Liminal Wetness

Glance at a map and often a lake is defined by a simple line denoting land from water. As part of a landscape architecture planning and design process for Lake of the Isles and Cedar Lake, Liminal Wetness shares their collective approach to explore and explode that line through water, mud, vegetation, movement of human and non-human, cold and warm, wet and dry, and swift and slow. In addition to introducing visitors to the dynamism of this unique land/water interface, they hope to share the process of curiosity and experimentation that has guided their work.  

About the Artists
TEN x TEN is a landscape architecture and urban design practice grounded by a shared curiosity and passion for experimentation and agency. They collaborate with visionary clients and teams to co-create immersive future-focused landscapes that will adapt to social, economic, and environmental transformation. Capitalizing on creative alliances between fields, they operate comfortably within a shifting set of disciplinary boundaries. TEN x TEN designs for resilience and flexibility, monitoring what makes places thrive, adapt and be loved long after they are built.

KAREN LUTSKY, Research Associate with TEN x TEN and Assistant Professor at the UMN College of Design, has held teaching and design research positions in landscape architecture at a number of institutions including the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and University at Buffalo-SUNY. She also notably held the 2014/15 Miggs Caulkin Urban Visiting Professor Fellowship in the department of landscape architecture at the Ohio State University. Her current design research focuses on landscape architecture’s role in the future of the littoral zone of the Great Lakes and the potential of the lakes’ emergent land to address larger environmental issues and establish healthier relationships between people and the water. Karen is particularly interested in how landscape architecture, a design fi eld that has long worked with issues of change and adaptation, may move the region to better celebrate and engage the dynamics of the littoral landscape in its efforts to establish a more resilient future. 

About Visiting
Our Visitor's Center is open daily from 9 am - 8 pm to the public. In accordance with Executive Order 21-23, which went into effect on May 14, 2021, all face covering requirements have been removed. While not required, all people who have not been vaccinated are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces. 

Image: Image: Transect #12, winter/summer (detail), Digital collage
- photography, plant material collection, 4” x 6”