Should it be called "bonsai"? Article in the ABS journal

Walter Pall

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Saimir Orgranaja has asked me to answer two questions for an article in the journal of American Bonsai Society. The article was published recently. Here my contribution:





American Bonsai or Bonsai in America?


Thoughts of Walter Pall


http://walter-pall.de/





What's your take on this statement? Since Bonsai is a Japanese word for a Japanese art form, when one is involved in the art of bonsai, they should pay attention to and follow Japanese rules of aesthetics. Just like when one is creating Penjing, they should follow the Chinese rules for Penjing. Ultimately, they're both multi faceted forms of expression comprised of art, craft and spirituality practices. If we grow artistic little trees and don't want to abide by their rules, that's fine but we may want to call it something else entirely.





Bonsai is indeed a Japanese word. It has also become an international word, used in almost all languages for “tree in a pot“. The whole world thinks that this is a Japanese art form. Well, if anything, then it is Chinese. And is it really an art form?





Japanese bonsai is about discipline, knowing rules, respecting rules, respecting masters, respecting the old ones, not sticking out your head, not trying to be something special, something different etc.. This has made Japan successful. But in art it is a burden. Japanese bonsai is generally not treated as an art form. It is a well defined craft. This is changing right now in America as well as in Europe. In the Eastern view a good artist is one who does what he was taught so well that his master could have done it. In the Western view an artist is one who tries very hard and successfully to find something new, to be different, to excel, to be a rebel. This is the contrary of what one should do in Japan. This schizophrenic situation is causing a lot of confusion and constant pain in the bonsai world. Just go to some public bonsai forums and see for yourself. I see a gradual movement towards the Western way of looking at art coming into bonsai. And this will open the door to a new world. If you are accusing someone to not follow the rules I have the feeling that you are not understanding that it’s his job as artist to do so and the top ones create new rules.


Now that this craft is finally turning into an art form we have to live with the fact that some will change more or less radically what we were used to see as „Japanese traditional bonsai“. Whether we like it or not it is bound to happen. In the original question about the name of this game it was stated that this is fine, but should we not call this a new name? Well, we could, but will it be accepted by the bonsai scene? I am afraid it will not. The word bonsai has become an international word and will be used for whatever seems to be a tree in a container – whether we find this to be correct or not.


Usually much to my own surprise when I post some of my creations instead of praise sometimes I get harsh criticism for being so different. A well known person in Europe who is not so friendly once more or less seriously thought a couple of years ago that my creations should be named „Pallsai“ to make sure that this was clearly different from “Bonsai“. It was not meant well meaning, but I was amused. I thought it would be great if a version of an art form were called that centuries after I am dead. Well, it did not happen. The world calls it „Naturalistic Bonsai Style“ and „Fairy Tale Bonsai Style“, fine with me.


Now if someone wants to make sure that he speaks about the Japanese traditional way of doing bonsai he should call it „Japanese bonsai“. But then one should be aware that there is no such thing as uniform Japanese bonsai. The world is changing in Japan too. What once was considered great, now is old fashioned, when once most did nearly the same, diversity is getting to be the game in Japan as well as in the rest of the world.


The English invented a game and called it football. The rest of the world also plays this game and calls it football. The Americans changed this game to be something entirely different and still call it football. They believe that the world calls the old version of the game soccer now. The rest of the world does not so. Taking this as example: Why don’t we from now on call “bonsai” what we do and demand that the Japanese find a new name for it?













Do they even bother with what "bonsai" is in other parts of the world, or do they just grow miniaturized trees without much concern for Japanese or Chinese doctrine? I'm wondering if the need to label it as "American Bonsai" is only an American need, not met by practitioners in other cultures.





Most sure try to do bonsai “right” in Europe very much like in America. They are trying to follow rules more or less. They think they are doing Japanese bonsai in Europe. But the trend is for much more diversity now and much more freedom. What was “forbidden” up to recently now is fine for many. To be different than the rest is becoming a trend. The fundamentalists in Europe hate this just as they do in America. But they are getting fewer and the mavericks are getting more.


If in America some feel a need for “American Bonsai” in Europe this would be “Italian” of “French” because there is not really much of a feeling of being European. The internet makes us one world and a new trend is moving around everywhere quickly. After Classical Bonsai came Modern Bonsai. I think we can call this new world of bonsai Postmodern Bonsai to differentiate it from what was before. As in the real art world also in bonsai there is much more diversity and styles and trends are running in parallel and not in succession anymore. The cycles in art used to take decades if not even centuries in the old days. Now the cycles can be measured in months.
 

