Bonsai, Art and Kimura
by Gunter Lind
The history of bonsai can roughly be divided into three phases – not as a strictly delimited chronological sequence, but rather as different approaches that had an influence on the way of shaping bonsai. In a slightly exaggerated way they could be characterized as follows:
Bonsai as tradition, the religious/mythical approach,
Bonsai as design, the craft approach,
Bonsai as art, the artistic approach.
1. The origins of bonsai are said to be religious, mythic. The predecessors of the art might have been containers used in the chinese death cult that were shaped like one of the islands of the blessed, a mountain steeply protruding from the sea, with many grottos and caves. The next stage were the first paradise landscapes in a pot: mountain-shaped stones planted with moss, tiny trees and other plants. The imagination of the islands of the blessed combined with other mythic thoughts gave a symbolic meaning to the landscape or tree in the pot, well beyond the aesthetic aspect. This approach to bonsai prevailed for a long time. Even at the end of the 19th century most bonsai were not bought or given to others primarily for aesthetic reasons but as a lucky charm for different occasions like new year’s day, a wedding or simply to express one's wishes of long life and prosperity. Of course this did not prevent an aesthetically appealing design, but it was not the primary intention. The new year Ume had its value, even if it was not designed perfectly, the most important thing was that would blossom at new year.
2. In the 18th century a bonsai trade developed in Japan, at first as a part of the gardens and flowers industry. In the 19th century there were already specialised bonsai nurserys which produced the mainly requested species, pine and ume (flowering apricot). Their merchandise were no pieces of art but nursery stock produced according to certain standards. These were the humble roots of the Japanese craft bonsai which later went on its triumphal progression around the world.
It is a typical feature of the craft approach that the repertoire of shapes was standardized and there were rules for their design. To a certain degree, this might apply to all kinds of craft. For the decorative arts of Japan however, including the art of gardens, they are especially typical. The regular implementation of works according to the ideals of a certain school is highly appreciated. This implies a certain degree of perfectionism. It is not coincidental that Japan has achieved extraordinary accomplishments in the field of decorative art.
The rules also pertain to the expressive features of a certain bonsai style. For example, a classic pine was supposed to have a powerfully masculine and compact expression, and a Ume should have a sparse, informal ramification on which the flowers look like scattered snow flakes. The example of the ume tells us that rules and design ideals are subject to fashions. The modern ume is much more compact and has adopted elements of the classic pine design. Such developments however are long-term trends. They leave almost no creative freedom to the designer. Moreover, neither the formal nor the expressive aspect in the craft tradition is particularly suited to raise a bonsai above the masses of just 'correct' trees. For a designer who would like to stand out from the crowd, the only way to do this is via perfection. On bonsai, this perfection doesn't only show in the perfect application of the rules, but in the fact that this doesn't show in the finished piece. The perfect craft bonsai, in its formal perfection and high degree of refinement, looks both extremely artificial and at the same time perfectly natural, if this word is taken in its second meaning: it looks self-confident, as if it couldn't have been different.
3. Bonsai as an art? Perhaps there have been always been bonsai which were intended as pieces of art by their creators. Since the invention of the "single tree bonsai" in the Song-era, chinese littérateurs-officials have created bonsai and they thought of themselves as artists. However their idea of art was influenced by calligraphy and brush painting. There the most important criterion for the originality of the artistic achievements was the individual, distinctive use of the brush, while the subject and its expressive content was often just taken from the tradition.There was no wish for innovation, no change of style which is so central to the European concept of art. It is not so easy to transfer these artistic concepts from calligraphy to bonsai. How should the individuality of the designer be expressed, if shape and expression was determined by tradition? Perhaps the literati didn't regard their bonsai as pieces of art after all, but just as decoration for their garden pavilions or studios?
Be this as it may, it seems that bonsai designers only recently started to explicitly claim the status of artists and their works to be pieces of art. My claim is that this attitude didn't originate from the Japanese bonsai tradition alone, but that it could only arise with the adoption of Western art concepts. A few years ago there was an exhibition with the title "Art is Innovation" - this is characteristic of the newer Western art. Already Karl Friedrich Schinkel, a German architect of the early 19th century, wrote: "Everywhere you're only truly alive where you create something new. Whenever you're sure of something, this is a suspicious thing ..." This attitude is alien to traditional Asian art, where creativity means more a virtuous play with traditions than creating something new.