The Reclamation Garden
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Abington Art Center grounds, Abington, PA
1992-96
Materials & Dimensions:
Deadfall from site, regional stone
Whole site: 150 feet wide x 495 feet long
Main units: stone tower: 15 feet high x 8 feet base diameter;
deadfall dome: 5 feet high x 24 feet diameter;
various portals: 7 to 9 feet high x 5-18 feet wide;
black walnut register: 7 feet high x 6 feet wide x 45 feet long;
bridges: 7 to 10 feet long
This evolving landscape project, which I worked on over a period of four years before again letting disorder take its course, focused on revealing the growth/decay cycles of the site by using local deadfall and stone. This was done by clearing, sorting, stacking, and guiding. This is essentially a path garden, with a series of ‘events’ to be discovered. The loop of paths was developed from existing deer paths. Before I started work, no one went back in this area due to the tangled masses of deadfall.
The stone tower at the end of the loop path catches the sunlight at noon of the winter solstice so that it bisects the floor of the tower with a line of light that extends out over the threshold. The garden has many parts that were developed over a period of four years (including text stones, other portals, and bridges over washouts) and are too numerous to show here. Some were designed to decay and disappear over time, others to last.