Carsten Höller

Upside Down Mushroom, installation for his one-man show at the Fondazione Prada, 2001.

Concept

My idea is to create a sensory garden which will create an experiential path that each spectator is asked to follow in order to undergo the effects present. It will test their senses via discovery and exploration.

The main feature within the space will be a projected stream running through on a winding path. This will be accompanied by the sound of running water. The effect of the water sound will create a calm feel to the space. It will eventually lead to a waterfall also projected onto a curtain which will be the exit that the participant must go through.

Alice in Wonderland Garden

Alice in Wonderland provides inspiration for scale within my work, I think it might feel a bit more of a magical experience if features within the garden are out of proportion and a lot larger than expected, as though the child is an insect exploring the garden, crawling through grass, climbing up flowers and onto mushrooms.

Experia - Sensory Room

http://www.experia-innovations.co.uk/

Learning Through Play

Learning through play is a term used to describe when a child learns to make sense of the world around them via engaging with their surrounding environment. It replies upon children being naturally curious to explore and discover.
There are five elements in children’s play:

1. Play must be pleasurable and enjoyable.
2. Play must have no extrinsic goals; there is no prescribed learning that must occur.
3. Play is spontaneous and voluntary.
4. Play involves active engagement on the part of the player.
5. Play involves an element of make-believe.

Sensory Rooms

As I have worked in a special needs school previously I have experienced a sensory room which provides people with special needs a space to explore and develop their senses and skills. They usually allow for people to learn through play. They usually contain soft play areas with padded floors and walls alongside interactive equipment which allow for the room to become full of sound, lighting and fragrancing.

The Chocolate Room

The Chocolate Room is the first room the group enters within Wonka's factory. It appears as a huge garden and almost everything in this room is edible: the pavements, the bushes, even the grass. The trees grow jelly apples, bushes sprout lollipops, pumpkins are filled with sugar cubes instead of seeds and the mushrooms spurt whipped cream.The main icon of the room is the Chocolate River, where the chocolate is mixed and churned by the waterfall.

I realise this is quite elaborate and highly unlikely to produce but I love the concept and find it so magical. I would like to create something along the lines of this within my garden that people can taste.