Garden of objects: an introduction to the subject

Abstract

It has become common in Brazilian gardens, especially in those cultivated by their owners, the use of ornaments and elements such as fountains, porcelain animals and little garden dwarfs. From this point of view one can speak of “gardens of objects”, sometimes with a ludic meaning, other times with a mystical meaning, and other times yet with a meaning of memory or with an affective meaning for theirs owners. A garden that, inevitably, integrates the current panorama of consumer society, although its origin goes back, in Brazil, to the nineteenth century. The text aims at discussing some issues related to this garden, such as the question of kitsch, the question of mass culture and the issue of simulacrum, from readings and analyzes of some examples of such garden areas. The intention is to instigate issues about this garden, participant of the landscape of the capital of São Paulo as well as of some other Brazilian cities, and to present some assertions on the subject. In general, one observes in this garden the creation of scenery framed by the vegetation and starred by those objects that constitute them, which endows to these spaces a greater complexity in their arrangement when compared to other gardens, simpler, cultivated by their owners. By introducing fountains, wind bells, colors and textures, their owners also work the sensory perception of those who observe them, arousing their curiosity and their imagination.