THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS

“I leave to the various futures, my garden of Forking Paths.”

– Jorge Luis Borges

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If you are interested in further information or injoining the Society of the Garden of Forking Pathsplease kindly write to: society@forkingpaths.org

or contact: Marina McDougall, DirectorThe Garden of Forking Paths156 Noe Street, San Francisco, CA 94114marina@forkingpaths.org

the baum foundation, a public charity dedicated toart, education and the environment, is the non-profitfiscal sponsor of the garden of forking paths.

Copyright 2007 Marina McDougall

cover: “Head of a Canal orTermination of a Vista” from Paul Decker’s Chinese Architecture, Civil and Ornamental

garden is a site of imagination.A fusion of natural creationand human artifice—gardens

are the setting where we project our idealizednotions of nature. From Cyrus the Great’swalled paradise garden of Mesopotamia toIan Hamilton Finley’s symbolic arcadia incontemporary Scotland, gardens reflect ourcomplex and shifting relationship to the natural world.

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above: Illustration by eminentGerman biologist, naturalist,

philosopher, physician, professor andartist Ernst Haekel

right: Het Loo in the Netherlandsa hybrid of Renaissance and

Baroque influences

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The Garden of Forking Paths is a vision for a gardenabout gardens—a contemporary pleasure garden—that re-interprets historical gardens and experimentswith new garden forms. Slowly unfolding as asuccession of outdoor rooms, Forking Paths willlead its visitors down a series of both literal andallegorical branching paths. The overall gardenlayout will mirror the evolution of the garden inthe West by transporting the visitor from formalto more naturalistic garden environments. Alongthe way Forking Paths will take unexpected and curiousturns with corresponding aesthetic, philosophical,and psychological journeys. In the sub-gardens of Forking Paths, the visitor might experience:

- the recreation of an early Persian pleasure garden

- the theatrics of a 17th centuryforced-perspective garden

- a tasting orchard describing the history ofthe apple tree

- the “wild” reaches of a meadow ofnative plantings

- or the fantastic nature of a garden featuring an extraordinary tree house

The Garden of Forking Paths will use the rich mediumof the garden to create new forms of gardens—environments that provoke dialogue about whatwe understand nature to be.

VISION

above: A rustic gazebo observatoryfrom French Victor Petit’s

1850 illustrations

below: A trelliswork pergola inthe form of a tower from a

German pattern book of 1799

PROGRAMS AND DEVELOPMENT

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We are currently in the planning phase of whatwe hope will become an important futureinstitution in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thiscurrent stage involves:

- creating prototypes of garden environments in collaboration with cultural institutions

- presenting The Garden of Forking Paths garden salon series

- researching historic and contemporary gardens through international garden expeditions

- investigating locations for a permanent garden

The long-term plan is to acquire an appropriatetract of land within nearby reach of the SanFrancisco Bay Area. Here an interdisciplinaryForking Paths team will develop the garden in aprocess of phased development in collaborationwith landscape architects, garden historians,artists, ecologists, and other special guests.

above: French translation of AllenWeiss’ essay Autobiography of a Stuffed

Cabbage presented to the Society of theGarden of Forking Paths in 2006

below: 16th century gardenVilla Lante in Bagnaia, one of the

most famous Renaissance manneristgarden of surprises

The Garden of Forking Paths is currently developing apermanent outdoor installation called Machine inthe Garden: A Pastoral on the campus of TheOxbow School in Napa, California. Located atthe bow of the Napa River, Oxbow is a uniqueinterdisciplinary art program for secondaryschool students from across the U.S.

Inspired by Leo Marx’s influential book on Americanpastoral literature, Machine in the Garden provides aphysical framework for reflecting upon a philosoph-ical and ideological conflict that has profoundlyshaped the history of the American landscape andhow we see it – the tension between an industrial-ized landscape and a bucolic, arcadian countryside.As a sculptural landscape Machine in the Garden willcontain the narrative elements of the pastoral genre– idyll, rupture, and resolve – and provoke visitors toconsider their relationship with nature in new ways.

To reach the garden the visitor walks down a longtwisting pathway – through a row of almond trees,under pergolas of wild rose and grape, and throughtwo swinging gates.

Here they arrive upon a slightly miniaturized fieldof grasses, pear trees, and furrowed beds risingamidst fieldstones. The space is rustic and bucolicwith elements of orchard and pasture suggestingthe naturalistic as well as the tended – an idyllicspot for daydreaming.

MACHINE IN THE GARDEN

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above: Forklifting a three ton rockinto the garden

below: Design layout ofMachine in the Garden illustrated

by Richard Johnson

As the visitor rounds a corner they come upon atrain’s cattle guard emerging out of the ground,a mechanical intrusion that breaks the visitor’sreverie. An emblem of industry and man’s controlover nature, the machine calls for an awaken-ing from the transcendent, escapist experience of nature.

Next, a series of railroad ties leads towards afolly – a structure replicating a rustic shed.Facing out of the garden towards the river, theshed opens onto a dock. In the distance a row-boat is moored in tall reeds. Through a lensmounted in the darkened shed, the Napa River isbrought into the garden as picturesque sceneryframed by weeping trees.

For Oxbow students the garden’s meanings willcome to life as they study Thoreau, Twain or theHudson River School in literature and historycourses. They will till its fields, pluck its pearsand seek its shade for quiet contemplation. Forthe public, the garden will illuminate the rela-tionship between the country and the city andgenerate curiosity and dialogue about the history,culture, and nature of the American landscape

The garden is currently under construction andis planned to open in Fall 2008.

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above: Views ofMachine in the Garden scale model

THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS

Conceived as a “meta-garden,” a garden aboutgardens, Forking Paths derives its name from a storysummarized here by Allen S. Weiss in his bookMirrors of Infinity: “Jorge Luis Borge’s story TheGarden of Forking Paths is the tale of the greatgrandson of Ts’ui Pen, the Chinese governor ofYunnan, who renounced his political office to devotehimself to writing a novel of inestimable complexity,and to creating “the garden of forking paths,” alabyrinth so intricate that all who enter would belost within. Centuries later, no trace of the labyrinthexists, and what remains of the novel is deemedtotally incoherent. Yet his great grandson finallyunravels the mystery: Ts’ui Pen’s book and hislabyrinth are one—a labyrinth of symbols. Themeaning of this labyrinth of labyrinths is time itself.

The very incoherence of his novel is due, para-doxically, to its adequacy as an image of theuniverse; time, permitting every possibility, demandsa narrative where every option is maintained, andwhere no single plot determines the course ofevents. For time is the possibility of possibilities.”

THE GARDEN’S NAME

top: Persian miniature depicting aparadise garden

above: English and French hedgemazes represented infinity and were

outdoor theaters of intrigue andromance with their tall shrubs

shielding amorous couples from view

left: Early Edo period gardenManshu-in in Kyoto, Japan