On Art And Bonsai

designguy

On Art and Bonsai

These are some thoughts I had regarding the discussions found here of the subject of “is bonsai an art or is it not?”

For quite some time I didn’t believe that creating bonsai was a form or work of art in our modern world. I didn’t want to buy it. Now though after some thought I feel ultimately its up to you. Do you consider it art? And if so why. And if you don’t why not? You’ll be right either way and the discussion of the merits of your opinions will best be understood by others using simple words and explanations.

Then I started thinking about what makes art, “art”. And I came up with a few answers that left me thinking that it is indeed art. First off let me explain that the philosophy of this is called “esthetics”. I know its a big word, but I thought I’d give its definition as well just so we understood what I am trying to discuss.
Esthetics- The philosophy of beauty and the fine arts.

Since a philosophy is a culmination of ideas, they are open for debate. So anyone’s opinion about whether “Bonsai” is an art should be as well. Anyone who believes that Bonsai is not an art, I stand by him/her and agree with their opinion. If anyone believes that it is an art, I stand by him/her and agree with them as well. I think calling anything art is largely made up of one’s own unique opinions. I think that history has shown that if you are doing something that you want others to believe is “Art”. Than you need to proclaim in a loud voice that “it” is Art. Sell it as Art. Show it as Art. And ultimately explain it as having merits of artistic value. Also, wearing a Beret while you do all of this might lend to your credibility. I’ve noticed that having “wild” hairdos or clothes also works but really a beret speaks of a classy timelessness that I think cant be beat. But if you don’t feel that it’s art, I think you should have better reasons than “art is for snobs”, etc. I feel that most artistic ideas and expressions can be discussed and explained using the simplest of words.

I believe that bonsai for the most part, is a simple art. When I say simple I mean that bringing abstract ideas to its expression is extremely difficult. Its very difficult to bring in social, economic, environmental themes into the works of art of bonsai. I’ve seen it done and its very hard to do it well I believe. So most artists stick with the “tree in pot” (environmental) theme. The trees in pots don’t lend themselves easily to expressing ideas other than representations of their counterparts found in nature. To put more into the work takes great skill and creativity. But I’ve seen it and know that it can be done well. But for the most part people are happy creating simple themed compositions.

The following are a few reason why I believe bonsai to be an art form. Some of these may be obvious and already spoken of here but I felt they needed to be included for my explanation.

Most of the principles following two-dimensional art can be used and applied to bonsai. For example we need to consider form, shape, balance, weight, color etc. in order to make appealing trees.

Some of the principles following three-dimensional art can be used and applied to bonsai. These sometimes deal with our other senses. Texture, feeling of touch, the physical space taken up by the bonsai, any intrusion of the bonsai into our personal space, smell, lighting, and possibly sound.

Bonsai contains two more elements that most other “Fine” art forms can not contain and this is part of the determining definition of this “art”.
Time-
Bonsai is expressed and experienced in a period of time. That “time” is usually determined by the life of the tree. Or perhaps only the viewers time spent experiencing the bonsai. Though that experience is similar to viewing a painting. But when the viewer leaves the piece of art, a bonsai will continue to change and evolve over time with the artist. The experience of the bonsai artist (who would spend more time with this bonsai) and the passer by, will be entirely different due to the passage of time and their respective amount spent with that bonsai. Bonsai is experienced by moving around the tree and viewing it from different angles. Viewing it at different times of the day, season, year etc.

Change-
I believe that change to the artistic object ultimately defines this as performance art. Its not a snapshot of a frozen moment in time. The outcomes and results of artistic creations in a bonsai occur over time. The bonsai can change due to the growth/death of the tree, desires of the artist, choice of pot, and the technical skill of the bonsai artist. These all will change over a period of time and affect the bonsai. These changes can take minutes or hundreds of years to alter the bonsai. The changes can be natural (growth/death of the tree of its own accord) or unnatural (clipping, cutting, shaping and stunting the growth by the artist). I think this dynamic interplay between the will of the tree and the will of the artist make Bonsai an extremely interesting art form. The object is ultimately a human creation that would not happen on its own.

When we discuss bonsai in this online forum. For the most part we are discussing the art of photography and the photographs subjects. Because I am not viewing your bonsai in its same physical space, I can’t experience two of the artistic elements described above that make it art. I can only experience the tree (bonsai?) as a photographic art, online. We can only show a two dimensional representation of a three dimensional object that will change over time. So the online bonsai forums are largely made up of photographic artists.

