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[IBC] Another "art" debate?
There is a very long, hard-to-read, discussion on the gallery
about the difference between a bonsai "collector" and an "artist." It ties in with one of Andy's BT Online editorials also. As discussions tend to do, it has wandered a bit, and as the thread is getting a bit long and slow loading on the gallery maybe we can move it here (if we want). The list has been very slow lately, anyway. Here's MY contribution at the end of the thread: Ernie wrote: There are people who give more credit to Mother Nature than themselves and therefore refused to call themselves artists. Does that make them bigots? Does repeating "I am an artist" a hundred times a day make one an artist? No. One is an artist or one is not. An artist would create a "work of art" in whatever medium he or she tried (assuming the presence of the requisite skills). And, Bonsai, per se is NOT an art -- I don't care how many time an insecure person declares that it is. An individual bonsai MAY be called a work of art at some given time, but left to itself and becoming overgrown or with branches that were allowed to die, is it still a work of art. Hell no! An individual may create numbers of trees of artistic merit and therefore earn himself a label -- bonsai artist. For him -- as long as he keeps on working in bonsai (and doesn't move on to become an artist in the field of bronze sculpture, or something else) bonsai may be considered an art. For most of us, bonsai is a pastime, a hobby, an avocation, a business, or a craft. If we have the ability to make a nice tree, does that make us an artist? I don't think so -- no more than the blue-haired old lady at the Senior center who can put out decent seascape painting after seascape painting can legitimately be called an artist. However, many of us can aspire to "mastering" bonsai as a craft -- and attaining journeyman status. And indeed, when we put the label of "master" onto someone skilled in making little trees, we are speaking the language of craftsmanship. And there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! 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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