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Garden of Cosmic Speculation
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I am interested in Charles Jencks Garden of Cosmic Speculation from the conceptual angle. I wonder if anyone has written or thought about any aspects of this at all, particularly in relation to science and art
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Garden of Cosmic Speculation
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Vera, I would imagine that as mystery has replaced aesthetics today, then you could probably read any meaning you want into the "Garden of Cosmic Speculation".
The whole point of conceptual art is that there is no meaning other than the one assigned by each viewer. In a sense, conceptual art is the nihilism of art, because if the conceptual art object is without any definition, then there can be no meaning to meaning.
One could say therefore that the Garden of Cosmic Speculation is all things, to all times and to all places, because any specificity of meaning is only the momentary location of "the Garden" in time and space by the viewer.
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Garden of Cosmic Speculation
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The concept or the central idea behind this Garden is "to look at nature, using nature to do so. The story of the Universe over 13.7 billion years is told as a single, creative, unfolding event" according to Charles Jenks.
http://www.meettheauthor.co.uk/bookbites/472.html
His projects look like an exploration of the forms, mostly in 2-dimensional plans.Some are direct and geometrically constructed as in the case of 'Black Hole Terrace, for Beijing Olympic Park' while many others are a manifestation of cosmic forces as in the case of 'Memories of the future, Altdobern, Lausitz region, Germany, 2007'
Though there is a third dimension to the work, it looks more like a relief work with less 'cosmic speculation' to the third dimension, except for raising the mounds or digging lows at appropriate places to complement the plan-form. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Cosmic speculation is an age old theory and practice in the field of Architecture. The Pyramids in Egypt, Temples in South India are some examples where strict geometries were followed based on the cosmic forces, while 'Vaastu Saashtra' in India is an example of the manifestation of cosmic forces into a form called the 'Vaastu Purusha Mandala'.
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Garden of Cosmic Speculation
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Sriraj, A most constructive post, I was looking at the topic from the modern western point of view of the utter meaningless of life and everything.
I get that feeling whenever I see modern art or modern architecture and wonder what is the point of existing, if this is the end result of millions of years of human evolution.
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Garden of Cosmic Speculation
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Actually Frank, I was a little bewildered when i saw the above reply from you. What are you referring to when you say "Modern"? As in the "Modernist Movement" in Architecture or the "Contemporary Architecture"? What is that end result and what is missing in it?
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