Project and essay by Owen Mark Henry
Beauty through something as simple as the garden
In this project, I observe and discuss the simple but complex ideology of the piece of outdoor ground that is the garden. The garden is a very common place and quite often the overlooked commodity in everyday human life and yet it can tell us a lot about ourselves and the world we live in – historically and currently, within and without the garden. I will show how gardens can relate to humankind’s need for structure and colour, but also beauty and visual aesthetics.
What is a garden? This is a very simple question that can evolve into a complex area to discover and certainly get lost in. A garden itself is often dismissed and seen as something so every day, so common in all our lives, that we disregard it, becoming oblivious to this physical space in our lives. The garden is a piece of land that is normally next or attached to a house. The house then acts as the pivot of the space. Flowers are predominantly grown, alongside other plants. The prime coating, in my opinion, of the garden is the layer of grass on the surface. Gardens are associated with relaxation and primarily leisure which we self-indulge in.
The historical revolution of the garden as an individual space has been no different now than in ancient times. In my own knowledge, I recall the earliest story that has the garden as the subject to be the Garden of Eden which involves Adam and Eve in biblical times. This story wouldn’t hold the same importance or significance if the garden weren’t part of it. I wanted to highlight how this biblical story has been and continues to be projected into something that isn’t sexual in the slightest mood even though there are two figures, male and female present and both nude.
Why are they both nude, barely clothed, and present in the garden? Does this create or intend to convy some form of symbolism? Due to both figures being nude, this corresponds with becoming in a state of nature. Small children are notorious for trying to get rid and shed their skin as in clothes and attempt to run around naked. It is done with absolute complete innocence; Two-year-olds do not see any difference between faces, arms, hair and especially the parts of his body which we adults deem unacceptable or explicit, which we cover up. Only we as adults feel that few parts of the body have to be unseen. Why? Certain parts of the body are condemned to being linked with lust but in a physical alongside passionate way. To create the link with the garden, we all view it as a place of peace. A place for relaxation, leisure, and socialisation that is interpreted into a form of natural beauty.
«A Garden is not an open space like a landscape, but a surrounding space, which then grows around the observer»1 This piece of writing by Roger Scruton projects a new concept that we cannot deny. The Garden is not the same as an open landscape with no borders. A Garden is an intelligently controlled space that we ourselves have grown and even constructed – but more than just from a seed. It can develop and be carried through a thought idea, or a form of inspiration, then translated into our gardens.
«If you would be happy for a week, take a wife; if you would be happy for a month, kill your pig; but if you would be happy all your life, plant a garden.»2 This piece of writing which is a Chinese proverb presents the truth that the garden is everlasting and a more significant place than others. It is a space we can unconsciously indulge in — one we have purposely created to become a beautiful area; a projection of ourselves that we spend our spare time on, purely for unconscious enjoyment.
Why do we as humans feel the need to decorate? I was on the train and I spotted a woman who had a MacBook laptop. The laptop was covered with a floral case and stickers; this made me question why anything should be decorated. Why should the laptop resemble flowers? It’s a laptop, not a bouquet. The idea is that whether we have something new, old, or even used, we have a desire for it to become our own. We feel the need to decorate it to reflect our ideas or beliefs — leaving a stamp and claiming our ownership. This translates into the concept of the garden: we decorate it with objects such as florals, topiary, gates, steps, sculptures, ponds, and waterfalls. The layers of decoration we apply have always been for an underlying reason — for example, sundials. Why do we have sundials sprung up amongst tall grass in our gardens if, in this modern day, we have technology, mobiles, and watches at our fingertips? Sundials broadcast that sense of past, present, and future. They contain relevance and a universal appeal. In our modern age, the sundial is no longer used for the same intentions for which the Greeks built them. They are now used as appealing ornamentation — purposeful, yet without a practical purpose.
We all appreciate the outdoor beauty and the relationship that flourishes with our own gardens but a beautiful garden is always centred on visual balance within.
«Yet even vegetable patches have their own aesthetic restrains»3 The vegetable patches have not been casually planted and grown in dense clusters in the corner of the field; they have been arranged into lines, creating rows of repetition that define a familiar human visual norm. The persistence of this devotion to everyday order isn’t without purpose. We as humans absorb a great sense of satisfaction when things are in visual order and in place. We feel less sparse, resulting in a feeling of beauty — but only through our gardens, which we have unconsciously curated around our lives. On the other side of the spectrum, ugly items or objects can appear beautiful in a visually balanced garden, while beautiful objects can become lost and seem out of place in an unbalanced one. We, as the creators of our own gardens, must maintain organisation of space and attention to each form for a truly visually and aesthetically quenching garden to blossom.
Are the gardens which we create, intentionally or not, beautiful even though they satisfy our needs for an aesthetically pleasing time of leisure, relaxation, and unconscious enjoyment? What if the garden wasn’t symmetrical or decorated — could we have the same admiration for the space within its boundaries? I feel that what we now view as the ugly, unbalanced garden can truly be seen as the most beautiful. Only if we have the disciplined knowledge of knowing that we are creating something that is completely the visual norm do we have the key to the opposite, revolved aesthetic. The garden creates such agony, and I’m ravenous.
Behind the scenes
1 «A Garden is not an open space like a landscape, but a surrounding space, which then grows around the observer» R Scruton ‘Everyday Beauty open university press, page 67
2 «If you would be happy for a week, take a wife; if you would be happy for a month, kill your pig; but if you would be happy all your life, plant a garden.» Chinese proverbs www.baltimoresun.com/bal-artslife-ladew-proverb-photo.html
3 «yet even vegetable patches have their own aesthetic restrains» R Scruton ‘Everyday Beauty open university press, page 67
Concept, Styling & Direction: Owen Mark Henry
Photography & Direction: Kurt Paris
Videography & Photo assistance: Andris Braeuer
Model: Natalia Golubenko
Makeup: Henrietta Aue
Hair: Akari Matsumoto
Fashion Archive: Matheo Tondo-Gonnet
Jewellery: Sofia Etchepare
Music: Max Kaufman
Bibliography
Jekyll, G (1982) Garden Ornament The estate of Jekyll
Jekyll,G (1992) The Gardens of Jekyll Frances lincon limited
Davitt,K (2001) Small spaces beautiful gardens rockport publishings
Beardsley, M H, Schuller (1967) Essays on art criticism and the philosophy of art, Dickensons publishing company
Hospers, J (1969) Introductory readings in Aesthetics, macmillan publishing company
Scruton, R (2011) Beauty: A very short introduction ‘everyday beauty’ open press university
Why creating garden means more than pretty flowers http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/78f6294e-ecf4-11e5-bb79-2303682345c8.html
Arrangements https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BgBXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT45&lpg=PT45&dq=arrangement+of+everyday+life&source=bl&ots=byfCK9Pt18&sig=im3JcBoW-bhcCSRg1MFsmV9x6Mc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiD2c3nnbzMAhVG0xQKHbRZAoAQ6AEIHzAA#v=onepage&q=arrangement%20of%20everyday%20life&f=false
Rodger scruton https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=roger%20scruton
Insight to the garden http://www.plantea.com/garden-definition.htm
Hast auch du eine kreative Arbeit, die gesehen werden muss? Wir bieten dir bei akut eine Plattform, um genau diese zu publizieren. Sende uns deine Arbeit, eine kurze Beschreibung zu dir und deinem Projekt inkl. Credits an redaktion@akutmag.ch und vielleicht wird auch bald dein Werk bei uns zu sehen sein.
18. Juli 2025
