post about it soon! We spent the morning drinking wild strawberry soda in the little cafe next to the artist's house before taking a walk down to the river at the bottom of the garden. To the side of the garden there is a little wood, thoroughly hidden by the long, swooping branches of the typical Swedish fir trees. If you sweep these aside and sneak through, you find yourself in an eerie little forest, filled with decaying pianos. 

Covered in cobwebs with missing or broken keys, the decaying pianos were scattered about, as if abandoned and longing to be played. The often screechy, out of tune sounds produced from these instruments certainly lent themselves well to what was arguably the most perfect setting for a 50s horror movie.

Of the book installation, which was a part of the International Festival des Jardins de Metis, a Denzeen feature describes the work beautifully, in a way that is also very relevant to the abandoned pianos:

 "Invoking the mythic relation between knowledge and nature integral to the concept of ‘paradise’, we invite the emotional involvement of the visitor by exposing these fragile and supposedly timeless cultural artefacts to the processes of decomposition." 

(top picture lovingly taken from here)

inspire nordic

☆

PS: click here - I finally made a facebook page!