Zones of Change

Lutz's installation may at first seem more like a beautiful garden than an artwork.  Upon closer inspection, however, visitors will discover that Lutz has imbued her work with multiple layers of meaning. Inspired in part by the scholars' gardens of ancient China, where great thinkers took respite from their studies, the artist also designed "Zones of Change" to be a geological map of the greater Atlanta area.  By selecting indigenous plants and using them to create a microcosm of the region, Lutz's work for the CDC campus makes manifest the specific ecological and historical memory of the site.

The encounter with the fluidly arranged, native plant species offers a contrast to the

geometric order of the laboratory.  The concrete and granite patterns create a diagram of the Brevard Fault Zone, punctuated by large boulders and topographically patterned pavements that represent the area's major monadnocks (granite outcroppings).  Expressing her hopes for how her work for the CDC will be experienced, Lutz writes, "Daily interaction with such a place can remind its users of the importance of the unbuilt landscape to the physical, psychological, and spiritual well being.  Spacious experience fosters spacious thinking."