FredL

Al, you raise a very interesting issue, to which I'd like to add my $.02 worth.

Back in my college days at "Dear Old Rutgers" (No, Mr. Magoo was not the sole alumnus of that revered institution), I took a course named "Art, Music and Literature". It had a reputation for being an easy way for Science Majors like myself to fill our "Humanities" requirements. I found it frustrating and, to a significant degree, nonsensical. I came away thinking that to a very significant degree, the whole humanities area was a kind of conspiracy hatched by second rate minds without the academic ability or the self discipline required to succeed at the far more demanding scientific areas of study. I got a "C". My friend Alex, who talked me into the class and who made a whole college career of skating by on the easiest classes available, got an "A".

I haven't really changed that much. I have enormous respect for art and artists. But "Art Appreciation"? Whole nuther story.

I think that the value of any art lies in its emotional impact, which means that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. Now does this mean there is no place for rules, standards and the other devices by which artists control their efforts and transmit their techniques to others? Absolutely not! I am a HUGE supporter of rules for bonsai. But not as adjuncts to Bonsai Art Appreciation, rather as the necessary tools of practicing artists.

I think that all art is a community endeavor and that the communities that appreciate a particular art form share a common emotional and perceptual makeup. For some artforms, that may mean most of humanity. The community that appreciates Bonsai, though sizeable, is much smaller than that. Bonsai that has emotional impact for the members of that community pretty much shares certain charactaristics. The "rules" provide the information as to how to achieve that impact.

Best regards, Fred