11/13/2023 0 Comments Martha schwartz landscape architect![]() Since then I have shaped the trajectory of my own work and became well known for being controversial and divisive. My garden went viral and I got loads of attention. There is picturesque faux nature everywhere, but we don’t have to do that. It can by funny, cynical, ugly, emotional. What I was trying to say was that landscape is an art form, and should be part of a contemporary discourse. There was hate mail, people stopped their subscriptions to the magazine, the editor was sacked! But also some people thought it was fantastic and interesting. This was in the early 1980s landscape architecture was made up of boring, white males and the reaction was tectonic. They asked me to write an article on why bagels are good for gardens and I made a case, saying they’re very democratic, you don’t have to water them, they can be in the shade, they’re biodegradable. A friend, who was a photographer, took some shots and we sent them to the ASLA magazine and they put it on the front cover! I baked about eight dozen bagels and waterproofed them, arranged them in a formal way, trimmed the hedges and put down purple fish gravel. When he went on a business trip, I challenged myself to do it while he was gone, for less than $100, using only stuff I could buy in the local neighbourhood, which had a deli, an aquarium and a garden shop. We had a Georgian town house with a 20ft by 20ft garden out the front and myself and my husband, who is also a landscape architect, couldn’t decide what to do with it. It’s the best thing I have done in my whole career. I like taking a risk and would like to think that what we do is memorable and leaves an impression. How do you describe your style? I always aim to have fun with a project and hope that comes across. My works were too big for the art world, but landscape architecture was still influenced by the British way and naturalism. I was disappointed and considered giving up. I wanted to learn how to shape land and build art within it, but the course didn’t really cover it. I applied for landscape architecture with my own agenda and without really knowing what it was. ![]() I had a background in fine art, printmaking and ceramics, but my works were getting bigger and I was interested in scale.ĭuring the 1970s, there were no classes in earth works art, it was a new idea, so I felt landscape architecture was the best route to doing that type of work. I was very inspired, and enamoured, by the early earth works artists – giant art out in the landscape which belonged there and wasn’t a commodity to sell. When did you decide you wanted to be a landscape architect? I never intended to be a landscape architect! I wanted to make art in the landscape. Some bad things will have to happen before there is a change No one is taking the issue of climate change seriously.
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