Please pardon my late response on this thread.
For another perspective on this issue, you should read the editorial, The
Kiss of Death, by Doug Roth in the current issue of the Journal of Japanese
Gardening (JOJG, Sept/Oct 2003, p. 3). Mr. Roth asserts that, "Historical
preservation is the kiss of death for a Japanese garden." He explains that if
historic preservation is a garden owner's sole objective, it means that the owners
are no longer trying to improve it and are simply trying to "preserve" it or return
it to a former state. "If they truly wanted a great garden, they'd be thinking
about future glory and taking actions to move in that direction."
Roth notes that there is value in historic preservation, such as for
architecture, but it is not usually appropriate for gardens, because of the fact
that a garden is alive and in a never ending state of flux. "With skilled care a
garden gets better; with poor care it deteriorates. In Japan old gardens are
regularly rebuilt, repaired, and reshaped, often to improve the appearance. He
derides most cases of historic preservation for living things as "an uninspired,
ill-fated approach."
I would submit that Roth's logic is generally persuasive when applied to
bonsai as well. Just as the most skilled bonsai artists strive for excellence and
hope to improve their bonsai routinely, those who manage public collections should
have the flexibility to pursue the best design for a donated bonsai, just as the
donor would have done. A curator should regularly consult with other bonsai artists
(especially the donor artist, if possible) about design and maintenance plans for
individual bonsai. (S)he should also possess a self awareness of his/her design
biases and avoid making all the bonsai in the collection look like their own.
Beyond that, they need to be free of rigid constraints of trying to maintain a
design plan for a specific bonsai from a specific point of time. To do otherwise is
unrealistic and detrimental to the health and design quality of the bonsai.
Alan Walker, Lake Charles, LA, USA
http://LCBSBonsai.org http://bonsai-bci.com
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Roger Snipes wrote:
Ab,
I think we are in agreement here. I feel that the curator of a collection should do
his or her best to maintain a bonsai in the design of the artist who created it. I
agree, however, that over time the design will evolve and may even need to be
drastically changed, whether due to normal growth on the part of the tree, or other
events that may occur.
Regards, Roger Snipes
Spokane, WA Zone 5, or maybe Zone 6.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ab Demmendal"
So this means that we first and for all should respect it as a living being
and it naturally changes through the years. Art or no art if the curator responsible
for Goshin wants to maintain Goshin the way it is intended by the creator (in my
opinion the correct way , also a matter of respect, however now for the creator ).
As history of some old Japanese masterpieces learns us this can only be done
for a couple of decades if correctly cared for the bonsai (as it stays vigorous and
grows on and on and pruning cannot maintain the original shape after that period
give or take a decade). Then inevitably restyling will be necessary (isn't that also
one of the interesting things in bonsai? that it's never definitely finished?). At
that moment the respect for the original creator is less important than respect for
the tree and try to make it as beautifully as possible without harming it's
condition.
So if it's art or not is not that important because whether we like it or
not it is only temporary; in the most positive situation a works of art changes in a
new works of art.
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