'Paradise haunts gardens', writes Derek Jarman, 'and it haunts mine.'
Jarman's public image is that of a film-maker of genius, whose work,
dwelling on themes of sexuality and violence, became a byword for
controversy. But the private man was the creator of his own
garden-paradise in an environment that many might think was more of a
hell than a heaven - in the flat, bleak, often desolate expanse of
shingle that faces the Dungeness nuclear power station. Jarman, a
passionate gardener from childhood, combined his painter's eye, his
horticultural expertise and his ecological convictions to produce a
landscape which combined the flints, shells and driftwood of Dungeness;
sculptures made from stones, old tools and found objects; the area's
indigenous plants; and shrubs and flowers introduced by Jarman himself.
This book is Derek Jarman's own record of how this garden evolved,
from its earliest beginnings in 1986 to the last year of his life. More
than 150 photographs taken since 1991 by his friend and photographer
Howard Sooley capture the garden at all its different stages and at
every season of the year. Photographs from all angles reveal the
garden's complex geometrical plan, its magical stone circles and its
beautiful and bizarre sculptures.
We also catch glimpses of
Jarman's life in Dungeness: walking, weeding, watering, or just enjoying
life. Derek Jarman's Garden is the last book Jarman ever wrote. Like
the garden itself, it remains as a fitting memorial to a brilliant and
greatly loved artist who, against all odds, made a breathtakingly
beautiful garden in the most inhospitable of places.
It will
appeal to all those who are themselves practising gardeners, as well as
the legions of admirers of this extraordinary man.
Derek Jarman's Garden - Derek Jarman
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£16.95