Say, you’ve always wanted to have a nice, big fountain in your garden. And you totally would buy one, except when you shopped around, the ones you found cost more than the sedan you’re driving. Yeah, you definitely can’t afford one. If you still really want a nice, big fountain, though, maybe you can copy celebrated French artist Bertrand Lavier’s Fountain, an outdoor fountain sculpture made using a bundle of garden hoses.
Currently installed for a year-long run at London’s Serpentine Sackler Gallery, it consists of multi-colored hoses that were bundled together and arranged to spurt water into the surrounding enclosure. Yes, it looks as unruly as it sounds. Somehow, though, the darn thing works and we bet they’ll work just as fine when set up in the middle of the garden at your own digs.
According to the gallery’s page about the Fountain, the sculpture is a “playful interpretation” of the traditional garden fountain, using erstwhile unsightly objects to create the structure. Its appearance is definitely aided by the stark contrast with its location, where it sits right next to the “neoclassical façade of the Serpentine Sackler Gallery and the smooth lines of The Magazine restaurant.”
The Fountain uses different types of nozzles to vary the way that water is dispensed, which, really, won’t be hard to replicate on your own. Just choose a colorful collection of hoses, some nozzles that spurt water in creative ways, and your dream of a garden fountain will finally come to fruition. Fingers crossed.
You can learn more about the Fountain and Bertrand Lavier from the Serpentine Sackler Gallery website.