Creative Project.

This is a group project for two to three people. The assignment is meant to help you understand interpretations of landscapes and gardens.

Each project should be accompanied by a short explanation of the project and the choices your group made, and who worked on which aspect of the project. (Divide the work as equally as possible; if someone in your group does not participate equally in the project, I want to know about it.)

Here are some ideas (but feel free to come up with your own):

* Write your own landscape text or garden manual (a sort of manifesto on what landscapes or gardens mean to you). They don't necessarily have to be Asian landscapes or gardens--they can be from any tradition that you happen to be familiar with.
* Discover a "lost" landscape text or garden manual-for example, one that deals specifically with Buddhist landscapes, Daoist landscapes, scholar's gardens, etc. For this, imagine yourself as a Chinese or Japanese monk or nun, intellectual or artist from sometime in the distant past.
* "Commission" a landscape painting or a painting of a garden. For this, imagine yourself as a member of the court or the aristocracy. You want an artist to make a painting that expresses your personal ideals (not simply a painting that will go well with your sofa). Write a request to the artist, explaining what you want in your painting and why.
* Draw, paint or make a photograph of a landscape or garden. This could be an imaginary place (in which case a drawing, painting, photographic collage or digital image would probably work better than a photograph) or a real place, but it should be a place that has meaning to you and suggests possible interpretations. Your explanation of the project should include at least one such interpretation.
* Design a garden in either Chinese or Japanese style. For this I would want either a set of detailed drawings (plan and elevation from different angles) or a three-dimensional model. (If you choose a three-dimensional model, you should construct it yourself rather than buying one of those miniature Zen rock gardens and turning that in!) Your explanation of the project should include an interpretation of the garden.

I want each group to check in with me by Week 11 to discuss your ideas and to give me a progress report of your work. The project itself is due on the last day of classes, when we will meet for a final time to discuss the projects (so you should be prepared to share yours with the rest of the class).