I have always had a keen interest in gardening from a young age but I have never really considered it to be an art from until I came across Jarman. This for me rurally helped push the boundaries of art and what it actually is and now looking back gardening is a massive art form and a treat for all the senses which are sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. We may be unaware of all of this when we enter an outdoor space but a garden is really an art insulation for the senses.
Anyway, Derek Jarman’s house is located in Dungness in Kent and the house was originally a Victorian Fishermans hut and this was his home until he passes away in 1994.
The garden unlike most faced all the elements that the planet could throw at it as it had to face the brutal costal winds. This garden is a standing testament that you don’t need to have a conventional garden and that to can really be made anywhere as long as you select the right plants.
Jarman took every negative (as some may see it) and turned it into a positive like in the above left image – he took inspiration form the Japanese gravel gardens and used a rake to create ridges in the beech pebbles surrounding objects within the space making it more dramatic and highlighting the object within the space.
On one of the side walls of the cottage Jarman presented a poem written by John Donne called ‘the sun rising’ and had the piece cut out In wood attached it to the cottage walls and painted black to blend it yet effortlessly stand out when the light catches the sides.
I really like jaanmans inclusion of another persons work within his space/ garden/ art installation and the links it has to the planet and the changes that occur.