Exploding Art

The news this week included the following headline: Rotting Fish Art Explodes, causes Fire in London Gallery "The installation — a piece called "Majestic Splendor" by Lee Bul — was part of an exhibition of the Korean artist's work, scheduled to open at the Hayward Gallery on May 30. Then, hours before the show's first preview, the gassy art blew up, causing a fire that damaged part of the gallery, artnet News reported. Even though the exhibit was not yet open to the public, gallery officials had already decided to remove "Majestic Splendor" from the show for safety reasons. They had learned earlier that a chemical added to the fishes' bags to dampen their smell could become flammable after combining with gases released by the decomposing flesh, and art handlers were taking down the art as a precaution when it suddenly combusted and sparked a fire, a gallery spokesperson told frieze magazine. This experience had occurred at MOMA in 1997 with the same installation.  Dozens of small, transparent bags were fixed to a wall; each contained a rotting fish decorated with stitched-on sequins and beads, representing Bul's scathing commentary on the fleeting nature of beauty for highly ornamented women.  At that installation, the special refrigeration failed, and the smell was so bad that it caused the display to be removed... Then subsequent showings included an odour-reducing chemical. When combined with combustible material, the chemical is known to trigger violent explosions." All of this comes from the Livescience story HERE.  This is a site that covers science news so the rotting fish story appears under strange news of the week. Another story was about the eruption of Hawaii's Mount Kilauea causing the largest freshwater lake to evaporate because so much boiling lava poured into it.   Garden tour season has begun, and we're looking at this perfect garden in St. Catharines on Henry Street in 2017.

Niagara Gardens - Beth Powell in Canfield

Garden art is a wide-open topic.  There are many styles of garden and possibilities for art in the garden.  Bracebridge's Artful Garden is a showcase of what's possible.  They feature more than 40 artists' work at the end of July.  This is where I first saw Floyd Elzinga's Pinecones. These pictures today are of Beth Powell's Canfield, ON garden.  Canfield is south of Grimsby on the escarpment, about 30 minutes away. There is everything from red wagons to dog houses, groupings of doors, a floating canoe garden and a Florida flamingo-inspired gazebo. And of course, there is much more than what you see here, as this is a large rural property and Beth is an ambitious garden artist. Repurposing is popular garden art style in the rural garden with the the open spaces and more relaxed settings. Beth takes familiar objects and gives them new definition through groupings and plantings. They delight and fascinate, inspire and motivate.  These are views of Beth's garden last year during the Hamilton Open Garden Week.  Beth's private garden is open to the public by appointment - one of those great public gardens in your own back yard.

Dark Corners

Isn't this a lovely art piece for the garden? It is the answer to what to do with dark corners in the garden.  When you live on Heath Street, one of Toronto's premier streets in Forest Hill, you add a beautiful sculpture to the garden that emphasizes the darkness and plays with the filtered light.

Koi, The Living Art

Koi, The Living Art  The Marie Selby Botanical Garden is located in Sarasota.  The Selby fortune was made in oil, and became part of Texaco.  This garden is located overlooking the water, so has extensive water views and is a wonderful walking garden.  It is well-known for its significant collections of gesnariads, cycads, and orchids.  It is a research facility and has preserved plants in its collections as well. My interest during this trip is to gather as many Koi images as I can. I've been to the garden each day, and am lucky to be able to sit on a bench at the water pond and pool to take pictures.  This is a large collection of Koi and they are large in size - about a foot long each of them.  There is a waterfall that flows into the pool.  The Chinese tradition says that if a Koi can make the final leap up the waterfall, it will be transformed into a Dragon. It is likely that you can see the fascination with Koi.  Their movements in the water make beautiful displays of their tails and fins and are ever-changing.