All Happy Now!, 2001

The landscape artwork All Happy Now! by the American artist Peter Santino combines two classical motifs from landscape architecture: the ziggurat and the Fermat spiral. The ziggurat—a pyramid-like stepped tower or hill—refers to ancient temple structures, while the Fermat spiral follows a mathematical pattern found in nature, for example in sunflower seeds or pinecones. The spiral circulates around itself and changes direction at the core, creating a dynamic rhythm that invites movement and contemplation.

Santino invites visitors to walk barefoot over the Fermat-spiral ziggurat, reach the top, and descend again. This route creates a meditative, hypnotic, and sensory experience that, according to the artist, evokes happiness. After Sonsbeek 2001, a butterfly garden was added around the work, further enhancing the experience of nature and art.

Santino is also the founder and former chair of the satirical Failure Institute, an organization that ceremonially apologizes for accidents in the world. The institute’s alias, allhappynow.com, forms the title of the work and emphasizes the playful, conceptual layer of this invitation to reflection and happiness.