Attila

Hi folks,

The other day I was reading an essay about art appreciation and a passage grabbed my attention. It was about how important information is when we look at a particular work of art.

The question was, is information important? Do we need to know anyting about the time, circumstances of creation, the artist, the medium, the simbolism involved, the society in which it was created, etc.

One school of thought is that it shouldn't be because it will distract us from interactive viewing, from looking at the work for what it is. It makes art appreciation too intellectual instead of being a sensory experience.

The other school says that contextual information has the potential to deeply influence our senses "before making its graceful exit and letting us enjoy the experience".

Here is an example: if somebody told us that the bonsai we are looking at is worth half a million dollars, that information would probably make us believe that the tree is a masterpiece, no matter how much we dislike it.
However, if we found out that the tree is a thousand years old, this information would deeply increase our respect and appreciation of the tree, thus greatly enhancing our pleasure of looking at the tree.

I believe that communicating contextual or relevant information to the greater public would help a great deal our cause of making bonsai a commonplace in the western culture.

Here are a few simple examples of the kind of information the are very useful to the public when they are looking at a bonsai:
- this tree is an ordinary crabapple tree
- if planted in the ground, it would grow to 30 feet
- it took the artist 8 years to create this bonsai, and now it looks like an old tree viewed from distance
- this tree was collected from the mountains, growing in the harshest conditions for a century

I don't mean to overwhelm the viewer with too much info, but at some of the exhibits I've attended, I had a hard time figuring out the species used. And I know much more than the average visitor.

Any information that can make the viewer personally relate to bonsai would make the communication between him/her and the artist a deeply personal experience.

Using local tree species is an important step in this regard. One of the reasons of the increasing popularity of bonsai in Europe is this trend, of using native material. When looking at an unknown species and a virtually unknown arform, the layman will have a hard time developing a personal connection with the tree. Looking at a tree that may grow in his backyard, it's a different story.

I wonder what this forum thinks about the importance of information the public needs in order to promote bonsai in the west.

Remember that article written by Herb Gustafsson about the funny questions asked by visitors at a bonsai exhibit (I can add to that list a question that my father asked me the other day: "why are you making those poor little trees older? would you like if somebody made you look older?).

It's funny but sad in the same time. It shows how much the masses know about our art.
Maybe it's time for us to start answering those questions before they are asked.

So here is the question:
Are we supposed to create high quality bonsai and then sit back and let the masses figure out what is this about?

Or maybe we should find better ways to communicate relevant information to the public in order to make and exhibit really succesful.

Regards,
Attila

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