An Alternative to Traditional Bonsai Display

One of the things I like best about Arthur Joura, curator of the North Carolina Arboretum Bonsai Collection, is that he encourages creativity and out of the box thinking when it comes to the club displays at the Carolina Bonsai Expo. With this in mind, my good friend Ken Duncan and I had the opportunity to create something a little different for this year's expo. Although we received some really great feedback at the Expo, I would like to hear some of your thoughts. I am including some video for you to watch which highlights the display and discusses some of the subtleties.

Part 1


Part 2


Thank you in advance for your time and thoughtful responses.
John

Hi John.... great display... and a fine way to give an insight into the thinking behind it. I love it

Tony

John, another great multimedia presentation...innovative bonsai display and innovative forum presentation.

'Stepping outside the box' is my battle cry to anyone who'll listen, so this display lifts my spirit and gives me ammunition.
I saw the stills that Jim posted a few days ago and was instantly grabbed by the stunning composition of the Cypress with its beautiful sunset backdrop. What a superb alternative to the plain, wishy-washy scrolls we sometimes see. (No offence to fans of the traditional).

Inspirational, pure and simple.

I really like this display. I recognised the display was tumbling down from the mountains, before I saw the vid. Good to hear the story of this creation though. One thing that niggles me is the stands for the trees. The up lighter shows them up and my eyes were drawn to them . Is there a way you can mask the light, to put stands in the shade maybe.

Harleyrider wrote:wishy-washy scrolls

Great name for a Chinese laundry

Tony

Steve: should you not be concentrating on summat else?

Thanks guys...I appreciate your comments. Will, I also agree about the lighting. I think perhaps the pics may highlight the effect more...its was not as noticeable in person. Several folks even commented that they thought the trees almost looked like they were floating...I am not sure floating is a good thing but it does go to show that the lighting in on the supports was not really an issue in person.

Thanks again guys.
John

Three cheers to John and Ken...and Arthur as well! After further consideration, make that 333 cheers!!!

This is top shelf stuff my friends (Yankee English, not Brit English).

Enginuity outside of the box...we're seeing more and more of it, but we need more and more and more...of it.

When we lock ourselves into the Japanese box...as good as it may be...we are stifling our artistic design in our bonsai, and in our displays. There is plenty of room for innovation in the world of bonsai...new styles, forms, displays...

However, if you feel you must stay within the Japanese traditions, by all means, go for it. For me it's "Stop the World I Want to Get Off!".

Then, I have this thing about pictures/scrolls hanging on the wall in a bonsai display. I feel that the bonsai and the picture should not overlap...UNLESS the picture is large enough to provide the entire backdrop...and the picture and the bonsai must work together. The bonsai must be the dominating element.

Remember, I said "...in a bonsai display...".

IMAFMHO!!!

Again...333 cheers!!!

Pat

The idea was great....showing coast to mountain in progression, very original and very well done. I particularly liked the "tokonoma window" showing a moon in the night sky, a welcomed change from the traditional window that not only allows an escape for the eye, but serves as a light source in many cases.

I would have liked to see a better cropped photo taken at a better angle posted here so I could personally enjoy the view set up for the live audience, as it is the area above the backdrop is distracting, as are the shadows caused by the front lighting. Maybe without the scrolls the shadows would have added a different nuance to the display and not a bad one at that, but with the scrolls they served as a distraction.

Do you have a dead on picture that is cropped you could post?



Will

Thank you Pat... We appreciate your cheers and encouragement!!
John

John, this is another step in the advancement of American bonsai, not as imitation, but as an evolving reflection of our landscape.

I fully appreciated the guided tour.

Kudos,
Ed

Nice display. One next step in getting real creative might be to get rid of the Asian looking pots! Time to get the innovation juices flowing.

John, Ken, Authur.....Kudos to you all...
Very well done and innovative...
(I would have posted more but all the other spoke before me and used just about everything I would have said)
Irene

The pedestals upon which the trees sat were no where near so prominent when seen live. They were visible, though, so I did not get the "floating" impression.

It certainly got MY vote as the best display there.

The Carolina Bonsai Expo always has some elaborate and different displays. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. This one worked.

It is a wonderful theme & you demonstrate it beautifully. I would appreciate a still photo of it. My one criticism (& I am not even close to being an expert) is the stands for the trees: particularly the bald cypress. It looks like it might topple over. I would prefer some design that would have provided more 'anchorage' with the earth. If I were more creative I would give you a suggestion for solution, but I am not. You two are quite creative, & I hope this little criticism may be helpful in the future. Thanks so much for sharing!

I did not get many pictures of the Expo but here is one of the display form our study group.
Ken

Great display enjoyed it glad to see someone thinking outside the box.