I don't usually get involved in these "art" discussions, but
here are my two
cents worth.

Glad you did. It's been dull here for months now.


I tend to agree with those who consider bonsai an art. As
someone mentioned
on the gallery, there are good, bad, and mediocre artists, but
no mater
which category the artist's creation falls into, the fact that
he/she is
creating art makes that person an artist.

No way! "Bad" and "mediocre" bonsaiests are NOT creating art. A
painting isn't "art" because it's a painting. It is art because
it is GOOD!

(I've been doing bonsai almost 30 years. I have not -- and
probably never will -- created a "work of art." I DO have a few
fairly nice trees. But art they ain't.)

Regarding the statement that bonsai can't be considered art
because it will
change if left alone; bonsai is a unique form of art in that
the medium is
living and ever-changing, and must be maintained constantly. I
don't
believe that the fact that a bonsai will deteriorate if not
kept up negates
the fact that it is a work of art. If I remember correctly the
paintings on
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are (or were) flaking off and
deteriorating. They are only still there because of the
intervention of
those who have stabilized and restored them. Does the fact
that they were
deteriorating mean that these paintings are not art? I don't
think so.

Of course not. The picture and the vision always was there under
the crud of centuries. The Sistine Chapel paintings (now fully
restored, but you STILL can only view them in groups of 500 --
NOT the way it was intended they be viewed!) never ceased being
art.

That bonsai left in the back yard and watered by rainwater and
grown wild, with broken and dead branches may have been art once,
but the vision is gone! Someone may be able to take that tree
and make it art once again, but IT WILL NOT BE THE SAME ART.
Gosh, if this wasn't true, Bonsai Today would be out of business
with all of its "masterpiece makovers". ;-)

A bonsai that is art DOES have to be cosseted and maintained
incessantly if it is to keep on being art.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Lisa Kanis++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++