Landform
Wednesday, 25th June 2008 by Alex Turnbull
The skeptics amongst you might initially think that this bizarre twisted lake isn't natural real, but rather that the Google engineers have just discovered Photoshop's Twirl feature. However I assure you that it is real, as it's only a few minutes down the road from where I work!
This is actually a sculpture, "Landform" by Charles Jencks - an immaculately sculpted earth, grass and water monument in the grounds of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh. The artist describes it as being "based on a strange attractor and the flow of earth and traffic".
The best thing about Landform though, is that you can wander around all over it, as several people can be seen doing on the day this image was taken.
Read more about Charles Jencks and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art at Wikipedia.
Thanks to Fred B.
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
Well if it’s a sculpture then it is not natural 😛
Damn you Malfeitor! Fair point, and I’ve updated the post to reflect your correction 🙂
I am sooo over natural water bodies now! Why can’t nature do this on its own?
Sadly Charles Jenck’s own garden at his home near Dumfries called The Garden of Cosmic Speculation isnt in hi- rez. There are some nice pictures of it here though
http://www.flickr.com/photos/supergolden/sets/72057594139460353/
He is a bit bonkers old Jenksy – but in a good way.
Bonkers, but he’s making some very nice stuff. Only to call this sculpture “Landform” is not very original… (actually on his own web page it is called “Landform Ueda”)
Mind you, these artificial constructions nearby appear hair-raisingly vertginous by comparison
Nature does a much better job, on a far grander scale:
View Placemark
@Jel – that of course is the seating for the world famous centrepiece of the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
… which is the most cramped and uncomfortable seating my behind has ever had the pleasure (or rather not) of gracing. The Tattoo itself was amazing … but the seating is abyssmal.