Gene Deci

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I liked that whole article a lot. Just out of curiosity, I wonder how many b nuters get the ABS Journal?
 

coh

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I don't get the ABS journal so I haven't seen the whole article. But...I've gotten to the point where I'm beyond caring about this issue. "Bonsai" is the closest commonly known term that describes what I do with these miniature trees. I'm American and don't have a particular interest in Japanese culture, so it is likely that the trees I develop will stray from Japanese "ideals" (whatever that means, it's a moving target) in various ways - different species, different styles (flat-top bald cypress, anyone), different types of containers, styles of display, etc. I'll be responding to tree habits I'm familiar with in my local environment and places I've traveled to. If that makes what I'm doing "American Bonsai", fine. If it makes it something else and someone comes up with a term that gains widespread acceptance and recognition, I'll use it. Until then it's "bonsai".

BTW, I hate soccer :)
 

coachspinks

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Maybe because I haven't been doing this as long as most of you I think it is an interesting discussion. There is a 25 year gap from when I stopped before until I started back a couple of years ago. I see some big differences in the "hobby" or art, however you like to look at it. As a history teacher I think this is interesting.
 

coachspinks

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Three straight posts....mainly because I am trying to upgrade from "Mame." Bad for my ego:)
Something I thought about the other day when working on a couple of trees. How do people, purists and those that consider themselves leaning toward the Japanese side of the hobby, view non trees as bonsai? An example would be a Kingsville Boxwood. This plant isn't a tree but it is very popular in Bonsai culture. Done right they imitate the look of large trees but they technically aren't trees in a pot.
 
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very well formulated articulation of an issue with a lot of moving parts!
 

Adair M

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Honestly I don't know why people keep going on about this. Does it really matter to anyone?
I agree.

I did find it somewhat amusing that Mr Pall considers himself an artist because he is doing bonsai differently than the Japanese, and he considers the Japanese craftsmen because their work is more uniform.

I find that attitude to be demeaning to the Japanese. Their whole culture is strongly based upon conformity to the norm. I’m not saying their culture is better or worse than ours, but saying what they do is “craft” while here in the West we do “art”, is, well, insulting.

And about the bit about learning from the masters to the point you can’t tell if the student did it or the master did it. Ha! That’s nothing new! Many great artists have done this in the past. It’s a way of leveraging their time to create more product to sell.

In Japan, the client bring their tree to Kimura to style. If Kimura did all the work, cleaning, removing old wire, repotting, wiring, thinning, styling, it might take him two days to rework a tree. Let’s say he works 300 days a year. That means he could work 150 trees a year for his clients!

Instead, he trains apprentices to do the repotting, cleaning, thinning wiring, even basic styling. Then, when the apprentice has finished, he can do final adjustments. Instead of one every two days, he can do 10 a day! And the client gets a “Kimura styled” tree.

We have not reached the level of market demand that would sustain a business like I just described, but it’s coming.
 

rockm

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"The rest of the world also plays this game and calls it football. The Americans changed this game to be something entirely different and still call it football. They believe that the world calls the old version of the game soccer now"

This is silly, We don't believe the world calls its version of football "soccer." We simply use that term to differentiate the game we developed from the game played elsewhere. It would be confusing to call BOTH "football" wouldn't it?

Americans just don't give a flip what the rest of the world calls "football." We developed a game of our own with its own set of rules and its own brutal esthetic that bears no relation to its origin game.

There is a lesson in there somewhere for bonsai. I have no idea what it is, but in the end, the soccer, football and bonsai have to be entertaining and have some kind of rules to hold players accountable for their work.

And BTW, I think the football comparison isn't really all that...If you're looking for a better parallel the history of Japan's adoption of U.S. baseball is a far far better analogy. The game's rules have been adopted wholesale by the Japanese, but they've made it their own. An intricate set of Rules that produce symmetry from symmetry, order from chaos, minimalist (one man against nine when at bat, but also a nine to nine match of men in an overall team competition, the list goes on...
 
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Cadillactaste

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"The rest of the world also plays this game and calls it football. The Americans changed this game to be something entirely different and still call it football. They believe that the world calls the old version of the game soccer now"

This is silly, We don't believe the world calls its version of football "soccer." We simply use that term to differentiate the game we developed from the game played elsewhere. It would be confusing to call BOTH "football" wouldn't it?

