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The Paradoxical Garden, a practice-led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention
Mini Dissertation (MA Fine Arts)--University of Pretoria, 2019.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2019
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| _version_ | 1867613504231440385 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Grobler, Nicola |
| author_browse | Grobler, Nicola |
| author_facet | Grobler, Nicola |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Mini Dissertation (MA Fine Arts)--University of Pretoria, 2019. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/70831 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:37:11.932Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/70831 The Paradoxical Garden, a practice-led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention Grobler, Nicola marilideweerdt@gmail.com de Weerdt, Marili UCTD Fine Art Ecological art Environmental art Eco-art Sculptural installation Installation art Site-specific art Practice-led research Practice-based research Contemporary sculpture Environmental aesthetics Ecocriticism Humanities theses SDG-04 Humanities theses SDG-11 Humanities theses SDG-13 Humanities theses SDG-15 Mini Dissertation (MA Fine Arts)--University of Pretoria, 2019. The Paradoxical Garden is a collection of sculptural installations that focus on human-plant interactions in the garden to emphasise the connection between humans and their environment. Herein ‘nature’, as a human construct, and ‘culture’ are depicted as part of the same phenomenon in response to Bruno Latour’s (2011) perception that the current ecological condition is a result of a disconnect between nature and culture. The definition of garden as nature ‘improved’ by culture is questioned. Instead, Mateusz Salwa’s (2014:317) definition of the garden as a place where culture becomes nature and nature becomes culture is more appropriate. The garden is reimagined and visualised as a clear example of how ‘nature’ and culture exist in a relational web. Following a dialogical approach to making, I depict the conversations between human and plants using artistic methods such as a visual journal and watercolour sketches. Plants are portrayed as participants in the complex system of the garden instead of passive recipients of human will. The paradox of the garden is based on the idea that it is a space where relationships perceived as binary such as nature and culture; artificial and natural; and object and subject co-exist and meld into one another. In agreement with Robyn Longhurst (2006), the garden offers an opportunity to create alternative views. The Paradoxical Garden can be described as an ecological intervention in its aim to address the philosophical disconnection between nature and culture. In The Paradoxical Garden, the artwork embodies the relationship of care that develop between a gardener and the plants in the garden. Interactions with plants based on Josephine Donovan’s (2016) understanding of care are collaborative and considerate. Both the plant and the gardener are affected; the plant by being cared for and the gardener by tending to the needs of the plant. Being influenced by the aesthetics of care and actor network theory (ANT), which gives prominence to the relationship between actors where neither human nor non-human is dominant, means that this study is relational in its approach. Rather than a medium, plants are presented as subjects with agency, who become active collaborators in The Paradoxical Garden. The plants that form The Paradoxical Garden have proved themselves to be strong-willed and resilient, resulting in three bodies of work titled Care, Co-Create and Commingle. Each body of work emphasises a different aspect of the plants’ agency through collaboration that strengthens a sense of connection with non-human nature. This sense of connection assists with the experience of being part of the environment instead of in control of it. According to Timothy Morton (2007:44), this would lead to more ecologically responsible behaviour. Vega School ae2026 Visual Arts MA Fine Arts Unrestricted SDG-04: Quality education SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities SDG-13: Climate action SDG-15: Life on land 2019-07-31T08:21:36Z 2019-07-31T08:21:36Z 2019-09-04 2019-07-30 Mini Dissertation de Weerdt, M 2019, The Paradoxical Garden, a practice-led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention, MA Fine Arts Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/70831> S2019 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/70831 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Fine Art Ecological art Environmental art Eco-art Sculptural installation Installation art Site-specific art Practice-led research Practice-based research Contemporary sculpture Environmental aesthetics Ecocriticism Humanities theses SDG-04 Humanities theses SDG-11 Humanities theses SDG-13 Humanities theses SDG-15 The Paradoxical Garden, a practice-led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention |
| title | The Paradoxical Garden, a practice-led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention |
| title_full | The Paradoxical Garden, a practice-led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention |
| title_fullStr | The Paradoxical Garden, a practice-led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Paradoxical Garden, a practice-led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention |
| title_short | The Paradoxical Garden, a practice-led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention |
| title_sort | paradoxical garden a practice led study of sculptural installation as ecological intervention |
| topic | UCTD Fine Art Ecological art Environmental art Eco-art Sculptural installation Installation art Site-specific art Practice-led research Practice-based research Contemporary sculpture Environmental aesthetics Ecocriticism Humanities theses SDG-04 Humanities theses SDG-11 Humanities theses SDG-13 Humanities theses SDG-15 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/70831 |