Hey all,
I usually post some version of my monthly column here, disguised as a "post," because it typically generates some interesting discussion. So, this time is no exception. I dunno if it will generate any discussion - the topic is what some have come to expect from me, but with a slightly different take. Nevertheless, here it is...
Musical Bonsai Composition
There are millions the world over who know how to play a musical instrument. Some have even made musicianship a significant part of their lives and practice regularly, even slavishly, for years. However, very few musicians are composers. The reason most musicians are players and only a fraction are composers is that actually creating music necessitates an understanding of artistry. Only those who are intimate with artistry can create something that connects with others in a meaningful way. Those who only practice technique and craft are relegated to admiring and/or playing the creations of those who understand the art of music.
Creating a bonsai, like writing a piece of music, is composition. As in music, the craft and the techniques are essential to the art, but unless one understands art, what one can create is severely limited.
There are many in the bonsai endeavor who consider themselves to be students, seeking to gain proficiency in the cultivation, propagation, manipulation and design of bonsai. While most of us start in bonsai design by becoming familiar with the useful guidelines
(the rules) for our early composition attempts, most of us stop there – at the limits and definitions of the rules. This is not enough, as many mistakenly believe, for any sort of real competency.
Those who explore only the bounds of
the rules of bonsai design, stop there, and then declare them to be limiting or unnecessary are just as foolish as children who believe that their parent’s response of “Because I said so,” is an empty reason and need not be obeyed.
There are reasons behind the familiar useful guidelines of bonsai design and only through exploring their foundations can one understand their importance. The foundations and what they accomplish are fully explained by artistry. Only by understanding artistry can we hope to go on to create bonsai of any significance (or of more than tepid beauty, for that matter).
If you are seeking to gain proficiency in bonsai design, but are not interested in artistry, you are wasting your time: Thanks anyway for playing; there are no lovely parting gifts. Have a nice day.
Music is easy, but bonsai is hard
From one rather relevant standpoint, composing a piece of music is a piece-o-cake compared to creating a beautiful and evocative bonsai. Seriously. A composer can put into his/her score anything that s/he desires. If s/he is skilled and schooled, the composition may well be good and if s/he is talented, the composition may be stunning and evocative.
Composition is not so easy for a bonsai artist. The bonsai artist’s composition is significantly limited by what the material (the tree) offers by way of structure and flow and development. The physical elements of the tree can be manipulated, but only to a point.
For example, imagine a composer who has written a quiet and solemn piece, but the performing drummer and bass player will only play polka beats. It's kind’a hard to deal with that, but that’s often the situation that the bonsai artist is presented when designing a bonsai. In such a case, no amount of technique alone can address the situation adequately. Only with artistry can one solve such a conundrum.
An orchestra in a pot
Just like a composer, the bonsai artist is set with the task of deciding upon what theme to introduce (the melody/theme) and how to support it, allowing for the contribution (the musical arrangement) of the physical elements of the tree (the instruments/musicians in the orchestra), molding the elements in the desired shape (conveying the music and arrangement to the orchestra), and maintaining the tree in the desired form (conducting the orchestra).
Now, one who has a decent grasp of technique and craft can accomplish all of the above. But what is it that will make the composition significant, meaningful, evocative or interesting to those who see (or hear) it?
You guessed it: artistry.
Toward more musical bonsai
If you are interested in gaining proficiency in bonsai design, start with the many familiar and useful conventions of bonsai composition and then begin asking questions. Start investigating what it is these conventions (
rules) accomplish, and how. Then go to the library and check out a few books on landscape painting and composition. With any significant effort, you’ll find immediate and interesting parallels that will fuel your understanding of bonsai design.
If you’re really ambitious, enroll in an art composition and/or music composition class and stick around for a few years (all of this is in addition to your continuing bonsai study, of course – hopefully with a learned teacher).
Do this and I promise that you will quickly begin to have more than a few epiphanies. Much of what you did not understand before or thought that you understood will become clear and rather obvious. You will soon begin to recognize easily what you only had vague feelings about before – and your bonsai design efforts will show an improvement you’ll likely find surprising and pleasing.
Know also that as with any endeavor, a quick and shallow examination of artistry will provide only shallow results. Art is deep and wide. Only with a prolonged study can you hope to realize the understanding necessary for truly excellent artistry. Not everyone invoved in bonsai study need commit themselves to a few decades of intense study. However, unless you're prepared to apply yourself to this degree, you should never expect to have results that come close to those who have. This is a simple truth.
In any event, come to grips with this fact right now:
design is governed by artistry. That which makes a design pleasing, interesting, evocative and/or compelling has its root in artistry. If you don’t understand artistry, then you don’t understand what it is that will allow your designs to connect with others in a meaningful way. If you are going to be doing more than just watering and trimming your trees, I truly hope that this matters to you.
Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
www.bonsai365.com
zone 8, Texas