Americans just don't give a flip what the rest of the world calls "football." We developed a game of our own with its own set of rules and its own brutal esthetic that bears no relation to its origin game.

There is a lesson in there somewhere for bonsai. I have no idea what it is, but in the end, the soccer, football and bonsai have to be entertaining and have some kind of rules to hold players accountable for their work.

And BTW, I think the football comparison isn't really all that...If you're looking for a better parallel the history of Japan's adoption of U.S. baseball is a far far better analogy. The game's rules have been adopted wholesale by the Japanese, but they've made it their own. An intricate set of Rules that produce symmetry from symmetry, order from chaos, minimalist (one man against nine when at bat, but also a nine to nine match of men in an overall team competition, the list goes on...
Well, that sport seems to even run more parallel to bonsai. Little did I know that even existed. Since it's the same sport with different rules.

Bonsai tree in a pot...different rules. I just felt that, at the end of the day...Americans tried to change the name of how some sport was percieved. No matter what twist we toss to it. That's what I took from his comparison. So in that aspect it was fitting. We can call it whatever we want. Will it change the way others around the world see it?
 

AlainK

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In Japan, the client bring their tree to Kimura to style.

In a way, that's a different problem, although if people "bring their trees to kimura to style", it's because they comply to sets of rules that for them define what a "bonsai" is.

But like any form of art born in a specific cultural environment, it spreads out of the village, the country when it appeals to people outside. And then, it becomes something different, each one adding their own touch, but it's still the same art. The same, but different. That's evolution.

Sometimes, it becomes mainstream, here, there or everywhere, sometimes it fails.

Honestly I don't know why people keep going on about this. Does it really matter to anyone?

Right.
 

Bananaman

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Three straight posts....mainly because I am trying to upgrade from "Mame." Bad for my ego:)
Something I thought about the other day when working on a couple of trees. How do people, purists and those that consider themselves leaning toward the Japanese side of the hobby, view non trees as bonsai? An example would be a Kingsville Boxwood. This plant isn't a tree but it is very popular in Bonsai culture. Done right they imitate the look of large trees but they technically aren't trees in a pot.
Technically junipers aren’t trees either. Cotoneaster, pyracantha and the like are all shrubs.
 

rockm

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Well, that sport seems to even run more parallel to bonsai. Little did I know that even existed. Since it's the same sport with different rules.

Bonsai tree in a pot...different rules. I just felt that, at the end of the day...Americans tried to change the name of how some sport was percieved. No matter what twist we toss to it. That's what I took from his comparison. So in that aspect it was fitting. We can call it whatever we want. Will it change the way others around the world see it?

It's a distinction without a difference. Boxwood grow into small trees if left alone, even the dwarf kind--250 year old dwarf boxwood---dwarfbox6.jpgdwarfbox7.jpg
 

Bonsai Nut

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The English invented a game and called it football. The rest of the world also plays this game and calls it football. The Americans changed this game to be something entirely different and still call it football.

The game of football was played two different ways in the early 1800's; one set of rules allowed you to pick up the ball, one set of rules disallowed you from picking up the ball. These two sets of rules were championed by two different popular schools (Rugby and Eton). In 1863 the first football association was formed in Cambridge, and the first official football rules were established which followed the "no pick up the ball" rule set that eventually became the football that the majority of the world knows today. The other game became known as Rugby.

The game came to the United States in the early 1800's, when it was still only known as 'football' and there were two different rule sets. The rules that allowed picking up the ball were more popular in this country. In the US they never knew football as a game that didn't allow you to pick up the ball. So I wouldn't say that Americans changed the game as much as the game of football evolved differently here than in England.

But the analogy still stands :) Sorry for the digression :)

A rose by any other name smells just as sweet :) To me bonsai is less about rules than about the outcome. It is about capturing the essence of nature in a small tree in a container. You can call it whatever you want... but that is what you are trying to do.
 
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Bananaman

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After TRUMP is impeached the world will settle back down. You can count on it......Impeachment will begin on Jan. third.
 

moke

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I consider bonsai an art form as does most of the rest of the world, if you compare it to painting there are many styles of painting : realism, painterly, impressionism, exspressionism and fauvism, abstraction, abstract, photorealism the list goes on.
But they are all painting. There are many styles of bonsai many cultures contributing and changing an art form “Bonsai” that’s what it is and it has many styles.
 
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