«I am interested in the rebellious gardener and the provocative garden.» An Interview with Olivia Lang.
Ad Marginem has published the artistic study «Garden Against Time» by the British writer and essayist Olivia Lang. In the book, alongside the restoration of an abandoned garden in Suffolk, she reflects on the connection between gardens, history, and culture.
For the publisher, art critic Ksenia Malich interviewed Olivia Lang. They discussed how a garden alters the perception of time, how it helps contemporary people view the world in a new light—and what Lang will leave behind in her garden for its next owner.
During the pandemic, British writer and essayist Olivia Lang purchases an old house with a garden in Suffolk. The work of restoring flowerbeds, repairing structures, and pruning trees is not only soothing but also stimulates reflection, prompting Olivia to study the relationship between gardens, history, and culture. Sanctuaries in difficult times, utopias, and dreams of Eden, luxury items—this is far from an exhaustive list of what a small patch of planted ground can be. By comparing the free and public gardens of Derek Jarman or John Clare with the rigid parks of the British aristocracy, built upon oppression and violence, Lang attempts to answer a central question: what exactly is a garden? A paradise for all, or a testament to privilege and the result of unequal resource distribution? Personal or public? There is no definitive answer. But there is a beautiful collection of plants, a restored and open garden laid out by the gardener Mark Rumery, now serving as a habitat and source of inspiration for Lang herself, who enthusiastically discovers the joy and sorrow of seasonal and eternally cyclical gardening work. (Ad Marginem Annotation)
