A dramatic light installation inspired by Australia's Red Desert can be seen in Cornwall.
As the artist Bruce Munro explains “I wanted to create a field of light stems, that like the dormant seed in a dry desert would quietly wait until darkness falls, and then under a blazing blanket of southern stars bloom with gentle rhythms of light. One's attention is thus drawn to the nature that surrounds the installation as well as the field of light itself.”
The installation has 6,000 acrylic stems, 11 external projectors - and uses more than 24,000 meters of fibre-optic cable to create the Field of Light
It got me thinking about ways of adding winter interest in the garden - and how the short days and darkness are an exciting inspiration for my own garden. Just imagine being enticed out into the cold crisp night by a sea of lights - with the scent of witch hazel and daphne still in the air...
I love to combine the spidery flowers of Hamamelis with winter aconites and Narcissus 'February Gold' with the fluffy flowers of Cornus mas in the background - although I have just designed a planting scheme which uses the more vibrant red Hamamelis 'Diane' underplanted with Anamathele lessonia and Galanthus 'S Arnot', so that the oversized Snowdrops poke through the wispy grass in a romantic, wild gesture.
Right that's it, I am decided - I am plotting my own winter light sculpture for next year - solar powered of course...
I will let you know how I get on!
NOTE:
Munro’s Field of Light was first seen at a reduced scale at the V&A Museum in 2004. The Field of Light can be seen at The Eden Project until the end of March 2009 - when if moves to Frome in Somerset.
If you can't make it to see the exhibition there is a beautiful photograph of the installation in this Months Garden Design Journal by Mark Pickthall. (The Journal is well worth a read anyway!)
2 comments:
Alice, this is a lovely idea. My problem with lights is that though they look lovely at night during the day they often look worse than the garden in winter. What does tempt me is your plant combinations. I look forward to seeing how you get on with your light sculpture next year and knowing what it looks like in day light!
Best wishes Sylvia
Good point Sylvia - although perhaps something could be done by by taking inspiration from a sunjar and the glass sculptures of wolfgang and heron
I'll post above...
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