GARDEN IN THE GROTTO
A MANIFESTO FOR THE CURIOUS
Fig 1
As the world becomes increasingly more complex, specialized institutions help to organize this perpetual influx of data into digestible packages. Although simple problems are expected to be handled by those put in place to handle them, it is precisely the complex problems that require an initiative beyond pre-constructed solutions. While this does not suggest that categorization is detrimental to the field of inquiry, it does suggest that we need alternative means to adequately address emerging intersectionalities. This essay hopes to empower the curious and establish a position for cross-collaborative cultures within a world dictated by an administrative gaze.
Fig 2
An early example of interdisciplinary participation dates back to the 16th century European Wunderkammer (Cabinet of Curiosities) (Fig 2). It was a place where objects from both human and nonhuman worlds could exist within a singular plane, consolidating different modes of attention into a reality free from distraction. Visitors would be able to stand in the center of this microcosm and study the diverse assemblage based on subjective experience. With each object in sharp focus, all its complexities were susceptible to incredibly careful and calculated appraisals. While this institutionalized nexus was beneficial to a certain extent, it was not without issues of its own. The Wunderkammer was not only a symbol of wealth and privilege but also a tribute to western colonialism. It decontextualized and oversimplified knowledge to a point where it became an encyclopedic palace dedicated to a closed guild of scholars, experts, and intellectuals alike. These spaces now come in the form of private institutions dedicated to the excellence of particular schools of thought. While this does not appear to have any negative connotations at first glance, it becomes problematic when these establishments begin to operate in complete isolation.
Fig 3
井 底 之 蛙 (The Frog at the bottom of the Well) is a Chinese idiom that is normally used to describe a person that appears to be extremely narrow-minded. However, it is also a cautionary tale about tunnel-visioned perspectives and the role of foreign expertise. The story begins with a frog at the bottom of a shallow well. Oblivious to the world outside, other than the cropped view of the sky above, the frog remained content in a domain that kept him directly at its center. One day, a sea turtle stumbled upon the well and noticed the frog basking in a sliver of sunlight.
“My friend!” the sea turtle exclaimed as he gazed upon the enclosure, “What are you doing down there? Are you trapped?”
The frog cracked open one of his eyes and nonchalantly replied, “Trapped? Perhaps you should take a closer look! There is an abundance of flies, water, light, and shade. I am here because it is a wondrous place! I alone am the king of this universe!"
The sea turtle looked around and chuckled as he spoke, “I meant you no disrespect, you are indeed the ruler of this oasis. But this abundance you speak of is miniature in comparison to what lies beyond these walls. Perhaps I could show you?”
Curious and emasculated, the frog proceeded to scale the walls for the first time in his life. As he emerged from the well, a vast landscape appeared before his beady little eyes. Endless rows of trees populated the forest floor as insects of all shapes and sizes roamed freely around the flora and fauna. Upon finally exiting the dense forest, the sound of crashing waves startled the frog as sunlight washed over his entire body. Coming from a place where he could see nothing but ends, the frog remained silent in the presence of what seemed to have none. As the sea turtle made his way back into the water, the frog continued to stare deep into the abyss, his head filled with fear and wonder.
On one hand, we have established institutions (the frog) that function in a very methodical and linear manner. On the other, we have localized entities (the sea turtle) that dabble in their peripheral fields. While the former may unfold complexities that the latter could not possibly grasp, it is at the expense of a rather static and short-sighted view. In a remarkably similar way, the latter is able to contextually assess complexities that the former fails to perceive at the expense of a less systematic and detailed appraisal. Certain forms of knowledge benefit from a narrowed view while others prosper through contextual intervention. Regardless of what we perceive, all forms of knowledge become less valuable when applied solely in isolation. It is therefore critical that both administrative and local bodies maintain and foster a collaborative approach.
Fig 4
Fig 5
If we imagine our society on a map, what we would probably see is a collection of chimneys scattered across the landscape. Each stack represents an institution dedicated to a singular train of thought, whereas anything left in-between remains unkempt and undesirable (Fig 4). Upon closer inspection of these towering structures, we notice highly articulated surfaces imprinted with a plethora of administrative knowledge. While some paths have been carved to connect one flue to another, they do not provide any room for exploration. The result is an endless grotto scattered with picturesque towers that appear to extend and support the sky (Fig 5). In order to foster cross-collaborative initiatives, a new ground needs to replace this no man’s land: a decentralized garden cultivated by those who grow weary of the endless colonnade.
Fig 6
"God Almighty first planted a Garden. And indeed it is the purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man; without which buildings and palaces are but gross handyworks: and a man shall ever see that when ages grow to civility and elegancy, men come to build stately sooner than to garden finely: as if gardening were the greater perfection." - Of Gardens by Sir Francis Bacon
In Of Gardens by Sir Francis Bacon, the garden is positioned as a place where spontaneous discoveries could be made. However, one could only appreciate its design from an elevated point of view (the house). In a similar sense, the decentralized garden provides a space for non-conforming entities to freely exhibit themselves under the scrutinizing gaze of our sovereign institutions. In both cases, the garden and the estate remain as an "inseparable experience", paramount to each other's existence. The key then would be to figure out how the many passions of the public could begin to stimulate the conditions for uncanny collaborations to emerge.
Fig 7
While this may seem like an attempt at dismantling the current structures of our disciplinary foundations, it is actually an attempt to further enable them through foreign forms of expertise. With that being said, it is important that participants retain their distinct identities while communicating with other coteries. This would allow a diverse spectrum of interchangeability to emerge without having to resort to oversimplified forms of communication. As emerging designers, we must take it upon ourselves to diversify our knowledge and embrace the strange and uncertain. We must tread on uneven ground and find comfort in the unknown, for we cannot hope to create something new from what we already know.
Bibliography
James Bridle. “Chasm” in New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future (Verso, 2018), 1-17.
James C. Scott. "Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. Print.
Jane Hutton. “GÜNTHER VOGT'S MULTIFORM COSMOS.” Landscape Architecture, vol. 105, no. 7, 2015, pp. 156–162. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44796714. Accessed 18 June 2021.
Joanna Cohen. “Promoting Pleasure as Political Economy: The Transformation of American Advertising, 1800 to 1850.” Winterthur Portfolio, vol. 48, no. 2/3, 2014, pp. 163–190.
Joshua Cohen. "Attention: Dispatches from the Land of Distraction." Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2018.
Kimberle Crenshaw. (1989) "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics," University of Chicago Legal Forum: Vol. 1989, Article 8.
Noortje Marres. (2005). Issues spark a public into being: A key but often forgotten point of the Lippmann-Dewey debate. In Bruno Latour & Peter Weibel (eds.), Making Things Public. MIT Press. pp. 208--217.
Paula Henderson. “Sir Francis Bacon's Essay 'Of Gardens' in Context.” Garden History, vol. 36, no. 1, 2008, pp. 59–84. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25472394. Accessed 22 June 2021.
Susan M. Fraser, and Vanessa Bezemer Sellers. "Flora Illustrata : Great Works from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York Botanical Garden." Bronx, New York: The New York Botanical Garden, 2014. Print.