A project begun as artist in residence at Innovation Studio at the Amazon headquarters, In Praise of Folly creates an intersection for several interests in the form of garden sculpture. 1. The history of garden architecture, specifically the garden folly (a building with no purpose other then aesthetics). 2. The book “In Praise of Folly” by Erasmus which ask the question: is folly (or idiocy) crucial for survival and friendship? 3. The real a nd present question on how to survive a current political climate where “folly” seems to be the current operating system. I have begun to build a folly using the figure of Bottom from Midsummers Nights Dream, which is clearly inspired by Erasmus: the line “What fools these mortals be”, a key line in the play, comes from Erasmus’ book. The sculpture combines a while mixture of different concrete casting and fabricating techniques.
Andrew Barco 