Here are some pictures I shot in December 2005 at Kew, showing the weird and wonderful, and very organic, glass sculptures by the American artist Dale Chihuly. The display runs to mid January 2006, see: http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/chihuly/index.html
... and a couple more. I think the clear glass display below was my favourite of everything I saw, Sean
Hi Michael, I was there as a botanist, but had heard about this display a few months back and was looking forward to seeing it in the context of Kew, which I had visited before. I wasn't disappointed. I did see some of the visitors pay more attention to the glass than the plants, but personally I think that's fine -- anything that brings a larger audience into botanical gardens is good news, to my mind. And this art is so organic -- it seemed very appropriate, somehow, to see this amazing blend of art and nature...
Re: Chihuly in the Garden Absolutely agree! I was at the Chihuly exhibit two years ago at the Atlanta Botanical Garden and it was a stimulating addition to the wonderful park. Well worth seeing and so much fun to photograph! (Here's one of my photos.)
I've spent hours watching TV shows about his projects. Although sometimes spectacular, most of his stuff looks like doodles to me--which is, in fact, sort of how it starts out. The Kew show is another example of how divorced from natural beauty we in this culture continue to be, with tropical foliage displays far more diverse, complex and fascinating serving as a foil to a buncha slightly goofy glasswork. I wonder how the last flowering of a titan arum there compared as a draw. I bet alot more people are coming to see these artificial objects, based on natural ones but not as beautiful.
I agree Ron, and not all of it was to my taste, but what I liked, I liked a lot. I very much like the organic aspect to the art -- a good marriage of natural and manmade? While surprising, it didn't seem at all out of place amongst the natural wonders collected at Kew, and I bet there'll be more than a few people who came only to see the glasswork who will end up wowed by what else Kew has to offer. I did manage to see Kew's titum arum (Amorphophallus titanum, Araceae) while I was there. Not the 'world's largest flower' (as the media love to characterize it), of course, but quite astonishing nonetheless. No-one else was around while I looked at it, but I saw it just before closing time at Kew -- not really a fair test of your hypothesis about it being a lesser draw to the public! I was at RBG Sydney while it was in bloom there, and it seemed to be a huge hit with the public. Here's a couple of pictures of the infructescence (for scale, each individual fruit is about an inch or so), to balance out all that glass!
Re: Chihuly in the Garden When I saw Chihuly, we just came to see the Botanical Gardens and had no idea there was an art exhibit going on at the time, but I was delighted to get to see both! It just made our visit even more interesting (the artwork was very attractively and thoughtfully laid out, often spectacular for the sheer scale and brilliant colors, even if I didn't see his work necessarily as art that I'd like to own), and we didn't look at the plants any less because of it.
Thank you Sean for sharing the photos of Kew and the Chihuly exhibition. Some people just do not understand art and its various forms. The marriage of two art forms of glass and plants can work as a nice blend. Glass is every bit life as the glass artisans apply their creative talents to make art for us to enjoy. The whole purpose of such an exhibition is not to implore people to show up and later count the number of people that paid their way through the turnstiles, although it helps keep the lights on, but instead is to offer a glimpse of the coming together of two life forms for us to feel at peace with oneself with nature along with an art form created through elements of nature. I'll enjoy seeing these kind of photos any day whether I could have attended the viewing or not. Thank you again. As a side note: the only photo of me that has ever been online that I know of was taken with me standing under a Chihuly installation ceiling wearing a tuxedo at a prestigious gathering. Jim
I think there is a long history of people displaying sculpture in garden settings. To me the art can enhance the beauty of a garden and the garden provides the perfect setting for viewing and contemplating art. Music and theatre also find a good venue in gardens. I am guessing some of you do not care for UBCBG's taking part in the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale by hosting the installation of the Minotaur for 18 months. I suppose people's taste for art may be more subjective than people's taste for plants. Personally I like the whimsy of Dale Chihuly's glass a lot, but I guess I was exposed to a lot of when I was living in Seattle and it first came on the scene. It has become quite a large production, which turns some people off.
Like all artists, some of his works are better than others. His most beautiful works (in my eyes( are those that seem to marry glass and living organisms emphasizing the best of both. I would never turn down a chance to see an exhibit, esp not at Kew!!!
I was there just as they were setting it up, in February 2005. I see they added a lot after I left. John
