plants – Page 58 – enclos*ure

Waterford, Ireland

December 19, 2015July 18, 2017 Cindy at enclos*ureLeave a comment

Christmas tree wagon of William Power & Sons, merchants of seeds and trees. Photo taken at Waterford, Ireland, courthouse on December 16, 1929, via National Library of Ireland Commons on flickr.

There’s another good photo of this little girl (possibly a Power) and another loaded company wagon here.

To be
Brought down at last
From the cold sighing mountain
Where I and the others
Had been fed, looked after, kept still,
Meant, I knew — of course I knew —
That it would only be a matter of weeks,
That there was nothing more to do. . . .

— James Merrill, from “Christmas Tree“

Hanging gardens, Basel

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 Cindy at enclos*ure4 Comments

In Basel, Switzerland, the day after Thanksgiving, we went looking for lunch and ended up at the very pretty bistro of the Museum of Culture — located on the same square as the Münster.

The museum posters decorating the café were so interesting that we decided to go next door (above, left side) and take a look.

Given the quiet, very traditional appearance of the street entrance, we were completely surprised by what we found on the other side of the archway.

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In an enclosed courtyard, seven, four-story tall columns of plants hang from the deep eave of an irregularly folded roof of glistening ceramic tiles.

The museum* is 166 years old and houses a current collection of over 300,000 ethnographic artifacts from around the world. The hanging columns were installed in 2011, part of an extensive renovation of the building by Herzog & de Meuron.

To scroll through larger versions of the photos (and several more), click on ‘Continue reading’ below and then on any thumbnail in the gallery.

Next: more about the Schürhof, the sloping courtyard below the columns.

*Admission to the Museum der Kulturen is about $16, but the last hour of the day (4:00 – 5:00 p.m.) is free. This is plenty of time to see the large room of Medieval and Renaissance art displayed there until the prestigious Kunstmuseum Basel, currently being renovated, reopens in 2016. (You can also see some of its late 19th century and early modernist art at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst or Contemporary Art until February 21, 2016. The Gegenwartskunst also has a small exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Cy Twombly until March 13. Admission is free.)

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Münster gardens, Basel

December 9, 2015April 11, 2016 Cindy at enclos*ure2 Comments

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The simple garden behind the Münster of Basel, Switzerland, features a bronze replica of the church and its cloisters.

The building — constructed from the 13th century to 1500 — was originally a Roman Catholic cathedral and is now a Reformed Protestant church.

To scroll through larger versions of the photos, click on ‘Continue reading’ below and then on any thumbnail in the gallery.

The harp at Nature’s advent strung
Has never ceased to play;
The song the stars of morning sung
Has never died away. . . .

The blue sky is the temple’s arch,
Its transept earth and air,
The music of its starry march
The chorus of a prayer.

So Nature keeps the reverent frame
With which her years began,
And all her signs and voices shame
The prayerless heart of man.

— John Greenleaf Whittier, from “The Worship of Nature“

Leonardskirche labyrinth, Basel

December 1, 2015April 11, 2016 Cindy at enclos*ure3 Comments

The labyrinth at Leonardskirchplatz in Basel, Switzerland, on Thanksgiving Day.

The small square — on a hill spur above the old city center — is next to the 15th century Leonardskirche or St. Leonard’s Church.

The labyrinth at Leonardskirchplatz, Basel, enclos*ure

The labyrinth was installed there in 2002 from a design by Agnes Barmettier.

On the right side of the sign is a poem, “Labyrinth Spell” by Ingrid Gomolzik, meant to be spoken before entering the circuit: “The labyrinth is a mystery. . . the giant, the path in the middle, the way to ourselves.”

The design features two turning points around linden trees.

Sculpture of a Basel public servant by Peter Moilliet. — Sculpture of a local politician by Peter Moilliet.

You can scroll through larger versions of the photos by clicking on ‘Continue reading’ below and then on any thumbnail in the gallery.

Torn turned and tattered
Bowed burned and battered
I took untensed time by the teeth
And bade it bear me banking
Out over the walled welter
cities and the sea. . .

— Robert P. Baird, from “The Labyrinth“