Abramovic Garden

My design for the garden space was based on the performance art of Marina Abramovic, an artist whose performance work has focused on exploring the physical and mental limitations of the body. Her work also attempts to engage with the viewer in an intimate and personal way to test their limitations as well.

For my design of the garden, I wanted to capture the performance, or the act, of gardening, and use that act as the intimate connection that would engage passersby and pull them into the garden both physically and mentally. I also wanted to enhance the entire process of gardening from every possible angle. To accomplish this I separated the garden into three zones, each one having a different relationship between the gardener and the garden.

In the first zone, I designed a raised plant bed that is flanked on both sides as a reinterpretation of the dining room table. To the viewer and the participant, the act of planting, caring for, and harvesting takes place “at the table” to elaborate on the delicate process of growing food.

In the second zone, four single-user raised planters are laid out in specific positions. The planters are designed so that 3 of the sides are raised allowing only one means of access to tend the garden. This access registers with an opening in the dividing wall between the street and the site framing the gardener as they work. This provides those outside the garden a controlled, engaging view of the act of gardening.

The third zone is a larger, more public garden. A raised planter is surrounded by seating on two sides to allow comfortable viewing of the activity within the garden.

Like Abramovic’s performances, my design for the garden attempts to engage the passerby in order to entice them to participate.