This sculptural piece consists of four quadrilateral pedestals positioned in pairs about two metres apart from each other. The distance between the two sets of blocks allows for the luscious vegetation to travel between and lead the eye towards the architectural structure behind it; they act as a visual ellipsis and with this, our eye’s attention is brought back to the works’ immediate environment. Situated between the URS building and the Library, the latter being the theme with which the sculpture was commissioned.
The composition of the piece imitates that of the URS building; it represents simplified essences of its larger architectural counterpart, emulating construction blocks left behind or yet to be added to this complex structure. The piece itself has its own complexities in its make up. The material development of Floating Garden responds to the amount of waste produced on the university campus in 2019. A small fraction of this waste is settled within an aggregate of limecrete, sand and stones. Some of the plastic fragments become identifiable upon closer inspection like bottle caps that create concave perforations in the uniformity of the cubes surface. Some pieces are more mysterious; abstract shapes gather in serendipitous locations within the sculptures, which appear reminiscent of a Memphis style pattern. Circles and wiggled lines dance around each other; while outlines and infills of faded hues of once vibrantly coloured plastics create interruptions in the uniformed speckle of the white stones suspended in its grey rhomb. Where once these plastics adhered solely to their specific one time purposes, they now become one entity in a misguided collage of uselessness. This transformation of material is synonymous with the artistic decision to hold a mirror up to our collective human behaviour regarding waste and usage. The minimalist qualities of Floating Garden invite our participation in the plastics new found functionality, much like the act of recycling. Here, we are presented with a more desirable alternative to a pile of discarded plastic. The artist’s intention was not to move away from the use of harmful materials, but create a space to consider the effects of reassigning the waste we create.
CONNIE HOPE 