Hi Lynn.

On Horst's pot that looks cracked, we seem to agree on what the potter
intended & accomplished in the pot's form-- an excellently-constructed and a
detailed, realistic rendition of a broken pot. You recognize his intention
additionally as a link between "fragile beauty & vulnerability," which a
potter would know well through pot breakage and which has a crosslink to the
ever vanquishing beauty of seasonal display in bonsai. Okay, I get it.

The pot withstands close reading. It carries a full-blown visual essay,
which begs comparing the cracks in their array of different forms. Do you
want to turn the pot around, as I do, to see if & how HH managed even
additional cracks? I'm intrigued by the crack crafting.

What is being blurred is replacing a functional container with potential for
quiet simplicity &/or elegance with a disquieting pot. If you've got to
focus on the pot's visual elements (cracks that could be real) to appreciate
its craft & perhaps even 'read' into the pot an intellectual analogy (re'
fragile beauty & vulnerability) to appreciate it, how effective is it in
presenting its content (the plant)? You don't visualize the container with
a plant in your description, Lynn-- perhaps because adding a plant would be
superflous or redundant to the "poignancy (fragile beauty & vulnerability)"
you see in the pot-itself. Maybe I don't get it... :-(

Horst pot without a planting says enough, but then it is acting as an
okimono & not a bonsai companion plant pot.

You and Horst produce art with incredible talent. The challenges of
communicating aesthetically as well as overcoming craft barriers such as
convincingly replicating a crack must occur often. The convincing
replication of a cracked pot is a craft challenge that is well met by Horst.

Luis sees the pot as a container which is elevated by "embodiment of the
artist's intent & craft." I see the artist's engagement of the viewer away
from the container's content (a plant) as dysfunctional if drawing-off
poignancy from the planting. Of course, it doesn't have to "interpreted"
classicly. The pot could dominate. This begins to deconstruct the
narratives supporting classical bonsai as art-- not unlike D. Bull's "Burnt
Forest" styling.

Best wishes,
Chris

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