Reading a Garden, 1998
Collaboration with Tan Lin, poet
Cleveland Public Library, Columbus, Ohio

Photography: Rose Marie Cromwell

I have collaborated with my brother, Tan Lin, a writer, on a series of landscapes that can be read as much as experienced, and that are dedicated to our home state, making this series, The Ohio Trilogy my most personal and autobiographical in nature. Although I have often used text in my work, the relationship of form to text has been much more of a surface-applied event. The intention here is to fully integrate text with the space, creating a garden in which words and their meaning correspond to the space and one’s movement through it. The process is a back-and-forth reading of each site between Tan and me. I would approach the site first, creating a sketch idea, then Tan would write a poem and I would then shape the plan and design around his words.

Words follow the path through the garden, yet, unlike the way one reads a book, the poetry is read in multiple directions. The heart of the garden is a framed space partially surrounded by a raised reflecting pool. The title of the sculpture, Reading a garden, is spelled backwards in raised letters on the back wall of the pool; the forward spelling is seen in the water’s reflection, giving one a clue as to the use of language both directionally and physically. The poem itself is a bit of a child’s verse, almost nonsensical, and reading it within this outdoor space becomes a non-directional and playful experience.