# Oliver Knott's aquascapes  - Hannover 2011



## George Farmer (8 Feb 2011)

Nano-Competition Place 2 "Black Beauty"  

 

XL-Competition Special Award  "Hallelujah Moutains"  



The wood in the nano is 100 Euros per Kg.  Japanese White Charcoal.  Note the dwarf Hygrophila pinnatifida too.


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## BigTom (8 Feb 2011)

*Re: Oliver Knott's aquascapes at Hanover*

Nano is very nice - is the dwarf hygro the small pink plants? If so they're lovely.

The XL is an abomination though


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## George Farmer (8 Feb 2011)

*Re: Oliver Knott's aquascapes at Hanover*



			
				BigTom said:
			
		

> The XL is an abomination though


Dan and I were asked on TV what we thought.  Diplomacy was called for!  I think the phrase, "thinking outside the glass box" was used.


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## Garuf (8 Feb 2011)

Thing is these pandora scapes are popular, there's loads of them kicking about and I just can't abide by them, they do however bring people into the hobby, and they have connotations for enthusiast already in the hobby who will forgive their tackyness because they liked the film. 
Just think how many people went to see Avatar! They could all potentially want to scape if they see tanks like that.


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## George Farmer (8 Feb 2011)

Good point, Gareth.

Oliver is also known as the 'showman' of the aquascaping world.  The whole set-up was actually a very good show.  Plasma TV behind with big speakers.  It certainly drew the crowds, which isn't a bad thing in my book.

What will he do next year to top that?!


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## Garuf (8 Feb 2011)

A partnership with Gunther von Hagens.. 

There are some merits to them, they're pushing hardscape design further and further, much more towards reef-esque hardscapes which are milliputted together, bolted frameworks, hidden armatures etc. With one or two exceptions we'd not gone that way at all preferring to perch and balance scaping materials.


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## George Farmer (8 Feb 2011)

Garuf said:
			
		

> much more towards reef-esque hardscapes which are milliputted together, bolted frameworks, hidden armatures etc. With one or two exceptions we'd not gone that way at all preferring to perch and balance scaping materials.


Interesting point.  Only recently has reef gone that way and still so many rely on the 'pile up rocks at the back and stick  corals on them at random' - I like to call it PURATBASCOTAR syndrome! lol

I think, rightly or wrongly, a lot of planted tank aquascapers are still very focused on the Nature Aquarium style. So you'll rarely find a great variety of different hardscape layout designs.  We're limited by selection, and to a certain degree, composition in order to keep to the 'rules'.

Wood and rocks can only be positioned in so many different ways before they start look unnatural.  Indeed, the aim is to get them looking as natural as possible.  

Maybe a change in this direction is something we need to keep things fresh...?   

I have some interesting fake rock in the garage that's just dying to be used soon!   8)


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## nry (8 Feb 2011)

I've got some interesting ideas using cylindrical slate columns...but they're darn expensive


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## nry (8 Feb 2011)

Couldn't see the videos at work.  First one is lovely, works really well.  Second one, well, it is most certainly different, but not my cup of tea even considering it as an abstract design 'outside of the glass box' - it just doesn't work aesthetically for me.  Looks nothing more than three big bundles of plants stuck in an aquarium.  Perhaps could have been so much more...


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## nayr88 (8 Feb 2011)

Rrrr man, can't see this, has anyone got another source I tried google hunting but couldn't find it.


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## Marco Aukes (16 Feb 2011)

I think both works are typically Oliver; first one brillant, second one "Hallelujah i did not know a scape could look that ugly". When you look at his total "artbook" he once in a while has these weird experiments in between and most of the time I hate those. But when he is back in his Nature-style flow he is absolutely amongst the best.

I tend to compare him with other artists, like great musicians. They always have a need at one point to step away from what they are good at and try a different sound. And just like with Oliver, that in most cases is an extremely bad idea.


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