Scholar's Garden

I could have timed this a bit better and posted on Chinese New Year- but here is some footage I took at the Chinese Scholar's Garden in Staten Island when I visited last September. It was my first time there and I had a similar reaction to the place as a couple of the friends I was with - overcome with utter serenity. Unlike a typical garden, I barely noticed the plants, instead, the artistry of manipulation of space, views and light worked like some kind of mind altering drug. The line between inside and outside is consistently blurred and your eye is drawn repeatedly to look at framed views of the sky, another garden beyond or some combination of shadows and light. I must go back in summer to see what the flowering plants there look like in that context.

Soundtrack: Autumn Moon on Lake from Chinese Traditional Music on Biblio.