Quote:
Originally posted by pdbbonsai
Oh yeah and what about the word "Bonsai".... Are we trying to redifine that, or the art?
Paul
|
For me, there is not much difference between the two. Without the "art" a tree in a pot is just a tree in a pot.
I have nothing against people who want to stick trees in pots and trim them and enjoy them. But the minute you call it Bonsai, you are identifying it as part of a community and that community has a general vision of what constitutes "good" and "bad" style.
This is no different than any other community.
It is a bit like a person who calls themselves a novelist and when you ask them what they have published they say "Well, I haven't actually published anything yet."
Bonsai, for me, is like all art, a way of exploring the tensions inherent in our nature. Betweem the nature of the tree and the artifice of the pot, between the constraints of the rules and the freedom of expression. It is the play of freedom and constraint as expressed in our mastery over and harmony with nature.
Bonsai is, in so many ways, an art of contradiction. Its very defintion, for me, implies art.
If that is a prejudice, so be it. But I find nothing noble about ignorance and as I said before there is a big difference between breaking the rules and never bothering to learn them in the first place.
To answer your question: "Do I have to be an artist to gain acceptance as a bonsai enthusiast??"
I think the answer is yes. You just don't have to be a good one.
I hate to break it to you, but when you say: "I simply want to create very good and healthy bonsai." You have already commited yourself. In this case "good" is an aesthetic judgment. Unless you are saying that all bonsai are equally good, which is a very hard position to defend.
So, once we have judgement, we inevitably have art (or at least aesthetics)
Once you start onthe road to create a "good" tree, you are already an artist. Now the question becomes good according to whom? And that is a stickier problem.
Doug