FredL

Been away for awhile, mentally, not physically, and when I avoid active interaction with other bonsai enthusiasts I find my thoughts and ideas start to settle down and become clearer to me. Even found my level of interest in bonsai dropping, though lately, I find it once again surging.

I've found myself thinking, once again, about how Bonsai in the East (particularly Japan) differs from Bonsai in the West: Europe and the US.

I suppose there are differences in technique, but I don't think this is where the essential diferences lie. Rather, I think the most essential differences lie in the spirit expressed through the practice of bonsai.

I found myself drawing an analogy between Bonsai and the martial arts and comparing the differences in bonsai to the differances between the Eastern Martial Arts and Western Boxing. Some mighty tough guys exist in both sports, but, for me, there are basic differences between the spirit expressed by, say, Bruce Lee and, say, Mike Tyson, two fighters who represent the essence of their two rather superficially similar sports. Perhaps it would be fairer to site, say, Evander Hollyfield as exemplifying the Western Warrior, but my conclusion remains: two very different "spirits" are being expressed.

I think that two rather different spirits are being expressed by Eastern and Western Bonsai. Western Bonsai is all about Art and technique; Eastern Bonsai is about something else. It is hard for me to articulate what that something else is; as a typical American, I lack the vocabulary and conceptual framework to articulate it very well. But, the expression of that "something else" is, I think, what draws people to Bonsai and its lack of presence in Western bonsai and, even more importantly, among Western practitioners, is what quickly disappoints and frustrates so many people who are attracted to Bonsai but quickly drop out. It explains the low monatary value attatched to Bonsai in the West, particularly in the US. It explains why we are all so "put off" by the small minority of Western practitioners who attach the fancy names to their creations common in the East and why there is so much hostility to Japanese trappings to Western Bonsai exhibits. The spirit that these sorts of things express are simply incongruent with Western culture and the spirit it expresses.

"Spirit" has to do with states of mind and there is more to states of mind than artistic technique. Bonsai takes one into different emotional and attitudinal territory than those generally accepted and encouraged by the dominant Western culture. And this presents, at least in my mind, a basic challenge to the wider acceptance and appreciation of Bonsai that is not even recognized much less abot to be overcome any time soon in the West.

With best regards, Fred

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