Blue Fountain
Galerie Nicolas Robert
April 2–May 7, 2016
Galerie Nicolas Robert
April 2–May 7, 2016
“There are, so it is said, seventeen kinds of figs on the island. One ought—the man told himself as he walked in the sun—to know their names. Indeed, not only ought one to have seen the grasses and the animals that give the island its face, its sound, and its scent; not only ought one to have seen the strata of the mountains and the different kinds of soil, which vary from a dusty yellow to a violet brown, from the cinnabar; above all, one ought to know their names”
—Walter Benjamin, “In the Sun”
The garden is three times the size of the home, it was designed by the Architect. The home, formally two garages that were retrofitted in 1957 and modernized to include large panes of glass and a small greenhouse. Recently the property was slated for demolition, like so many properties that deserve to be a heritage site. I visited this place one hazy and bright June afternoon. I spent three hours observing, taking notes, and photographing. I was told I was not allowed in the house. I peered in the window, my camera reflected in the glass, reflecting the garden, the pottery on the table yet again reflected back into the camera. Three fields of colourful vision collapsing, collapsing time and inducing an intoxicating effect. I imagined lives lived here. I left when they came home. Later I looked back at my notes, each element of the garden written down in a pencil scrawl.
Dogwood Tree Blue Rhododendrons
Western Red Cedar Hedge
Douglas Fir Pine Blue
Persimmon Arbutus Azaleas
Laurels Blue Water Lilies
Water Reeds Zebra Grass
Western Sword Ferns Blue
Dear Ferns Blue Maidenhead Ferns
Many Grasses Blue Fountain Bamboo Apple
—Walter Benjamin, “In the Sun”
The garden is three times the size of the home, it was designed by the Architect. The home, formally two garages that were retrofitted in 1957 and modernized to include large panes of glass and a small greenhouse. Recently the property was slated for demolition, like so many properties that deserve to be a heritage site. I visited this place one hazy and bright June afternoon. I spent three hours observing, taking notes, and photographing. I was told I was not allowed in the house. I peered in the window, my camera reflected in the glass, reflecting the garden, the pottery on the table yet again reflected back into the camera. Three fields of colourful vision collapsing, collapsing time and inducing an intoxicating effect. I imagined lives lived here. I left when they came home. Later I looked back at my notes, each element of the garden written down in a pencil scrawl.
Dogwood Tree Blue Rhododendrons
Western Red Cedar Hedge
Douglas Fir Pine Blue
Persimmon Arbutus Azaleas
Laurels Blue Water Lilies
Water Reeds Zebra Grass
Western Sword Ferns Blue
Dear Ferns Blue Maidenhead Ferns
Many Grasses Blue Fountain Bamboo Apple
Image Captions
Installation View
Installation View
Installation View
Installation View
Cobblestone Gardens #1 (After Cornelia Oberlander)
Inkjet print on fine art paper
Blue Fountain Bamboo leaf #1
Cast Bronze, 2016
Cobblestone Gardens #2 (After Cornelia Oberlander)
Inkjet print on fine art paper
Blue Fountain Bamboo leaf #2
Cast Bronze, 2016
Blue Fountain Bamboo leaf #1
Cast Bronze, 2016
Blue Fountain Bamboo
Cast Bronze, 2016
Installation View
Detail of Blue Fountain Bamboo
Cast Bronze, 2016
Blue Fountain Bamboo leaf #3
Cast Bronze, 2016
Cobblestone Gardens #1 (After Arthur Erikson)
Inkjet print, 40" x 50", 2016
Cobblestone Gardens #3 (After Arthur Erikson)
Inkjet print, 40" x 50", 2016
Cobblestone Gardens #4 (After Arthur Erikson)
Inkjet print, 40" x 50", 2016/2017
Installation View
Ibiza #1
Handmade Glass and Copper, Dimensions Variable, 2016
Ibiza #1 detail
I was walking down the boulevard when I looked out I was seeing all the blues in the street in front of me, blue on a foulard…blue on a young workman’s ass…his blue jeans…a girl’s blue sweater…blue neon…the sky…all the blues,
Handmade Glass and Copper, Dimensions Variable, 2016
I was Walking ... detail
I was Walking ... detail
I was Walking ... detail
I was Walking ... detail
Untitled (Bamboo)
Cast Copper, Dimensions Variable, 2016
⤹ Information
“There are, so it is said, seventeen kinds of figs on the island. One ought—the man told himself as he walked in the sun—to know their names. Indeed, not only ought one to have seen the grasses and the animals that give the island its face, its sound, and its scent; not only ought one to have seen the strata of the mountains and the different kinds of soil, which vary from a dusty yellow to a violet brown, from the cinnabar; above all, one ought to know their names”
—Walter Benjamin, “In the Sun”
The garden is three times the size of the home, it was designed by the Architect. The home, formally two garages that were retrofitted in 1957 and modernized to include large panes of glass and a small greenhouse. Recently the property was slated for demolition, like so many properties that deserve to be a heritage site. I visited this place one hazy and bright June afternoon. I spent three hours observing, taking notes, and photographing. I was told I was not allowed in the house. I peered in the window, my camera reflected in the glass, reflecting the garden, the pottery on the table yet again reflected back into the camera. Three fields of colourful vision collapsing, collapsing time and inducing an intoxicating effect. I imagined lives lived here. I left when they came home. Later I looked back at my notes, each element of the garden written down in a pencil scrawl.
Dogwood Tree Blue Rhododendrons
Western Red Cedar Hedge
Douglas Fir Pine Blue
Persimmon Arbutus Azaleas
Laurels Blue Water Lilies
Water Reeds Zebra Grass
Western Sword Ferns Blue
Dear Ferns Blue Maidenhead Ferns
Many Grasses Blue Fountain Bamboo Apple