Nov 28 2009
The tranquility of gardens is no coincidence; careful planning is required to create that sense of escape from the daily grind. According to one Ryerson researcher, achieving that contemplative atmosphere depends on a garden being designed not as disparate elements, but as a sum total of its parts—and her proof is in the picture.
Assistant Professor Katy McCormick from Ryerson's School of Image Arts stands with her photography collection The Philosopher’s Garden: Still/Choreography, currently exhibited at the Toronto Image Works Gallery until Dec. 8
An assistant professor in the School of Image Arts, Katy McCormick specializes in photography and serves as director of the student-run Ryerson Gallery. McCormick’s photographs provide a big-picture look at natural settings. Specifically, McCormick’s interest is in architectural follies, whimsical, miniature and often ornate structures that were especially popular in England during the 18th century. A hallmark of the Romantic period, follies were meant to be conversation pieces, lending interest to a view rather than serving any particular architectural function.
“Architecture and landscape design work together to engage our bodies and minds,” said McCormick. “Architectural design provides clues about an environment and about how we use different spaces. For example, the presence of a bench invites people to sit, it suggests there is a ‘view’ worthy of contemplation. Conversely, if there is no bench, it implies that one should keep moving.
“Landscape architecture is designed with the idea of movement or promenade in mind,” she continued. “Paths and trees are placed in specific areas, creating sight lines, and certain elements are revealed at different times as you go through a garden. As highly choreographed spaces, you need to look at gardens as a whole, and most importantly, you need to move through them to appreciate their full splendour.”
McCormick’s current exhibition, entitled The Philosopher’s Garden: Still/Choreography, is on display at the Toronto Image Works Gallery until Dec. 8. The exhibition sheds light on the philosophical aspects of Romantic gardens, and the ways in which allusions to history and exotic cultures affect our interpretation of landscapes.
The show features follies in two noted gardens – Kew Gardens in England and Le Désert de Retz in France. The former, according to McCormick, is a perfect example of an English garden – verdant, overgrown and unrestrained. The latter, borrowing heavily from the ideals of an English garden, stands in stark contrast to such traditional French gardens as Versailles, whose strict geometrical design demonstrates human control and domination of the landscape. Both Kew Gardens and Le Désert de Retz contain numerous follies, such as pyramids, pagodas and Greek temples.
McCormick has received support for her work from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and Ryerson’s Faculty of Communication & Design. Her current project looks at the National Mall in Washington D.C. as an “ideological garden,” whose monuments embody the idealistic narratives of American history. She is working on a parallel series on the memorial parks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, dedicated to the victims of the atomic bombs dropped by the US in 1945. In spring all three sites are enveloped in clouds of pink and white cherry blossoms, momentarily blurring geographical differences.
Ryerson University is Canada's leader in innovative career-focused education, offering close to 100 PhD, master's, and undergraduate programs in the Faculty of Arts; the Faculty of Communication & Design; the Faculty of Community Services; the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Science; and the Ted Rogers School of Management. Ryerson University has graduate and undergraduate enrolment of 25,000 students. With more than 68,000 registrations annually, The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada's leading provider of university-based adult education.
Source: http://www.ryerson.ca/home_nf.html