Unconventional Display in a conventional setting

[Eric Schrader]

Thought I might ask for opinions and reactions on this display that I put together for our spring show. The display was within the context of a larger bonsai show that had a traditional white table and backdrop. The bonsai show is also within the larger context of a flower and garden show that attracts thousands of people every year.

I may have mentioned before that I think that there is nothing inherently Japanese about bonsai, thus alternative display practices, alternative species, etc seem like an interesting avenue to explore.

The display is meant to be evocative of a landscape while simultaneously eliminating the pot and stand combo. Various viewers commented that they thought of children, construction, devil's postpile, 8-bit video games, and a few other things.

The tree is a pygmy Mendocino Cypress.

 

[JudyB]

I love this out of the box presentation. I think that all different kinds of displays have their place. This reminds me very much of old school childrens blocks, in such a good way.
This will draw more interest at a flower and garden show, and stay with ordinary (non-bonsai) people longer than the standard pot scroll and accent display that is the norm for bonsai shows. It will engage them, and that's a real good thing for bonsai.

 

[jk_lewis]

If I could see any rhyme or reason for the green blocks -- like marking imaginary paths or stairways to the tree, etc. I'd like it better. Keep on thinking, though.

 

[small trees]

My first thought

 

[John Ruger]

Eric,

I don't know what to make of it

It's definitely one of the most interesting displays and holds my attention, while simultaneously threatening a migraine

Maybe if the non-colored portions of the wood had a little deeper shade to it-sort of brownish perhaps?

 

[johng]

What an amazing amount of work for a display! I like it... I wonder how it might look if you left out a few blocks on each corner to give it a more rounded/oval overall shape? Might work well with the curved silhouette of this tree?? I certainly applaud you for trying something different!

Eric, How would you improve it next time?

John

 

[Eric Schrader]

Eric, How would you improve it next time?

I'm not sure that the next off-kilter display idea will be an iteration of this one, but perhaps it will be.

If I had to do it over - more thought would have gone into the accent portion. I ended up picking one that had a minimal profile, but the pot was still visible which kinda ruined the theme.

The tree was a good choice I think because the species is relatively unknown.

As for the green - there was a bit more order in the initial intent but I think in the setup I forgot to carefully arrange them as I had when I was doing the construction. The green side was facing north - the only part of a California landscape that is green during a dry winter. So patches of green on the north-facing blocks were intended to be part of the feeling of landscape.

The cypresses grow in rock depressions that hold nutrient-poor podsol soils which causes them to be stunted. They also grow in better soils along the coast and reach full size. This was not intended to show a stunted tree as much as to show a cypress growing on a rocky outcropping like at Point Lobos state park near Monterey or along highway 1 near Mendocino. I grew up near the Mendocino coast and remember these trees from my childhood.

I did have someone tell me it looked like minecraft, thanks for the image, I had never seen that before.

 

[iant]

Very cool display. I missed the accent on first look.
It did remind me of the Lone Cypress in Monterey.
Ian

 

[cubbie]

yah!!! have often wondered why american bonsai doesn't take on a life of it's own..... i am not japanese and my trees are mostly local. i do have some wonderful trees, and have never displayed them. thought i might go out on a limb this year and enter a couple into our state convention's display. however, they are requiring a stand, companion plant and surface moss, japanese style. my trees are more naturalistic, dont fit into any rules. would love to see us break away from japanese rules.....

 

[fourteener]

One of the ways to tell a joke is to alter what's expected so radically that it causes a reaction. To me this is one of those things that causes a reaction...so different it makes you look a little more.

To me this is the kind of thing that could be done when shown in an art museum or something along those lines. Altered to make people take a second glance.

Would I want to begin to see all Bonsai displayed this way...no. Is the change-up a good thing to lighten the mood...totally.

It's like Lenz and Crust enveloping a trumpet with a Tamarack. Not the heart of the hobby, but a little playful and eccentric.

I think it's fun, but I'm not voting for it to be the norm...

 

[Eric Schrader]

One of the ways to tell a joke is to alter what's expected so radically that it causes a reaction. To me this is one of those things that causes a reaction...so different it makes you look a little more.

To me this is the kind of thing that could be done when shown in an art museum or something along those lines. Altered to make people take a second glance.

It was pretty clear that the people who were well-versed in bonsai had a much stronger reaction to this than the general gardening public during the exhibit. At the show there are display gardens that incorporate this type of thing all the time, which was one reason I did it in that setting.

 

[Deshi]

I love it.....It makes you look at the tree.....you almost have a hard time drawing your eyes away from it.....

 

[Victrinia Ridgeway]

I can appreciate the effort to do a display like that... but I'm just not sure what it does to frame a really naturalistic tree in a very 'man-made' setting. I know there's a nice tree in front of me... but the process of a formal display, for me, is to evoke a relationship with the tree in the context of the season or it's surroundings. I guess I don't think of cliff top southern coastal trees and saw mills in the same spot.... I'm also not sure what the point of the accent is since it's completely lost in the landscape.

Outside of the box is good... divorcing the tree from everything around it, maybe not so much... for my aesthetic taste anyway.

We are all limited by our visual experience though when it comes to how we interact with an interpretive piece like this. So maybe there is such a thing as a lumber mill on the crest of a cliff in so-Cal.

Kindly,

Victrinia