Mallsai Into Bonsai With Stile

Treebeard

Sorry about the awful pun.

I could spin you a yarn about this, and give all manner of serious justification, but the bottom line is that I just thought it might be fun!

It may well be artistically retarded, it may well be kitsch, but non-bonsai growing visitors like it, my 10 yo son likes it, but most importantly my wife likes it, so you lot can say what you like, I'm happy .

The tree is was a £7.50 mallsai from Homebase, the pot was a £20 from a reputable bonsai shop. It was put together at the start of March this year. I scrounged the moss from underneath a derelict Landrover.

Regards,

Chris.

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Treebeard

Here's a look downwards.

Regards,

Chris.

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Carl_Bergstrom

Personally, I like it a lot.

It's a sort of distinctly British take on Penjing. It also reminds me of some of Nick Lenz' scenic work, which I admire very much.

Best regards,
Carl

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Treebeard

Thank you Carl, I'm glad you like it. Whilst I said it was a fun project, I did try to capture something of my local scenery in it. Looks like I may have succeeded...

Regards,

Chris.

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Attila

Chris,
This is awesome. I always wanted to incorporate a little fence in my future landscapes, and you beat me. I would have never imagined that someone will do it, even though it's a very charming concept.

You captured so well what I've imagined that I have no words to describe it (now I am also getting depressed since I won't be able to do it better than this).


Totally devastated,
Attila

P.S.: and by the way, this is the most refreshing bonsai that I've seen for a while.

Carl_Bergstrom

Now on to the artistic side (if I may).

I spent a long time looking at the first photo and trying to figure out why someone would think that it was "mallsai" or "kitsch". Which I can't answer that, I have a thought that may or may not be of use. I realize I may be treading on dangerous ground and I also admit that I'm totally making all of this up. Please realize this not meant to be the least bit critical of the current design. I am simply curious to hear your thoughts.

Art is evocative; kitsch sometimes aims to "capture" or "package" or "possess". Art can be open-ended in terms of meaning, suggestion, its effects on viewers, the emotions it invokes, and so forth; kitsch provides the whole deal in one neat package, like a terrible Hallmark card, it effectively tells you what to feel and how to feel it.

Now let's look at the role of the pot in this very nice composition.

When I see this image, I think of a wide-open countryside, and I think of that fence spreading out across field and valley. But the pot doesn't all the image to spread. It's high, straight sides enclose, encapsulate, possess, and package the scene. The sides of this pot make the image into a little piece of Britain encapsulated for the traveller to take home as a Keepsake of My English Holiday.

So instead I find myself thinking about how Brook Zhao handles his penjing landscapes. What if instead of a pot, this were on a slab? I've attached a very rough virtual.

Then the image would not be encapsulated, packaged, contained. It would be free to spread like the imagination or to wander like a traveller on the moors.

So...is this absolutely nuts, the blatherings of a sleep-deprived wanna-be artiste? Or do you think there might be something to it? I'm not sure, one way or the other. You tell me.

Best wishes,
Carl

Edit: The shrubs on either side of the stile really make the whole image work, by the way. They take what could have been a simple ornament (the fence and style) and integrate it into the living composition. Nice job!

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Attila

Hi Carl,

Your definition of kitch is the best I've heard so far.

Opening up the space physically and figuratively is simple and yet very profound. It seems like you've touched the essence of penjing as high art.

Hats off to you
Attila

Attila

The only change I would make to your virtual is to tone down the brilliant white colour of the marble slab into a creamy light brown or something earthly and warm.

The white marble usually represents water in penjing.

Regards,
Attila

Carl_Bergstrom

Attila,

Thanks for the kind words about kitsch. I guess.

I agree completely about the white marble. This was the only slab photo I could find in my files, and indeed I had to cover the previously white areas with moss to avoid having "water" in the scene. A piece of slate would probably be very nice here as well, perhaps better than refined marble of any shade.

Best wishes,
Carl

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