Jarman's last book, completed in his dying year, is an assembly of
thoughts and memories, mostly about his garden, but also about
friends and AIDS. While the text is slight, it is set among superb
pictures by Howard Sooley, a friend and fellow plantlover, who
photographed the garden over a number of years. When Jarman bought
the old fisherman's cottage, on a shale promentary within Howitzer
distance of Dungeness B nuclear power station, he was attracted by
it's bleakness. But gradually objects found on the beach became
sculptures and beds of sea-washed brick and flint, and the flowers
crept in. Ultimately the garden was awash with colour. This is an
inspirational book, not only through the pictures of the
extraordinary garden itself, but also those of Jarman. The fact
that he faded as the garden took root is grimly poetic. To have
created such a garden at all is an achievement, but to see Jarman
gardening wearing a djellabe to protect himself from the light and
the cold, with a hospital band on his wrist, is a tribute to human
spirit and determination. (Warning: if you're planning to buy it
for an elderly friend for the gardening, you should know that
Jarman also tells us of his memories of fucking (his word) people
on the floor of Heaven.) (Kirkus UK)
'Paradise haunts gardens', writes Derek Jarman, 'and it haunts
mine.' Jarman's public image is that of a film-maker of genius,
whose work, dwelling on themes of sexuality and violence, became a
byword for controversy. But the private man was the creator of his
own garden-paradise in an environment that many might think was
more of a hell than a heaven - in the flat, bleak, often desolate
expanse of shingle that faces the Dungeness nuclear power station.
Jarman, a passionate gardener from childhood, combined his
painter's eye, his horticultural expertise and his ecological
convictions to produce a landscape which combined the flints,
shells and driftwood of Dungeness; sculptures made from stones, old
tools and found objects; the area's indigenous plants; and shrubs
and flowers introduced by Jarman himself. This book is Derek
Jarman's own record of how this garden evolved, from its earliest
beginnings in 1986 to the last year of his life. More than 150
photographs taken since 1991 by his friend and photographer Howard
Sooley capture the garden at all its different stages and at every
season of the year. Photographs from all angles reveal the garden's
complex geometrical plan, its magical stone circles and its
beautiful and bizarre sculptures. We also catch glimpses of
Jarman's life in Dungeness: walking, weeding, watering, or just
enjoying life. Derek Jarman's Garden is the last book Jarman ever
wrote. Like the garden itself, it remains as a fitting memorial to
a brilliant and greatly loved artist who, against all odds, made a
breathtakingly beautiful garden in the most inhospitable of places.
It will appeal to all those who are themselves practising
gardeners, as well as the legions of admirers of this extraordinary
man.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
