THE MODERN MINT BLOG
A fantastic programme on the BBC with Wendell Berry.
Listen now to this excellent programme: Wendell Berry, The Natural World
He discusses the importance of our soils, reads an incredibly depressing poem, asks that we create good work by taking responsibility for doing a ‘specific something’, and explains how, “we are living in an economy that doesn’t value nature whatsoever….”
Which ties us in nicely with this report on the BBC today, about the worst offending products on the market for being non-recyclable.
The ridiculous notion suggested in the report that we can place a projector in our fridges, to project an image of a brand of food onto the plain, environmentally friendlier packaging, makes us so mad. We love the Modern Mint branding, 3 simple circles, but there is no way we would want it projected onto a packet.
It is either there, or it isn’t. Who cares either way? The important part of your ‘brand’ is whether you turn up, have values that you uphold, be nice to people and keep promises.
The logo is nothing compared to what you do.
(Mini rant over.)
For more about how important our soils are, and how your garden can become a carbon sink, see this project for the Chelsea Fringe 2017.
Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones
I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …
The Henderson, Topiary Art Interview on Instagram
In a suit… eek! View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Henderson (@thehenderson_hk)
Topiary, The Art Garden at The Henderson
The Art Garden at The Henderson in Hong-Kong has now opened to the public. I joined the project last March, to work with Gillespies Landscape Architects on the topiary that had been designed for the Art Garden, which gives a calm, green space below the extraordinary Henderson skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The garden has been designed with butterflies in mind, so lots of nectar plants, and has other art projects and installations within its footprint. The history of the site is interesting too – it was originally the first cricket ground in Hong-Kong! So still a green space….! …