Fanciful follies!
300-year old National Trust garden exhibits modern-day whimsies
Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens, near Ripon in North Yorkshire, has innovatively commissioned new interactive sculptures to help celebrate its 300th anniversary.
Now in its third year, the folly! exhibition encourages visitors to explore the World Heritage venue and water garden as originally intended, as a site for play and intrigue.
The Georgian garden is dotted with follies and the garden managers invited artists to design new works of art or modern day follies. Designs include a colourful 9m (30ft) tower by architect Charles Holland. Recalling the shape of an exotic bird, the ‘head’ of the tower features a camra obscura which projects new, unfocused views of the water garden within the interior. A mirrored sphere, called The Gazing Ball, reflects and frames the garden’s many viewpoints. Created by Lucy Orta, it gives visitors seated below a fisheye view of the landscape.
The Listening Tower by FleaFolly recalls a lost Victorian bathing house via an echochamber amplifying the sound of dripping water. A fourth design by 11-year-old local schoolboy Foster Carter is a suspended cloud inspired by the Yorkshire weather.
Bought in a state of disrepair in 1983, the National Trust has steadily restored many of the existing garden features.
Visit www.nationaltrust. org.uk/folly. The exhibition is open daily until November 4.