display for discussion

[R_F]

BG, I had an experience in '92 that taught me something about the Japanese perspective on the role of the viewer's imagination. You may find it of interest.

The headliner at ABS '92 in Hershey, PA, was Susumu Sudo. Besides his bonsai talks and demos, he gave one presentation on suiseki. (All thru an interpreter.)

He took an irregular green stone, about the size of a small cantalope, and set it in a tray of sand. Then he asked us what we saw.

Many thought it looked like a mountain; others an island. (I frankly thought it looked like a frog. Other Americans laughed, but Sudo-san did not.)

Then he took a small model boat, about as long as a woman's finger, and set it on the sand near the stone. What he said next caught me by surprise. An American would have said something like, "Now I've given you more to go on." But Sudo said something else.

"Now I have restricted your imaginations."

Treebeard,

This is a good insight and I never thought of it that way. Thanks.

 

[Smoke]

Sorry AL it's just like it sounds. http://www.nerkahia.com/
You may know me better as Tree Bender from BT.

Oh...that guy!

 

[greerhw]

I go out of town one day and everything goes to crap.

keep it green,
Harry

 

[Anonymous User]

Al,

Your virt is an improvement is some ways but I am bothered by a couple things. First the tree should be elevated with a stand higher than that of the accent's. Second, the tree, being flipped, leads the eye out of the picture and does not now communicate with the accent. Third, although the scroll is much better, it should be just a hair off center to the left, in my opinion.


Will

 

[Victrinia Ridgeway]

Looks like a Dick Ryerson pot.

Ryerson is among my favorites... I have a few of his pots and they are very nice. Amoung them I have two huge ovals that are just beautifully executed (for evenness of form).

As to the scroll... what an excellent first try! I would be interested to know how you mounted it. The tree is, as has been said, very worth showing in a display... and the seedum (correct me if I am wrong about the accent) is very interesting in and of itself. I can't contribute more than what has already been said, because it's very good advice. But I wanted to say I enjoyed the items individually.

Kindest regards,

Victrinia

 

[Smoke]

Al,

Your virt is an improvement is some ways but I am bothered by a couple things. First the tree should be elevated with a stand higher than that of the accent's. Second, the tree, being flipped, leads the eye out of the picture and does not now communicate with the accent. Third, although the scroll is much better, it should be just a hair off center to the left, in my opinion.


Will

The picture posted was not meant to be a solution. It is posted as an illustration of what it might look like as seen from the other side of a scroll. It has had the background removed and placed in a picture from Boon's exhibit...nothing more was implied.

You would do well to invite Hideko Metaxis to your club on display. She does not split hairs!

 

[rockm]

I think everyone has covered the high points. The tree is very nice.

One word about scrolls--if you're going to display one in a formal setting -- you need a formal scroll. Although making your own is tempting, it can be distracting. The scroll here is indeed, too bright and informal (and the wrong subject matter) for the display.

Scrolls can be hard to pin down as to subject matter and style. Discerning what works in a display is the subject of an entire aesthetic school called "Keido."

To get a better idea of scrolls (they're called 'kakemono" in Japan), do a search on Ebay--enter "Japanese scroll" in the search, sort from highest to lowest in price and look all the way through the list. There will be quite a few surprising examples among the run-of-the mill stuff and they're not always expensive...

Kakemono, as a rule, should never be the same subject as the primary object in the display. Additionally, they should allude to something. They shouldn't be a direct reference. For instance, a summer display might be a fresh looking bright green maple. The accompanying scroll might be a single insect--a firefly, or a cicada (which is kind of a direct reference if you're Japanese...), or a hazy moon...Subtley is the key.

 

[BONSAI GARAGE]

Thanks Rock. I did do a little research on Kakemono before attempting this scroll. This scroll translates to Moon over water. I knew from the beginning I was going to break some rules, heck maybe every rule. Maybe with this next one I'll get one or two right. Here's a preview.

I think everyone has covered the high points. The tree is very nice.

One word about scrolls--if you're going to display one in a formal setting -- you need a formal scroll. Although making your own is tempting, it can be distracting. The scroll here is indeed, too bright and informal (and the wrong subject matter) for the display.

Scrolls can be hard to pin down as to subject matter and style. Discerning what works in a display is the subject of an entire aesthetic school called "Keido."

To get a better idea of scrolls (they're called 'kakemono" in Japan), do a search on Ebay--enter "Japanese scroll" in the search, sort from highest to lowest in price and look all the way through the list. There will be quite a few surprising examples among the run-of-the mill stuff and they're not always expensive...

Kakemono, as a rule, should never be the same subject as the primary object in the display. Additionally, they should allude to something. They shouldn't be a direct reference. For instance, a summer display might be a fresh looking bright green maple. The accompanying scroll might be a single insect--a firefly, or a cicada (which is kind of a direct reference if you're Japanese...), or a hazy moon...Subtley is the key.

 

[BONSAI GARAGE]

another shot of the tree. Sorry bad cell pics..