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#1
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[IBC] Unnaturalistic = more realistic
Hey all,
As another installment in my defense of the role of artistry (artificial affectations to evoke reality), I offer the following examples: Movies In the movie "Saving Private Ryan," the director (artist) chose to render the color in the film toward the muted side. The colors were not crisp and realistic, but rather artificially muted. This was an affectation that was effective because most viewers have a mental concept of that period based on antiquaited footage and old movies where the color is absent or muted. The result of this non-realistic affectation is that the movie experience was "more real" for viewers. Artistry is a slave to human perception. Movie soundtracks usually constitute far more than 50% of the viewing experience. This might seem odd since real life has no soundtrack. Dramatic events in real life occur most often with nothing but the ambient sounds of nature/city/home/car/etc.. Case and point: Imagine the movie "Jaws" without the familiar soundtrack theme for the shark (Dun dun dun dun dun dun....). That movie would have been a complete flop without that theme. The public's ensuing fear of sharks and the ocean in the years that followed the release of that film would likely have never surfaced as a result of the movie. It was the music that produced all the fear. The fake shark was just a supporting prop. More on soundtracks; while good moviemaking can be accomplished without the use of a soundtrack in every (or most) scene(s), an inappropriate soundtrack will completely ruin any chance of the desired viewing experience. Interesting how something that has nothing to do with real life drama has so much power. By the way, the idea in bonsai that the pot is like the "frame" of a painting is not one that I support. I rather believe that the job of framing the work is best performed by the stand. The pot is the soundtrack. The pot establishes the entire mood. The tree just supports it. Screw up the pot and nothing about the bonsai will work. FWIW Kind regards, Andy Rutledge zone 8, Texas ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Lisa Kanis++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
#2
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[IBC] Unnaturalistic = more realistic
Movie soundtracks usually constitute far more than 50% of the
viewing experience. This might seem odd since real life has no soundtrack. Oh, not true -- on several fronts. Think about shopping malls, department stores, barbershops (or, as they call themselves today, "salons"); even my gas station has a soundtrack these days! And then, there's a personal soundtrack. In my younger days, music played a big part in my life as Jackie and I trekked from folk venue to folk venue with guitars, banjo, and autoharp. Then -- and to a large extent, now -- there always was/is a mental soundtrack humming around inside my head. (Yeah, I know . .. . ;-). Movies just capitalize on that. Mostly in fun . . . Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - "People, when Columbus discovered this country, it was plum full of nuts and berries. And I'm right here to tell you the berries are just about all gone." -- Uncle Dave Macon, old-time musician ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Lisa Kanis++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
#3
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[IBC] Unnaturalistic = more realistic
Screw up the pot and nothing about the bonsai will work.
I've seen this happen. My Osteomeles is in too big a pot and it is driving me crazy. I am waiting until December to repot it because the last time I repotted it was December & I know it is safe. There was a case in last spring's MidAtlantic which was a real disaster. The exhibitor was exhibiting the handmade pot, but the three trees in it were reprehensible. However, the right stand can also enhance a pot & the wrong one can be very damaging. I can think of another case from the MidAtlantic. There was a graceful, elegant cascade in the back room which was completely messed up because the stand was a piece of rough timber. Iris, Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40 "If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming train." Robert Lowell (1917-1977) |
#4
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[IBC] Unnaturalistic = more realistic
By the way, the idea in bonsai that the pot is like the "frame" of a painting is not one that I support. I rather believe that the job of framing the work is best performed by the stand. The pot is the soundtrack. The pot establishes the entire mood. The tree just supports it. Screw up the pot and nothing about the bonsai will work. On a more serious note (brace yourself, Andy), I tend to agree with Andy here. Especially in the smallest trees -- the ones _I_ prefer -- the pot plays a much more important role than merely as a "frame." The wrong pot can entirely spoil a tree. I notice immediately when a tree is in a pot that (I think) is too large, or too small. I also react when the color is wrong for the tree -- though I may think about it for a moment in case there's something the grower was trying to tell me that I missed (and oftentimes, there probably was, but still a bright red pot and a Japanese black pine doesn't do it for me -- maybe the torii gateway?;-). But is it the stand that is the frame, or the overall environment in which the tree is displayed? I doubt that most of us have spent a whole heckuva lot of money to have THE stand for each tree. (It's easier for me, of course, since my stands are measured in centimeters, rather than inches. But even here, witness the query I put on the gallery about the lotus leaf stand; good ones cost! That one, I was told, would cost several thousand dollars!) For me, at least, the frame for the tree is the stand and the table, and the background on and against which the tree is viewed. Our local show, for example, is always outdoors. The setting is lovely -- the sculpture garden of our local art center -- in whose education wing we have our monthly meetings. But the green, busy background is a terrible one for our bonsai. We have taken to putting bamboo screens behind all the tables to mute the lack of contrast, but that always looks makeshift. This is, I think, why virtually all of the major Japanese exhibits are held indoors (against plain, white walls on which kakemono can be hung) and the few that are outdoors display the trees in individual, sheltered alcoves -- miniature tokonoma. In most of our shows, the table is too low. also, and viewers have a god-like view that looks _down_ on the trees. NOT the best frame! We westerners don't have built-in "frames" for our trees as do so many of the old-style Japanese homes -- the tokonoma. In my house, I've set aside a corner with a Sendai chest that I use for display of my netsuke and (usually) one of my trees (there's a recent "think small" {or something like that} discussion on the gallery, showing the corner). That seems to work (for me). Anyway, Andy (as usual) led this discussion in an unsuspected direction. I thought I was going to see something on Walter's "naturalistic" style vs. "cookie-cutter" (or something). ;-) 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 +++++ |
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