![\"Ueda](\"http:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Ueda-Jencks.jpg\")
<\/a>Ueda Landform is derived from chaos theory and ideas about chaotic attractors. The mounds are named after a French and a Japanese\u00a0scientist who worked on the\u00a0theory.<\/p><\/div>\n
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The banks of earth provide comfortable resting places for visitors, particularly on a sunny day. \u00a0The adjoining pools are glorious to look at, despite the algae that interferes with the clarity of the water.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The not-so-modern building that houses the Gallery of Modern Art is in the background.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Brushed aluminum notches the earth as you descend\u00a0the spiral path that leads around the pools and up the mounds. Reflected in the water, these panels resemble the ribs of a boat, or the ribs of a human or animal, or ripples in the water itself.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>What do the reflections suggest many sha<\/p><\/div>\n
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The twists, turns and curves take\u00a0scientific ideas out of\u00a0the mind and plant them more literally in and on the earth. At Jupiter Artland, an art park and educational foundation near Edinburgh, the Cells of Life uses the same combination\u00a0of water and mounded earth to investigate\u00a0the life of the cell, the basic unit of life. Enormous landforms surround pools divided by grassy paths, making it seem as if the earth itself is replicating the division of a cell, from one to two to many.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The Cells of Life, or Life Forms, at Jupiter Artland took more than three years to build.<\/p><\/div>\n
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The beauty of these land forms comes through the subtle variations in the spiralling paths, how they meet and divide, whether at ground level …<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Two mounds come to ground level, with curving bodies of water.<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u2026 or\u00a0as they ascend.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The curving lines are not simple parallels\u00a0but subtle variations on the theme of curves and splits.<\/p><\/div>\n
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The marvellous curves are mirrored, almost shockingly, by a\u00a0red iron bridge that shakes up\u00a0a scene that could otherwise be too serene.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Some of the group touring this site loved the red bridge, others found the colour jarring. What do you think?<\/p><\/div>\n
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Jencks’s first foray into land forming was at his home, Portrack House. There, in the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, a snail mound rises majestically above the water. Designed by Jencks’s wife, the late Maggie Keswick, the mound\u00a0was\u00a0based initially on ideas from Chinese garden design. As the path ascends, each spiral becomes shorter, \u00a0and to my eye this gives the mound an elegance that surpasses that of the Cells of Life.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The snail mound at the Garden of Cosmic Speculation<\/p><\/div>\n
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The extraordinary finesse of these curving mounds is shown as well in the clear pools of water beside them.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Towards the end of a sunny day, shadows emphasize the shapes of the land<\/p><\/div>\n
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There is so much to say\u00a0about each of these places that today’s post is only an overview. \u00a0After some time for reflection, I hope to return to the subject. I can’t end, however, without showing you some photos of Charles Jencks’s most recent project. Called the Crowick Multiverse, it is both a continuation of a theme and a departure from it.<\/p>\n
Created on the site of a former coal mine, the Multiverse is many things: an artwork, a land reclamation and a job creation project. It uses boulders found on the site — some 2000 of them — to present celestial features and ideas about colliding and dividing universes and galaxies. A boulder-lined pathway bisects the 50 acre site, creating a processional route that is reminiscent of the avenues that once approached\u00a0Stonehenge and other ancient\u00a0stone circles.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The ceremonial way runs through the middle of the Sun Amphitheatre. Designed for public spectacles, it can hold up to 5000 people. Since I was there as part of a group of 14, plus a piper from the local school, the place\u00a0felt quite empty.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Boulders outlining paths are a departure from Jencks’s previous landform works. On the\u00a0mound shown below, they are very effective, creating a powerful\u00a0sense of mystery.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Each mound is named for a celestial feature. This is the\u00a0\u00a0Andromeda Galaxy. People walking the paths give an indication of the size of the mounds.<\/p><\/div>\n
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In other areas, the boulders are not as effective.<\/p>\n
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