Bonsai Isn't The Only Thing That Has...

eighten

In several threads recently, many have tried to locate bonsai's uniqueness as an art in that
- a tree is always changing
- the author may change
- the object is alive!
- the object originally developed without the help of an "artist"
- and so on.

This bothers me a little. These aspects are indeed fascinating, but for the most part, the only unique thing about bonsai is that it is TREES IN POTS! (nothing wrong with that).

Here are some examples of the above in other art forums:
Art with ants - living things as art
Emphemeral Arts - art that won't last
Damien Hirst - selecting from nature as art, decaying art
Andy Goldsworthy - selecting & modifying nature as art, art that doesn't last
Marcel Duchamp (of urinal art fame) - found art, i.e. taking a prexisting object and calling it art
Art using math?
More math art
and a little more
- Why math art? - fractals are a little like plants in that plants grow a little like fractals... Also, fractals already exist in nature, we just pick one and display it. Some links are to computer-generated art that is continuously changing in accordance to human input. This is from nature, selected by people and machines. Math is nature.
Installation art (a museum of it) - installations don't last, and often contain living things
Zymoglyphic Art (VERY relevant) - okay, mostly jokes and very into whimsy, but the things here are not new practices, and some are artistic
An introductory piece on "What is Art?" - I had to post a link like this eventually right?

There's a lot out there, but that's a taste huh?
P.S. Please do not respond with "I clicked on such and such link and that stuff is dumb, that isn't art like bonsai is." All of these things are attemps at art, and all of them have potential to be art, and some of them are very famous art. I'm not endorsing any of them, just pointing them out.

__________________
~john, Midwestern U.S. zone 4a

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heymikey(deceased)

eighten has stated that bonsai, as an art form, is not so unique and in fact shares a lot of attributes with other art forms. A list of web sites is presented with several examples of various art forms as example. Attached is an assemblage of some of these examples for those who have not visited the sites. Starting in the upper left we have the following; Man dressed up as tiger.....Pigeon feathers.....McDonalds dippin' dots.....Snow shovel.....Fidel Castro impersonator....? Succotash (projectile vomitted).....Lady talking to her ant collection.....and pugilistic rats. Now anyone can see where each of these can be said to be "emotionally moving, unique, magical, vibrantly alive, and not unremarkable." Yes I now believe that these compare directly with the finest bonsai art.

Attached Images

assemblage.jpg (57.2 KB, 190 views)

eighten

yeah... see, I said DON'T do that. heymikey, despite your smiley, you are being a real @ss. These are entirely legitimate links, and while you do manage to make fun of two of my posts, you accomplish the exact opposite of my intention by picking the least relevant pictures you can find. thanks a lot. (hey look ma, I can be sarcastic too!). Anyway, whatever, it's fine. Here's a somewhat less-carefully and less sarcastically selected collage:
P.S. Those pigeon feathers are meticulously worked into the soil sidways without displacing the feathers, and in full size they appear quite striking. As if they had somehow fallen into the ground at a high speed despite being "light as a feather". Kind of like how a bonsai may appear 100 years old and 50 feet tall, but isn't.

__________________
~john, Midwestern U.S. zone 4a

eighten

here:

Attached Images

temp.jpg (60.3 KB, 117 views)

__________________
~john, Midwestern U.S. zone 4a

naclh2ofishing

I've read these posts and looked through some of the links. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with either of you. I just want to point out that I kinda think you are arguing over what boils down to a matter of opinion.

Some may see bonsai as an art. Some may see bonsai as a craft that has very little art in it. Some romanticize (<- spelling?) bonsai to be a living thing to be passed from generation to generation until one day, the tree, through it's natural life cycle, succumbs to it's timely demise. And finally, some may see bonsai as a waste of time.

However you see it, or don't see it, is what makes everyone different. I can't think of a single case where you change a person's mind on a subject by attacking the other.

"Oh, you called me a '#$@%!' " or "Oh, well, since he's being sarcastic, I'll see it his way!"

By way of simple human nature, this just doesn't happen. Whether it's art or not...whether it's just a tree in a pot or not....I think it's worth just being willing to accept that others have their own opinions, whether I agree with it or not. Just because he/she has a difference of opinion doesn't make theirs right or wrong....just different than yours.

That's my two cents worth. <said stepping down off the soapbox>

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Zone 7b

I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky; And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking; And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide; Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying; And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life; To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover; And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

- Sea Fever by John Masefield