Misplaced Credit in Bonsai

December 26, 2004

One of the things that has always aggravated me about how Americans view judged bonsai exhibits is how they insist on worrying about who grew the bonsai that are on display and how long they’ve owned them. The short synopsis of most such arguments is that “anyone can buy a great bonsai tree, display it and win a prize – and that’s not fair. We should only show our own work.”

Well, first of all as I’ve said over and over, it is THE DISPLAYED TREE that wins the prize. And we should all dispense with this irrelevant, weepy, bleeding heart crap about how unfair it is to “buy” an exhibit prize. That’s not the point of a bonsai exhibit and it never has been. Arguments to the contrary are merely how unskilled enthusiasts choose to decry quality and declare that their own work is “good,” too.

Now, added to the ongoing poor-mouthing about owners of fine trees not having grown them in the first place is the new tactic of detraction in such discussions. These days, detractors of quality are worried that artists who did grow or first create a nice bonsai are not getting credit when their trees win an exhibit award (!). This concern is utterly irrelevant, and here’s why.

Learn this – learn it now and keep it forever in your head: The artist who grew the tree or who first styled the tree and then sold it to an enthusiast or other artist does not display it as a bonsai in the exhibit where it wins an award. As I’ve said before, the tree itself is just a component of artistry. What wins the award in an exhibit is not the tree (at least I sincerely hope not). Rather it is the bonsai display. If you’re participating in judged events where it is just the trees alone that are being judged, you are part of the problem. Don’t do that; go display them elsewhere where artistry matters.

I have purchased several fine bonsai in my life and I have never let them be displayed in the pot that was sold with the tree. Granted, some fine bonsai are sold in fine pots that are suitable for display, but not often. I have also never shown one of my purchased bonsai as-purchased. Never have I purchased a fine bonsai that was up-to-snuff in my opinion. Every one of them needed redirection and tweaking – either minor or major (usually major).

So when I display a bonsai in a judged exhibit, it will not be in the pot in which the original artist sold it to me. The tree will not be styled/formed just as it was when the artist sold it to me. The original artist/grower will not have selected the pot, nor have prepared and cleaned the pot, nor prepared the soil surface. Nor will he/she have selected the stand, nor have selected the companion elements, nor arranged these elements in the bonsai display on the table at the exhibit.

In other words, the original artist will have done good work (hopefully) that was then used to create art. If that artistic composition wins an award, it is not just because a skilled grower or talented artist made a nicely formed tree. It will be because the owner did what was necessary to turn that tree into art.

As I said in my last essay, the tree is just one component in the bonsai display – the least important element in that display. I say “least important” because almost any bonsai can be made to look great with great display composition and care, but a great bonsai tree will seldom look great with poor display and preparation. And given that any bonsai tree of any great quality will likely have been through several artists’ hands before ending up in my hands, anyone worrying about how the previous owner/artist will not get credit is engaged in an even more ridiculous bit of hand-wringing.

Who grew what tree and who previously owned a tree are interesting bits of trivia – all of which have absolutely no place in deciding what bonsai is best presented at a judged exhibit. Remember, friends, such events are about bonsai artistry, not credit.