The Garden of Australian Dreams was created to be a symbolic landscape representing the many parts of our culture. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this creation was the detailed map that lay across the ground, depicting a portion of Central Australia.
I didn't really like the whole design. I found it ambiguous and inaccessible for something that was supposed to be a tribute to all Australians, but the map made sense to me and would be appreciated more then all the other subtleties that would usually zoom over viewer's heads (mine included). The map is made up of Indigenous language boundaries, location markings, road maps and the dingo fence, which not only reference Australia as a country but also as a home, a place with names and homes and markings created by a vast range of humans. Richard Weller was aiming to sum Australia up in one largish space so I guess including a map of the country would be the most obvious step (seeing as the rest of his creations are a bit zooom).
The Garden is considered post modern because its a social commentary on Australia and a representation of the many different aspects of Australian culture (both positive and negative). This evaluation and the complexity of the concepts behind the work (particularly its cultural insight) make it very post modern.
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