Emotional Response to Bonsai

[CamdenJim]

I think of several trees that have immediately inspired awe, surprise, peace, wonder, admiration -- maybe even reverence -- the first time I saw them.

Now I'm wondering about other possible responses:

• Have I ever seen a tree that made me sad?
• A tree that through its beauty made me weep?
• A tree that made me smile?
• A tree that made me laugh?

When you work with a tree, revealing all that it holds within and doing all you can to make its inner beauty clear, do you think of its impact on those who see it for the first time?

Of the emotional response others will have?

 

[Smoke]

Looking at bonsai is done on a sliding scale. A tree looked at today as a newbie may seem "awesome" and "inspireing", and after twenty years in bonsai it may make you laugh.

Very seldom am I really awestruck over just looking at a bonsai, but when I see a very well designed bonsai display, maybe in a Tokonoma setting, it can take me away to a place where the tree "is".

 

[Ron Dennis]

Looking at bonsai is done on a sliding scale. A tree looked at today as a newbie may seem "awesome" and "inspireing", and after twenty years in bonsai it may make you laugh.

Very seldom am I really awestruck over just looking at a bonsai, but when I see a very well designed bonsai display, maybe in a Tokonoma setting, it can take me away to a place where the tree "is".

Totally agree with a sliding scale and that our perception does change over time. Having said this, I see many trees that elicit strong emotional reactionary responses from me. The "problem" is I want my trees to look as these special trees look eliciting those same responses from me and of course my trees do not for multiple reasons not the least of which is time. I think realizing how much time, as well as training, it takes to produce a stunning tree may be the most important bonsai skill to achieve.

Beautiful examples of Tokonoma settings.

 

[Smoke]

Thanks on the displays....

I think the word you are looking for is patina. I will agree that when a tree looks as though it has the patina of age it can stir emotions. Not so sure it makes me wanna cry or seem sad, but an emotion. Maybe just the thought of being there to view it can be the emotion.

"That" view will never be seen again......glad I was there to take it in.

I often think about the photos above and think to myself "I have captured these moments on fim", these trees may die tomorrow, who knows. But one thing is for sure, as long as they live they have the potential to show a thousand times, each as different as a snowflake.

 

[milehigh_7]

I love these kinds of threads because it gives me a chance to stop and dwell for a while on why I do this. Capturing a moment in time... what could be more precious? The trees of my childhood heard my deepest darkest secrets. My fears, hopes and dreams. With them I was home and at peace. It is no different now, they are my friends.

 

[Si Nguyen]

A bonsai can elicit a sad emotion. I have one tree that always remind me of my old teacher who passed away too soon. A masterpiece bonsai will have some human story behind it , and that story could be bigger than the tree itself. The Hiroshima survivor white pine in the National Arboretum is like that.

The California Bonsai Society show last weekend had a massive oak tree that was the most amazing and awe-inspiring bonsai I have ever seen in a long time. It was in the center of the exhibit hall without any backdrop so one can walk completely around it. Sort of like walking around a really nice shady oak tree in a park. I think Smoke is right about how the tree is displayed makes a big difference on how emotional one feel about it. The feeling of seasons that a good display evoked can certainly be very emotional.

 

[CamdenJim]

I think I mis-stated my question -- and the title of this post -- to begin with.

I really am thinking of "mood established or depicted" rather than "emotional response."

I'm a musician, and as such I'm particularly sensitive to the role music plays, for example, in establishing the mood of scenes in movies. Watch the old black-and-white "Elephant Man," for example. Turn the sound off in the final scene, when he's alone. Without the music, there no mood established in which to interpret the images. Watch it again with the sound on and see the mood intended.

Does the style and form of a tree establish or project a mood?
If it can do so, or if it does, are there limits to the moods that can be established?
Context is everything, of course, and that ties in with discussions of display.

An example: an image of a Christmas tree sets a scene, and that scene without any other help sets a mood. Emotional response is individual, but the components of a mood-setting scene are there and will resonate with an individual in our culture.

So what's the range of moods established through bonsai trees and their display?
Do you think of that as you work with your trees/
Is that even important?

I'm a newbie; I want my trees to "say" something, and as a musician, I think that means they should establish a mood through their appearance alone.

Am I ( so to speak ) barking up the wrong trunk?

