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| borrowed_scenery_cultivating_an_alternate_reality [2013-04-15 14:49] – alkan | parn:borrowed_scenery_cultivating_an_alternate_reality [2013-04-17 15:47] (current) – maja |
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| <html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/8391944878/" title="Borrowed Scenery ARN - 06 by _foam, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8053/8391944878_06be04f562_c.jpg" width="800" height="537" alt="Borrowed Scenery ARN - 06"></a></html> | |
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| ==== Borrowed Scenery: Cultivating an Alternate Reality ==== | ==== Borrowed Scenery: Cultivating an Alternate Reality ==== |
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| In the Japanese text //Records of Garden Making// (作庭記, //Sakuteiki//)((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakuteiki)) attributed to Tachibana Toshitsuna (橘俊綱, 1028–1094 CE), the concept of 'borrowed scenery' (//shakkei// in Japanese, //jiejing// in Chinese) was first introduced as an approach to designing gardens. It is presented as a way of including features from beyond the garden as elements in the design. Distant mountains or rivers, clouds, rocks and even stars can be incorporated. Although the garden and the surrounding landscape may be topographically separate, 'borrowing' or 'lending' provides a way to experience them as one whole. | In the Japanese text //Records of Garden Making// (作庭記, //Sakuteiki//)((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakuteiki)) attributed to Tachibana Toshitsuna (橘俊綱, 1028–1094 CE), the concept of 'borrowed scenery' (//shakkei// in Japanese, //jiejing// in Chinese) was first introduced as an approach to designing gardens. It is presented as a way of including features from beyond the garden as elements in the design. Distant mountains or rivers, clouds, rocks and even stars can be incorporated. Although the garden and the surrounding landscape may be topographically separate, 'borrowing' or 'lending' provides a way to experience them as one whole. |
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| | <html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/8391944878/" title="Borrowed Scenery ARN - 06 by _foam, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8053/8391944878_06be04f562_c.jpg" width="800" height="537" alt="Borrowed Scenery ARN - 06"></a></html> |
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| Inspired by //shakkei// and //jiejing// gardens, FoAM developed the alternate reality narrative Borrowed Scenery, a story without a narrator or explicit narration which unfolded through hints, suggestions and immersive ambiance. By 'borrowing' from sources as diverse as plant mythology, patabotany, Tarot, plant sciences, historical mysteries and the setting of the everyday, Borrowed Scenery became a place to experience an alternate reality (past, future or parallel) where plants are a central aspect of human society. | Inspired by //shakkei// and //jiejing// gardens, FoAM developed the alternate reality narrative Borrowed Scenery, a story without a narrator or explicit narration which unfolded through hints, suggestions and immersive ambiance. By 'borrowing' from sources as diverse as plant mythology, patabotany, Tarot, plant sciences, historical mysteries and the setting of the everyday, Borrowed Scenery became a place to experience an alternate reality (past, future or parallel) where plants are a central aspect of human society. |
| === Future borrowings === | === Future borrowings === |
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| In view of the complexity, unpredictability and variability inherent at all stages of producing an ARN, we designed Borrowed Scenery with redundancy and layering in mind, ensuring that the project could succeed in a wide variety of conditions. | In view of the complexity, unpredictability and variability inherent at all stages of producing an ARN, we designed Borrowed Scenery with [[borrowed_scenery_diagram|redundancy and layering]] in mind, ensuring that the project could succeed in a wide variety of conditions. |
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| Crucially, we developed the ARN in multiple iterations, asking ourselves what the simplest and most basic form would be that the project could take while still retaining its essence. The essence of Borrowed Scenery was its immersive atmosphere that built on and subtly transformed the places we encountered. From there we could determine the optional and to some extent interchangeable extra details. We began with a small ARN that could be made reasonably easily relying solely on FoAM's own resources. This consisted of the rudimentary physical narrative: the space, minimal furniture, a soundtrack (and equipment to play it), printed maps and instruction cards, tea and tea cups, chalk, tape, sheets of paper, markers, a whole lot of plants and one FoAM member to act as the 'research assistant in residence'. | Crucially, we developed the ARN in multiple iterations, asking ourselves what the simplest and most basic form would be that the project could take while still retaining its essence. The essence of Borrowed Scenery was its immersive atmosphere that built on and subtly transformed the places we encountered. From there we could determine the optional and to some extent interchangeable extra details. We began with a small ARN that could be made reasonably easily relying solely on FoAM's own resources. This consisted of the rudimentary physical narrative: the space, minimal furniture, a soundtrack (and equipment to play it), printed maps and instruction cards, tea and tea cups, chalk, tape, sheets of paper, markers, a whole lot of plants and one FoAM member to act as the 'research assistant in residence'. |
| Borrowed Scenery with its visceral connections to gardens and plants was eerily familiar. It was site-specific, designed for the Snoepwinkel and the streets of Ghent with online portals to other realms. The story was – for both practical and conceptual reasons – filled with gaps that encouraged associations and 'joining the dots'. Its intention was to become a reality. Even though as an ARN it existed for a brief moment in time, its seeds continue growing through consensus reality in unexpected ways: Zizim became a scientific app used to map lobster populations in the UK and a way to track urban agriculture initiatives in Ghent; Arboreal Identity has been translated into a guided nature walk in Brussels; the patabotanist archetypes are being translated into ethnobotanical Tarot cards; Inner Garden will be performed in other botanic gardens, spreading Lingua Ignota and patabotanical ideas further. Slowly, imperceptibly, the alternate keeps seeping into the everyday. Is it still a story or did it become reality? In the end, we might not be able to tell the difference. As in //shakkei// gardens, the ARN starts from ourselves, includes the cultivated frame of the storyworld and extends into untamed, infinite realities – consensus or otherwise. | Borrowed Scenery with its visceral connections to gardens and plants was eerily familiar. It was site-specific, designed for the Snoepwinkel and the streets of Ghent with online portals to other realms. The story was – for both practical and conceptual reasons – filled with gaps that encouraged associations and 'joining the dots'. Its intention was to become a reality. Even though as an ARN it existed for a brief moment in time, its seeds continue growing through consensus reality in unexpected ways: Zizim became a scientific app used to map lobster populations in the UK and a way to track urban agriculture initiatives in Ghent; Arboreal Identity has been translated into a guided nature walk in Brussels; the patabotanist archetypes are being translated into ethnobotanical Tarot cards; Inner Garden will be performed in other botanic gardens, spreading Lingua Ignota and patabotanical ideas further. Slowly, imperceptibly, the alternate keeps seeping into the everyday. Is it still a story or did it become reality? In the end, we might not be able to tell the difference. As in //shakkei// gardens, the ARN starts from ourselves, includes the cultivated frame of the storyworld and extends into untamed, infinite realities – consensus or otherwise. |
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| <html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/8391947492/" title="Borrowed Scenery ARN - 15 by _foam, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8192/8391947492_ee6b499b51_b.jpg" width="680" height="1024" alt="Borrowed Scenery ARN - 15"></a></html> | === Related === |
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| | * [[Borrowed Scenery ARN]]: Borrowed Scenery credits and related notes |
| | * Borrowed Scenery is a part of the European project [[:PARN]] (Physical and Alternate Reality Narratives) |
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| | <html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/8391947492/" title="Borrowed Scenery ARN - 15 by _foam, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8192/8391947492_ee6b499b51_c.jpg" width="531" height="800" alt="Borrowed Scenery ARN - 15"></a></html> |
alkan