This horse has been beaten to death. Thanks for reading.
Mark

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Attila

Don't worry Mark. There is no such thing as an old subject. There are only old listeners and new listeners.

Enjoyed your editorial, and welcome to the forum.

Attila

Mr Simpson

i see bonsai as an art form because of the ability of the creator to express theis emotions through their tree, much in the same way as any artist or sculptor. All of the best works of art, from van gough's 'sunflowers' to micheal angelo's 'david' have been created by one man using a medium he is comfortable with. Just because we choose to use living trees and plants to put across what we see as perfection doesn't exclude it from being called art. And look at the prices of the finest bonsai specimens. they are far greater than those for any normal tree in the same way that a famous painting may fetch millions where a childs finger painting is all but worthless. Surely this allows bonsai to be accepted as art.

lakestreetvice

Is a plain, white-washed building art? Probably not, but when I use my camera and create a point of view for that building, it becomes art. Is a tree art? (to define my term... art as something used to create or express some part of the human condition) No, a tree growing next to the sidewalk is not art because, all philisophical ramblings aside, it is not used for the express purpose of containing a part of the human condition within a medium.

Yet when we use a tree as a medium to express something about ourselves, we turn it in to art. A medium will always have it's basic formal requirements. If you paint, you obviously use paint, and some kind of canvas. If you do bonsai, you use a tree and a pot. There you have the basics of your medium, but it is up to you to create the artistic qualities of that medium.

As with any art, some will only look at the techinical aspects of your work, (which I feel takes all the fun out of it), and those who just want to look at the overall picture and figure out if they like it or not.

... but then again, do we do bonsai for the sake of other's enjoyment, or do we do it for our own?

anttal63

maybe time to ruffle some art feathers!

the "art of living" pretty much defines art for me. i believe there's an art in everything we do. for me the questions is it or isnt it do not exist. all that remains is how does it effect me. do i or dont i like it. to ellaborate on this any farther would possibly be futile. you either feel it or you dont, and thats ok each to their own.

__________________
Antonio . . .
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miker

This is a great topic. I'd be interested to see some pictures of bonsai that would be considered the epitome of bonsai as an art. Anyone care to share? Thanks.

mike_p

http://artofbonsai.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=9

Check out this link. You may find some that could be considered art

Mike

__________________
Learning the mechanics of bonsai is a matter of rote. Over and over again the processes are practiced until the hands and eyes know the moves.
Learning the art of bonsai may be more like water wearing away a stone, or climbing a mountain where the peak is always shrouded in fog and just out of reach.
Persist, and someday you may see the peak in sunshine. You may pick up the stone and it's a thing of beauty.

MP@BBB Studio

zen

Or here,... http://pictures.bonsaitalk.com/
I see bonsai as an art form, all of it,...one can't really say "only the greatest bonsai are art" there are good bonsai and bad bonsai,...just like there are good songs and bad ones.
This kind of brings me to another point, isn't music a fine art, and does it not involve time/timing and rely very heavily on change? Can you imagine a 1.4 second single tone being considered "great music"? For that matter much literature and drama as well include many elements time and change.

But then I do understand bonsai as craft, if carried out that way,...buy a trunk that some one with more patience grew and follow the book as to what to keep and where to bend what to. But where's the fun in that? Besides, when you have it looking the way that you want it to look, and you sit back and enjoy it, are you viewing it as a craft-work? If so, then by this measure would you also do this with your plumbing, or drywall seams, the way that your brick walls are laid,...etc,...where does it end?
If everyone would like to join me this weekend I will be hosting a sidewalk viewing! LOL
Do not misunderstand, I think that one can find beauty in places where it wasn't meant to placed. But it's not art, due, in whole, to the fact that the beauty inherent therein, was not created in a deliberate attempt to visually communicate or express any "thing" in particular. Much in the same way that we as modern man can enjoy a sunset very much visually, and may even attach to it our own meanings, or expressions. This is how archetypes are created and we use the archetype of the tree to describe nature, or some part of it. Generally in bonsai the most specific element of nature that we attempt to express are those that trees express well,...visually based concepts and preconceptions. If a tree is created (formed,shaped or styled) for no other reason than appear as being a "beautiful tree", then it is still art, as beauty is a concept.

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"Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work."

~ Alan Watts (1915-1973)

http://www.bonsaiswap.com/

Cathie

Take a look at www.artofbonsai.org and see what some other people have to say - they mostly are serious growers who have been doing bonsai for years and many are international award winners.