Kitsch or useful visual ornament?
The Brooklyn garden on the morning of September 13. I mounted the ceramic face of Bacchus on Monday.
After visiting a garden last weekend with an overabundance of sculpture, one which we all agreed had gone beyond artful to kitsch, I'm concerned I may be doing the same with this object.
But it does have enormous virtue. Apart from giving a fine point to the garden's small perspective, its brightness catches the eye and keeps the eye within the garden. It looks down at the ground plane and the plantings, making you do the same. So the visual focus is directed downward and the outside view of houses across the way becomes less distracting. It really works quite well. It also reflects in the pool, and its brightness highlights the glimmering surface of the water.
Yet another contribution--when I look out from the house, it looks back, creating a dynamic visual exchange that adds visual and emotional depth to the garden.
But what is the kitsch factor?
(Ignore the planting at the back. It's become a plant holding area. I want to put in green Hakonechloa macra in the spring.)
After visiting a garden last weekend with an overabundance of sculpture, one which we all agreed had gone beyond artful to kitsch, I'm concerned I may be doing the same with this object.
But it does have enormous virtue. Apart from giving a fine point to the garden's small perspective, its brightness catches the eye and keeps the eye within the garden. It looks down at the ground plane and the plantings, making you do the same. So the visual focus is directed downward and the outside view of houses across the way becomes less distracting. It really works quite well. It also reflects in the pool, and its brightness highlights the glimmering surface of the water.
Yet another contribution--when I look out from the house, it looks back, creating a dynamic visual exchange that adds visual and emotional depth to the garden.
But what is the kitsch factor?
(Ignore the planting at the back. It's become a plant holding area. I want to put in green Hakonechloa macra in the spring.)
James Golden