Been thinking about something I saw on "Art 21," a terrific show on PBS. It featured the glass artist Josiah McElheny, who said his goal is to seduce the viewer. Well, if he’s trying to seduce me it’s definitely working and I think it’s because his art is both beautiful and interesting. An example is this detail from a larger work that uses reflective glass to create mirror multiples of individual glass containers.
The seduction idea has stayed with me as a possible goal in garden design and I’m wondering what gardens I find seductive – the beautiful and interesting ones? That’s a good place to start. We’ve all seen gardens that are pretty but don’t hold our attention because they’re simple, old-fashioned, or too damn ordinary.
Taking the idea further, I’m wondering how I can make my concrete art seductive, as well. Stay tuned for the results.
Somehow I find myself in a book group with certifiable brainiacs and boning up before the big discussion is my way of trying to keep up. Over the years I’ve learned some lessons about researching books.
First, forget the reviews on Amazon. For some reason, most books receive the same average rating, roughly equivalent to a B+. My theory is that people who like a book are more likely to contribute their opinion, which means they’re worthless.
Turns out the best source for reviews is the site Reviews of Books, which compiles reviews by actual critics. It’s just like Movie Review Query Engine, which has been around much longer, and I offer a big thank-you to whoever finally produced this much-needed version for books. And my second favorite source of information is good old Google, where I go for an interview with the author about a specific book. Searching "Krakauer Interview Banner" in this case culled out interviews about his previous bestseller, Into Thin Air.
Turning to our book of the month, group members reported being fascinated, mesmerized or horrified by Banner of Heaven, a Story of Violent Faith. Nonfiction pageturners are few and far between and Krakauer has produced more than his share. In Banner he tells two tales in alternating chapters – the history of the church and the story of murders within a family of fundamentalists, with an interesting sidebar about the fundamentalist kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. Of course, the group detoured – and we do love our detours – into parallels with every other religion on earth, the history of oppression of women, and how much we all love Mark Twain, who wrote about Brigham Young. And because total agreement would make for a very dull evening, one particularly discerning member (the recent mother of twins, finally getting a chance to read and talk with adults again) questioned the author’s objectivity. So yes, Krakauer definitely has his point of view and is that a bad thing? Rest assured we digested that one thoroughly.
So in a nutshell: great book, great group, great way to spend an evening.
Photo Caption from the 5/21/05 London Times: “An exhibitor warms to her theme during preparations for the royal visit to Chelsea on Monday.”
We’ve all heard of the Chelsea Flower Show, arguably the most famous gardening event in the world, but on this side of the pond we may not fully grasp the importance of the event in English society. I got a glimpse into this amazing world when a friend brought me a London newspaper published during the show. An article described a national epidemic of plant envy fueled by garden makeover programming on TV and called the Chelsea Flower Show the “apogee of horticultural lust.”
Under the heading “Garden Gossip” I found the following gems (while wondering if gardening will ever be hot enough here to generate mainstream gossip):
- There was panic over whether the latest BBC strike will end soon enough to enable full coverage of the show on television.
– The BBC’s presenter at the show is called the bad boy of gardening. – don’t you love it? In 2004 he was involved in a “spat” with a competitor in which he accused her of “snobbery, elitism and rudeness after she criticized the height of his garden walls.”
– And last year’s champion was an early favorite again with this year. I bet they were taking bets at the local bookie shops.
And what can I say about the photo?
[Originally published in the July 2005 edition of the Takoma Horticulture Club Newsletter - but without the photo. Thanks to my friend Marv for the use of his scanner.]
Been thinking about something I saw on "Art 21," a terrific show on PBS. It featured the glass artist Josiah McElheny, who said his goal is to seduce the viewer. Well, if he’s trying to seduce me it’s definitely working and I think it’s because his art is both beautiful and interesting. An example is this detail from a larger work that uses reflective glass to create mirror multiples of individual glass containers.
