Bonsai: Living Sculpture, Not Living Painting

**Tachigi**

This thread is for sharing views on the article Bonsai: Living Sculpture, not Living Paint by Attila Soos & Will Heath
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Tom Brown
www.shadysidebonsai.com
www.4MAAT.org

**Ash Barns** · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:50 pm Post subject:

I liked this article particularly since it embraced a 'solid' branch of the arts to compare to bonsai as opposed to the contentious debates we see on other forums comparing bonsai to art per se.

The concept of viewing bonsai in a 360 degree manner is very hard for me to grasp as all my trees are seen in relief. The only style I can think of would be Broom as a credible example. However my opinion on this is not relevant nor up for discussion and not meant to take anything away from this extremely well written and thought provoking article.

Regards Ash Cool

johng · Joined: 17 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

I enjoyed reading the article...it was well written and logically supported. And, as a good article should, it got me to thinking.

I do see, and have seen for a long while, the comparison between bonsai and sculpture. However, I wonder if this is a not a new perspective for bonsai. When you consider the traditional display methods, tokonoma or on a table at a show, the viewer is limited by the nature of the display to only seeing the front of the tree. Where as sculpture seems to be more typically displayed in a fashion that allows the viewer to engage from more, if not all possible angles. So, does this fundamental difference in method of display change the relationship between these two art forms? IMO, unless the ways in which we display our trees change, bonsai will always be designed with an optimal viewing angle. (Even if we design trees "in the round" there will always be a subjective front...but that is a different discussion:))

My local club has participated in the club display at the Carolina Bonsai Expo for over 10 years now. Through the years clubs have been encouraged to think out of the box in terms of their displays. Many clubs have done some interesting things but no one has yet attempted a 3 dimensional display. I have thought about it often... Maybe powered turntables is one solution... My favorite idea is one in which the viewer would be able to walk completely around and through the display. Could you still use accessories? what about stands? do all the trees need to be in round pots? how do you create a boundary? There is much to think about and consider when trying to break from tradition.

Has anyone else seen or created a non-traditional display in which the trees were displayed more like sculpture might be?

I am also wondering about how the relationship between the tree and pot relates to this comparison of sculpture and bonsai????

Just my thoughts...thanks again for a thought provoking article.
John