Concept
ow do we reconnect? Is the question asked of everyone who enters this space. Shinto belief is that our lives follow the same path as the natural word. Engaging with nature helps us find the truest forms of ourselves, so to shut nature out is to deny who we are. We need to reconnect. This garden is one we have to work to find. We enter a dark maze of constricted space, doors and dead ends with a soundscape of domestic noises (a kettle boiling, the television playing, an argument) before breaking through to a magical garden where nature literally takes the centre stage. This is a sacred space, marked out by the Shinemawa rope (used to depict sacred objects) which is wrapped around it. Visitors will be invited to spend quiet moments on the benches, watching the thrum of nature, and as they leave to write their thoughts in response to the initial question on pieces of cloth and tie them to the Shinewana rope, which may in itself feel like an act of worship and reconnect.
