I’d like to observe here that folks are seeking a definition of bonsai. I’d like to then build on the approach to the definition of “Art” that I attempted in the little treatise, “The Ancient Greeks and the Bonsai Flame Wars,” which I believe still resides on the Eristic Forum at Art of Bonsai
http://www.artofbonsai.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2583 (where there is also, BTW, an article and thread on “Defining Bonsai” started by Will Heath).
If one follows my line of reasoning in the article, one arrives at my definition of “art”, or at least visual art, as:
Visual Art is a human activity that creates a visual form for the purpose of evoking an inspiring emotional response in viewers. The forms created we call Objects of Visual Art.
To build on that would simply require, if we consider bonsai as such a visual art, a further definition of the visual forms, the Objects of Visual Art, that include ALL bonsai and ONLY bonsai.
Perhaps we can agree that all bonsai are living plants, and perhaps we can further agree that all bonsai are woody, perennial plants.
Perhaps we can agree that all bonsai live out of the ground, yet with roots in a solid substrate contained in pots or on slabs.
So ALL bonsai are woody perennial plants living out of the ground in a solid substrate in a container: Does this definition also apply ONLY to bonsai? Clearly it does not, since a house plant can fulfill this definition.
Therefore, perhaps we can agree that ALL and
ONLY bonsai are such plants created as Objects of Visual Art, as defined above - a visual form created for the purpose of evoking an inspiring emotional response in viewers.
As one can figure out from my AOB article, whether or not one actually ACHIEVES that response in any given viewer is immaterial to the definition - all that is needed is that the bonsai was created in order to evoke such a response, not that it succeeds. It matters not at all to the definition whether a bonsai is a “good” bonsai or a “bad” bonsai, a masterpiece or a shitty SIAP with atrocious wiring and a spider mite infestation. All that matters is that the person who created it had that intention.
As I mentioned in the AOB article, this approach then avoids the endless and fruitless discussions laden with value judgments about whether a bonsai needs to be of such and such a quality to be considered a bonsai. Sorry - that discussion can still be had for those who enjoy such things, but it has no bearing on the definition as proposed here.
To recap:
A bonsai is a woody perennial plant living out of the ground in a solid substrate in a container, created by someone for the purpose of evoking an inspiring emotional response in the viewer.
G52