 

[tanlu]

I do in nature, but I have yet to see quality bonsai in person that can do the same.

 

[Smoke]

I think I mis-stated my question -- and the title of this post -- to begin with.

I really am thinking of "mood established or depicted" rather than "emotional response."

I'm a musician, and as such I'm particularly sensitive to the role music plays, for example, in establishing the mood of scenes in movies. Watch the old black-and-white "Elephant Man," for example. Turn the sound off in the final scene, when he's alone. Without the music, there no mood established in which to interpret the images. Watch it again with the sound on and see the mood intended.

This is exactly why I have taken the time to show bonsai in the context of story telling. the traditional way of exhibiting bonsai to a viewer can be done many ways. At a typical club show a tree is shown on a stand and displayed with an accent piece (tchotchke or flowering plant) and that is it. The flowering plant will lend itself to the season and help reinforce the view.

In a tokonoma setting the bonsai and an accent are shown with a scroll to basicly become the music in your followup. Removing the scroll from any of the displays I have shown will lessen the drama.

On the other hand just putting a tree, accent and scroll together does not guarentee success either.They must be put together in such a way as to play off each other, to draw the viewer in and tell the story with little thought. Once the eye starts to "try to figure out" what is going on in a poorly composed display, the emotion is lost.

 

[Smoke]

Here are some of the best trees in California. Quite possibly some of the best trees in the USA. I have thousands of tree pictures that show much more technical perfection, but I have chosen these because they exhibit some uniqueness, and assymetry. Definately different.

What kind of emotional response is seen when looking at these trees?

 

[Smoke]

What if I choose one and add some music?

What is the response now?

 

[CamdenJim]

Here are some of the best trees in California. Quite possibly some of the best trees in the USA. I have thousands of tree pictures that show much more technical perfection, but I have chosen these because they exhibit some uniqueness, and assymetry. Definately different.

What kind of emotional response is seen when looking at these trees?

As I said in my second post, I really am thinking more of mood than of emotional response. In these images -- a whimsical, playful state of mind. Much fun in a quiet way.

But looking at the revised image you posted of the fifth image, with the scroll and accent plant as the "background music," I see the tree differently. And I think more completely. Now I wonder about the same tree in a different context.

Thank you for teaching me something about looking at a tree.

 

[JudyB]

Nothing like a great example to put the point home.
But it must be a difficult thing to put the right components together, much more than just making a beautiful tree...

 

[Vance Wood]

When it comes to discussions like this we start opening the door to the metaphysical, breeching issues some, depending on experience and time, may not be equiped to deal with. To people who are still trying to define bonsai by the numbers and the books, much of what may be discussed will come off as a the machinations of a bunch of pedantic flatuating old douche bags trying to impress themselves and confound the beginners. Having said that, the Japanese have a concept known as Kami, losely defined as devine and impossible to define, where a tree, or anything produced by artifice posseses this quality where artifice goes beyond the artist and takes on a quality of its own.

 

[Ron Dennis]

What if I choose one and add some music?

What is the response now?

I hesitate to say this but. . .

Let's remove the stand, the scroll, the accent and place the tree on a stand in one's bonsai garden. Now what? I suggest this tree, as so many more, does elicit an emotional response. Perhaps emotional response is the wrong term; but, the tree by itself causes a reaction from the viewer. As with any work of art, people will have different reactions--some favorable and some not. These reactions for myself are usually very positive feelings that I consider to be emotional.

In additional to bonsai, I am an amateur art collector--mostly paintings. When I find a painting that speaks to me in a strong manner, I want to add it to my collection but alway admire. It is this stirring of emotion that I am referring to when I say a painting or a tree elicits a response.

 

[milehigh_7]

I view trees less as static works of sculpture or paint and more like literature. When literature is done well, I can feel myself sinking into the pages and becoming a companion of the characters. I experience the places, events, emotions etc, the same is true of trees. The Tokonoma is literature; when done well it transcends the elements and takes me to a place in time, emotion or memory, even if in abstract. For the trees I own, I become a character in the story of the tree. I interact with the tree and it interacts with me creating experiences, memories and yes emotions. When walking mountain trails as a youth, I sometimes spent hours studying a particular tree. While never making changes to them myself I did observe the changes from nature over time and the affect upon my mind is what bonsai allows me to feel again.

I had many trees like this within 10 miles of my house growing up: