 |
 |
 |
Art and Work |
|
Creating bonsai is the same as writing poetry or composing music in as much as each art had infinite variations. Each plant's personality stems from the various atmospheric conditions which affect it. Plants from different geographical regions have particular forms and it is also for this reason that aesthetic principles of foreign artists cannot be strictly followed. The "great artists" of bonsai never admit how their ideas for this work arise but show their finished work in public in front of an awed audience. I believe that it is important to try and understand and explain as best I can where the idea and shape of a bonsai come from and to stimulate the creativity and development of the student's personality, but I am certain that nobody can ever steal the secret of the artist's personal creativity. I believe that in order to learn it is not appropriate to work upon a series of plants in exactly the same way when only once is enough to exhaust the creative moment of a particular phsycological sensation, an emotion or an event. Master Kimura's way of teaching was admirable and will never be repeated: his bonsai are in the midst of a tempest, gusts of wind, flames and waves which crash against the rocks. I don't exclude the fact that an artist should practice when working, that he should know about aesthetic principles and styles but I do believe that he shoul always remember that everything is only a half and not itěs end and that the best practice is made internally through observation and meditation. Each artist's style results from his knowledge and sensitivity. "Each person does what they know". He should know how to watch, understand and conserve any inspiration or expressive technique he may have gleaned from another's work which may improve his creativity through his sensitivity. The need of an artist I believe is to seek a particular truth and not absolute truth. My own truth does not deny that of an empiric person, nor comunicates and unites every man to other men, but underlines what makes it unique and unrepeatable. The end of an artist's work leads to a particular feeling towards life and a formal attitude with which to interpret and represent it. More precisely, is the art of bonsai really an art ? Briefly what relationship exists or can exist between bonsai and other forms of art ? These thoughts serve to create connections between art and art, bonsai and environment, space and time, simbols and nature and to obtain an expression where all these thoughts and harmoniously intertwined. Where these ideas retain a discreet appearance but a strong impression, such as a small tree and it's large environment. My personal view towards the art of bonsai is in continual experimentation, trying to create an integrated environment where nature, music and visual art are connected. Where simbol and life are united beyond the simple vase, embracing as much as possible the emotions of the people involved. This does not entail excluding oneself from the real world. On the contrary, there are artists who retain internally their way of seeing the world, that which surrounds them and their past experience, their wish of an end to the wars which bloody every part of the world and then there are those who approach bonsai with passion, with the correct spirit, with the aim of reaching the maximum that art has to offer and who feel an intense rapport with their plants, almost to the point of speaking with them ; they will give them shape and character which will show thought and emotion, they will be reminded of their past in their forms, will gain new ideas and projects from their shape which were never throught of before and will see their projects appear during future growth or will contradict them and therefore create different opportunities. All this without the bonsai even thinking or speaking, because what is actually happening is the projection of our minds on the plants. The knowledge that we are dealing with soulless beings, but with living material which we can alter, create suffering or annoyance, since these thoughts stem from that fracture between spirit and material which torments our existence. We live in a world in which science and technology rarely interact with literature and art, in which rationality often collides with feeling and daily reality is superficial and denies deeper necessity and truth. This fracture has extremely solid ancient origins. It is impressed on the society in which we live and only time and our patient work can nurture is back to health. The first step is to remove it from our minds. Think of an embrace, a heartfelt deep embrace, not an everyday embrace. All that which is physical and material in this act neither ruins it nor makes it barren but rather characterizes it and is strictly connected to the strongest feelings involved in it. Contact with the body, heat, muscular tension, abandon, moving or not of the hands and the duration are essential items which determine and are determined by thought and the sensation of complete contact penetration of two personalities, the same feelings, suspense, desire and wish to be understood. Therefore the rigidness of one of the two can make tension disappear and from the relaxation and passiveness, disinterest. Poetry and happiness are suspended by a thousand bodily threads during such a rare event. What gives value and stresses the difference is the thought which is present during the event and merges with it. We can imagine a bonsai caressed or whipped by wind, we can see it's agile trunk bending, accompanying the invisible strong gusts, gently resisting without giving in. With time, the part of the trunk facing the wind will strengthen, thicken, while the internal curved part of the trunk will shrivel until the bark peels away, the branches also follow the gusts of wind which make their vegetation vibrate. All this occurs without the plant knowing what it is doing, but this does not deny the peoptry of a windy shape, because the only thing that counts is our thoughts which are associated to and projected upon the bonsai. Hence our thoughts and hands change the tree and the tree, once changed, influences our thoughts and enters our hearts. It is both mirror of the soul and part of the mind. Currently, as the massacres of war weigh upon us like a horrible guilt, to speak of bonsai can appear to be a way of hiding in a world of beauty so as not to see or forget, but bonsai also reflects the feelings of the person working upon it. For whoever is superficial this will be a hypocritical refuge, whoever approaches it with deepness or who does not feel the serenity necessary to design a tree will obtain a tormented shape or simply give the tree an elegant form, balanced, serene, and this will do nothing but pronounce contrastingly his knowledge that pretending not to see, to reflect or to pray is not enough to cancel the crimes against humanity and does not remove the past or current guilt of indifference. Our creativity originates from all this and extracts energy from our emotive states; both from positive ones but also from the void created by unhappiness and from the contrast between them and our strong need for interior balance. I seek balance and harmony in the shapes of my bonsai and in the unaltered rythym of the life of the plants which correspond to that of my interior life, but moments of great inspiration come from my individual crises when suffering makes me more instinctive and my deepest images flow easier. Sometimes when working on my plants, as in every art, I find a little serenity and am freed in part from my suffering. But bonsai has also become a commercial product and it truly appears that the art is no longer so interesting. Its defect is that it cannot be mass produced and easily reduced according to the market. This does not mean that those who work as artists are lacking. Instead, this type of "artist" increases in proportion to the decrease of real artistic sentiment. These "workers" learn the rules and, if they have understood them well, apply them correctly. They can be enticed by "current styles", appreciated by the general public, easily judged by the "experts" and can easily sell their experience and works. If these "artists" did not exist then intellectual unemployment would cause serious problems ! With their clientele and relationships they make up part of a large system of interests. Luckily the world of bonsai is small and therefore the market is still quite contained. But there appears to be an ever increasing number of bonsai enthusiasts who, after reading a few books and having practiced a little, believe they possess vast knowledge and try to teach this to the ever-increasing newcomers. Whoever believes they are able to teach the technique of bonsai should ask for brief approval from a small group, if quick consent is not given by the "experts" the bonsai enthusiast should be prepared to step down and to teach in a different manner. Some believe, in all honesty, to seek themselves, but really are only trying to seek the part most acceptable to others (and most commercial). Nevertheless, bonsai enthusiasts survive who work to seek and comunicate the art, who will not bow down and give up if they are not applauded. They love bonsai and to watch them work is a real pleasure from which you can learn something about the art of bonsai, a show which requires respect more than applause. "Ever artists retains, thus, in the depths of his being a unique font which throughout his life feeds him what he is and what he says" "No man can say what he is But sometimes can say what he isn't"
|
[ CV -
Gallery -
Works -
HOME ]