'Travelling to the Wonderland' by Xu Bing

Celebrated Chinese artist Xu Bing has transformed the V&A’s John Madejski Garden with a new installation inspired by the classic Chinese fable The Peach Blossom Spring.  The fable, written in 421AD, describes the moment when a lost fisherman discovers a wonderland hidden behind a mountain where inhabitants live in harmony with nature.

The Madejski garden's main feature is a stone-paved oval, with surrounding steps and water jets, which can be filled with water as a reflecting pool or drained  for displays.   'Travelling to the Wonderland' is an arrangement of various mountain-like types or rock transported from China enclosing the water feature.   The mountain-like rock formations are referred to as scholar's rocks or Gonshi in China and similar arrangements can be found in Japanese culture (Suiseki) and Korean culture (Suseok).   The stones are appreciated for their shape and colours and were used for meditation, contemplation and sometimes simply a way of introducing the wider landscape to the indoor environment.

In 1995, Zahn Wang began creating a series of artificial rocks in stainless steel.   Stainless steel sheets were hammered on to real rock faces and then welded together and finely polished.   Many of these works are Gonshi and one has to wonder how long it will be until there is a Bing-Wang collaboration.

It would be quite easy to recreate the less complicated Gonshi from glassfibre and these will be added to the 'to do' list at artificialrocks.co.uk

Artificial rocks by Zahn Wang

'Travelling to the Wonderland' by Xu Bing

Artificial rock by Zahn Wang

Artificial rock by artificialrocks.co.uk

Artificial stones by artificialrocks.co.uk

More new pots...

More new pots:

Gear pots are 430mm tall, 550mm wide and have a planting depth of 300mm.   Various matt and lacquered colours.

Bamboo planters can be used as a stand alone feature or used in series to create an alternative room divider. Again there is a range of matt or lacquered colours and an illuminated version.  Dimensions as drawing below.

Room divider and planter

New for 2013, this room divider and planter features a frosted acrylic plexiglass screen, a range of matt or lacquered colours and an illuminated version.

'Tis the season...

I have previously mentioned how people get a bit upset when the first Christmas decorations appear in the shops before Halloween and Bonfire Night.   I agree with them.   Decorations do appear earlier and earlier and it won't be long before we see window displays displaying Easter eggs and Christmas trees.   May I be the first to coin the phrase 'Eggs 'n' Xmas'.    Being in the gardening/interior planting business, I am used to seeing Christmas decorations in the wholesalers in August and didn't mind that.   In fact if you needed some decorations at Wholesalers in November or December you could be lucky to find them!

Fortunately the days of returning to a recently installed tree in an office to find the one light bulb that had expired are long gone.   The majority of Christmas tree lights are leds now.   The earlier leds were too white but with the introduction or warm white leds the traditional appearance can be retained.

I am a traditionalist.   I love the 'old' style of Christmas tree but can appreciate that in shops and offices a newer form is sometimes more suitable.   That's why I am offering the trees shown below.   These have an oval footprint as opposed to circular and will therefore take up less space when arranged in a group.   Merry Christmas!  

Prices here: www.plantcontainershop.com.

LED Christmas trees

RGB leds

Leds can be fixed on one colour

Giant flower pots in the city of Bournemouth

To many people, the word 'city' confers a large and densely populated urban area.    In the past, city status was awarded to towns with a diocesan cathedral although that is no longer the case.   There are a number of British cities which are smaller than some towns or even villages.   St David's in Pembrokeshire, Wales is the smallest city in the United Kingdom with a population of just 2000. Wells in Somerset with a population of 10000 and Ely in Cambridgeshire with a population of around 14000 are also cities.

With a population of around 168,000, Bournemouth is a city when defined by it's population but In 2012, Bournemouth was unsuccessful in its bid for city status, losing out to Chelmsford in a competition with 26 other towns to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

To celebrate the town’s sea views being restored after the demolition of the unloved IMAX Waterfront building and the extension of the Pier Approach open space, on 28th June 2013 the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) played two free outdoor concerts, and it stayed dry all day!   Tickets were awarded with a ballot.


As part of the improvements in the area,   Just as the City Of London has for the Aldgate Experiments, Bournemouth purchased 16 extra large flower pots for planting with enormous olive trees.   When empty these can easily be lifted by one or two people.   You can see the extra large flower pots here:  www.largeflowerpots.co.uk

Giant flower pot

Giant flower pots in the City Of London.

The City of London have purchased twelve giant red plant pots from us as part of the Aldgate Experiments.  Aldgate Experiments is a temporary arts and design initiative popping up at different locations around the Aldgate project area.   The project is designed to create attractive public spaces, improve access for pedestrians and enhance road safety.    This video, made as part of the consultation process reveals thoughts from occupants and workers in the surrounding area: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVtENnSHktw

From huge pot plants to new seating designs and artwork, the streets of Aldgate will be brought to life during development and construction of the scheme.

Aldgate Experiments aims to engage with local residents, students, workers and visitors to design and deliver short term experimental projects to help reveal the potential of the area. It will also help to announce and celebrate the changes to come by testing furniture and planting; monitoring what works well ahead of making final choices for the new spaces.

Aldgate Experiments, St.Botolph's Church, Aldgate High Street.


www.largeflowerpots.co.uk

Helen Flanagan voted sexiest woman in the UK in 2013

...and I like to think that it is this pose for Peta on rock York 1 that helped her win that crown.   Helen is supporting Peta's campaign to increase people's awareness of the cruelty involved in producing exotic animal skins.  The snake skin effect was painstakingly applied to Helen's fine form using body paint.    Helen unveiled the poster in Covent Garden back in May. 

The photos, shot in London's Big Sky studios, were taken by leading celebrity photographer Trevor Leighton many of whose photographs are held in the National Portrait Gallery.   Big Sky's studios in London are so large they can even accommodate a London bus!

You can hire lightweight artificial rock York 1 and many others here:  www.artificialrocks.co.uk.