Earl

Catching up on this thread, I pulled out my book "Penjing: Worlds of Wonderment" by Qingquan Zhao. To say that his works of art would not be bonsai but landscapes would be amazing. He has created absolutely stunning works of bonsai (penjing because he is chinese). To take the concept of bonsai and narrow it from plantings in a tray to a tree in a pot, is to do a disservice to both the Chinese and Japanese and all oriental cultures that started this wonderful art. Why would we want to do that?

As for tree-ness, Zhao's description much better fits my ideas: "It is the re-creation of the mystical beauty of nature in a container."
We are not just producing tree-like structures, we are developing something that brings us the beauty and mystery and awe of nature. When we see a beautiful bonsai, and our breath shortens, or we stand before it actually holding our breath in awe, we are not doing so because the creation is tree in a pot, but because it has actually struck a deep chord that resonates with all of nature. When we feel peaceful and calm, it is because we are reconnecting with our roots in the life all around us.

Only when we come out of our mystical state, do we start to analyze the tree and think "look at the branch structure, look at the pot, look at the age." But then we have moved from ART to CRAFT.

Come to think of it, maybe that's why so many people have criticized the Artful Environements display (see the threads about that elsewhere). They go to the display to examine the craft of growing the tree, instead of standing back and appreciating the mystery and awe of the natural scene the artist is attempting to convey.

Earl.