LINE GARDEN

International Garden Festival, Grand Metis, Quebec, 2016

commercial barrier tape, wooden stakes

custom-fabricated bent metal and canvas lounge chairs

Drawing on the formal language of historical garden design, and the contemporary means of mass-produced safety and construction materials, ‘Line Garden’ is a strong graphic intervention that aims to produce an abstract field. As a geometric zone of tightly spaced parallel lines of stretched commercial barrier tape, the installation introduces ordered man-made elements into the cultivated natural environment of the Reford Gardens. Through this juxtaposition of the manufactured and the natural a dialogue is created, based on the shared theme of protection and necessary safe-guarding.

As one approaches and then walks around and through the installation, the changing viewpoint allow for the shifting of the barricade tape lines in space and thus varied views of the overall composition. The garden is meant to be experienced, explored, and inhabited, not just looked at, and for this purpose custom-designed lounge chairs are provided.

In the 2015 version of the garden, the colours of the field were altered and three canopy elements were provided, which not only created shade but also gave the possibility to experience the barrier tape from a different perspective ensuring dynamic optical and auditory effects.

In the 2016 version of the installation, black and white barricade tape was used to once again play with pattern and to enhance the graphic and abstract quality of the garden. Inspired by razzle dazzle, a form of warship camouflage used primarily during WWI, the contrasting colours are meant to enhance the appearance of movement of the tape and to further augment the experience of the changing wind and light conditions.

Installation help: Émilie Bielen, Elisabeth Leblanc, Marianne Pascual and Isabelle Reford