Team shohin display

markyscott

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I find that setting up a shohin display is really hard. First, you have to have a lot of trees. Second, they need to be in a variety of styles and containers. AND they need to be a variety of species. AND they need to all be looking good at the same time. AND you need lots of stands. I think they're really hard to pull off. In fact - because I only have a half dozen shohin, the stars have never aligned for me to pull one together. So I suggested to my advanced group that we pool resources and put together one from our group.

Note - I think we need a better name than "advanced group", but "power rangers", "the avengers", and "the justice league" are already taken, so I'm at a loss.

I thought I'd share a couple of the trees I'm prepping for display and the display as we put it together.

Hoe - feel free to post a picture of the trees you're bringing.

Scott
 
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Adair M

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Welcome to my world!

How many yellow pots do you have? None?

Me either!!

So, I go to borrow a couple shohin to fill out a display...

Guess what color the pots were!

Yep!
 

markyscott

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Welcome to my world!

How many yellow pots do you have? None?

Me either!!

So, I go to borrow a couple shohin to fill out a display...

Guess what color the pots were!

Yep!

I was thinking of going with an all yellow display - I just haven't found any garish enough! How did you know?

Scott
 

Adair M

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How many of those Shiners can they get in those little cars in the parade?


Oh, wait....
 

0soyoung

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I think we need a better name then "advanced group", but "power rangers" is already taken, so I'm at a loss.
How many of those Shiners can they get in those little cars in the parade?
Well, there you go - 'Shiner's Parade'
 

namnhi

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Scott, is HBS having their Fall show soon? Or is this for something else?
 

Solange

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Is it just me or do "the rules" of shohin display seem unnecessary? What is it about small trees that people seem to not accept when displayed alone, or in a three point display? Thinking out loud, but also serious. Nice tree!
 

Adair M

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Is it just me or do "the rules" of shohin display seem unnecessary? What is it about small trees that people seem to not accept when displayed alone, or in a three point display? Thinking out loud, but also serious. Nice tree!
Shohin is supposed to be fun, and creative. Because they are so small, they are usually shown in groups to have visual impact.

There are many ways to show them, from 3 point, 4 point, and up to the formal box stand with an additional "outside the box" tree.

As Scott said, a display should have variety, and be appropriate for the season.

The "rules" for shohin are very complex, and contradictory! I had the wonderful opportunity to hear Diasaku Nomoto "explain" his Kokofu-ten shohin display. He started his lecture with "Shohin - there are no rules, but..." And then went on for a half hour describing all the rules!!! Lol!!!

There should be balance, movement, color, and harmony, and still have variation, and surprise elements!
 

Solange

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Adair - I understand that. I just question it. It seems there is only a perceived need for extra elements when comparing shohin to larger specimens. That's where I find the rub. Why is shohin always in the shadow of larger trees? Why is there not respect for them as their own entity and instead we make elaborate multi tree setups to compete visually?
 

markyscott

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Is it just me or do "the rules" of shohin display seem unnecessary? What is it about small trees that people seem to not accept when displayed alone, or in a three point display? Thinking out loud, but also serious. Nice tree!

Hi Solange -

The trick is to create a display that will prevent your Shohin from getting visually lost if it's juxtaposed with potentially much larger trees. A common strategy is to display your tree in a group - that's what we intend to do. But there are other strategy's as well - consider this delightful exhibit by my friend Hoe Chuah in last year's exhibit:

image.jpeg

Scott
 

markyscott

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Yes I have admired that display. :) Why the comparative visual impact to larger trees?

I'll let Hoe speak about his own display, but I thought it held it's own among much larger trees largely through the construction of his "Shohin tokonoma". It made for a much larger visual impact than the mame display would have carried on its own. In larger exhibits like the National Show, the Shohin displays are kept separate so they can be appreciated by the viewer without competing with the larger trees. In smaller shows such as the regional one I have a couple of exhibits in, there are insufficient Shohin displays to justify dedicating a whole part of the exhibit. So they share bench space with larger trees, hence the problem.

Scott
 

Solange

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Sorry if I am being difficult, but I still don't see a problem with letting a small tree stand alone? Again, as I stated, maybe it's just me. I get the traditional thinking about this but it still seems compensatory to me. :)
 
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