The image of the transparent eyeball* has become a staple of nature mysticism: in the midst of wild Nature, the self becomes one with being... differentiation, alienation and struggle cease.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Below, hillocks in a field in Kyrgyzstan:
Hillock is a British term referring to small hills or knolls. This, along with hummock, are terms used more commonly to refer to bumpy terrain, such as the above which shows the effect of grazing animals on moist soil. These mounds can also form out of sediment collecting around decaying plants through water from rain, snow, tides wind, etc, as often seen in wetalands.
Soil covered ancient shell mounds in Palo Alto, California:
These, from Iceland:
Hillocks and hummocks have served as inspiration in design as well. Emerson's idea of the transparent eyeball was about absorbing nature, becoming its vessel and disappearing into its grandeur. Before nature we are nothing but spiritual antennas for the divine. Picking up that broadcast has taught us something about aesthetics too.
Maya Lin's Storm King Wavefield in Mountainville New York was built over a former gravel pit which covers 240,000 sq ft and peaks at 15 ft in height.
Her work is also reminiscent of grazing lines left by cattle:
Life Mounds by architectural theorist, writer, and landscape architect Charles Jencks. This work is one of the commissioned pieces featured in the sculpture garden Jupiter Artland.
Lin's Wave Field at the University of Michigan, 1995:
A Danish landscape architect known best for his urban spaces, Stig L. Andersson admits an influence of Japanese culture. He calls it an integration of substance, space, and changeability. He goes bumpy as well.
Tufts:
The Jardim Das Ondas by Joao Gomes da Silva, Lisbon Portugal:
The legendary gardens at Marqueyssac:
*Yes, the transparent eyeball concept was inspired from a recent episode of Mad Men.
