 | | |
16. Changing scales
A Japanese garden, particularly in the choice of its stones, makes constant use of changes in scale,
to overcome physical limitations while at the same time expressing the natural features specific to
Japan.
But this is much more than a mere exercise in miniaturization. Allow yourself to be absorbed in a
gurgling waterfall and it becomes a raging torrent. A simple upright stone can recreate a cliff face
plunging into the ocean.
The creator of a Japanese garden may spend days seeking the perfect stone.
One that will undergo countless physical transformations under the sun, rain and snow, to illustrate the passage of time-but equally will withstand the gentle erosion of mosses for as long as possible, to express its durability.
Stones that will be used to create mountains and islands, or a hill for waterfalls and rapids to spill down.
Stones that will carpet the bed of a stream-river, the banks of a pond-lake, and the pebble beach of a pond-ocean.
Stones that, once crushed, can be sculpted with a rake into sinuous waves recalling the motion of water.
|
|
