The Bonsai Kid

http://craftsmanship.net/the-bonsai-kid/

by hownottowrite • 11 years ago

159 29 11 years ago

watbe• 11 years ago

Unfortunately, given how slowly bonsai trees grow, this is not an event that can be staged annually. If it were, every artisan’s top trees would become redundant.

It's refreshing to feel the scale of slower-paced rewards compared to today's expectations of near-instantaneous rewards.

jchrisa• 11 years ago

I've been getting into bonsai, and had the pleasure of attending the show they put on in Portland this fall. It really was world-class, for all I can tell.

If you want a relaxing way to get a grasp on the hobby, this YouTube series is awesome. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8VbKcOcYctk

nowprovision• 11 years ago

This is nothing like Bonsai Kitten, complete click bait.

pavel_lishin• 11 years ago

I didn't know how ... artificial this practice was. I didn't know they literally wired up the trees to hold them in position.

craigyk• 11 years ago

I'm not an expert, but the method used really depends on the type of tree. I have faster growing tree that I shape by exploiting how it redirects growth when trimmed.

bmer• 11 years ago

Back when I was a teenager, I was really into bonsai for a bit, but was quickly put off by how..."foot-binding-esque"...the art seemed.

I forget a lot of the details, but I do remember that there were some bonsai styles, perhaps more modern than others (I am not sure about this), that focused on limiting what tools one was allowed to use to shape the tree's growth, and letting the plant grow naturally.

Perhaps others who know better can comment on what these bonsai styles are called.

Anyway, even if I could recognize that bonsai were beautiful, I was way too impatient to stick with it!

mikekchar3• 11 years ago

If you are interested in bonsai at a faster pace, you can bonsai other kinds of plants. A favourite is chrysanthemum. Instead of pruning twice a year, you are doing it every week or so. They are very demanding, though.

n0us• 11 years ago

The wiring is only temporary and can only be on the tree for a relatively short period of time before you risk permanent scarring. After being held in position for a long enough time, if done properly, will permanently shape the tree.

Everything is controlled, there are even techniques for which buds to pick out so that the tree will direct resources to the proper parts for growth.

DiabloD3• 11 years ago

The most interesting parts of the article to me:

"For a skill as rarified as bonsai, these services can be lucrative. On the teaching front, for example, Neil typically has about 80 students who pay between $1600 and $2400 a year for the privilege of spending several days at Mirai during periods when the trees need a lot of work. Then there are Mirai’s sales, which average 20 to 30 trees a year, with prices ranging from about $1,200 to tens of thousands. On the other side of the ledger, Neil admits, “our overhead is very high. We’ve already spent about $45,000 on pots this year. I think we showed a profit for the first time last year, our fourth year in a business.”"

"Another tree, which some sources have estimated to be up to 800 years old, has reportedly commanded the highest price ever paid for a bonsai: $1.3 million."

All of the photos of those trees? They are art.

Palomides• 11 years ago

certainly they are art.

it's interesting to me that you mention photos of the trees, it seems like an easy and effective source of revenue to sell prints/photos of the trees (for those who appreciate them but can't handle or afford the upkeep on an actual bonsai), but there's none on his website.

sandworm1012• 11 years ago

I know they are just plants, but part of me doesn't enjoy watching trees be tortured into artificial shapes. I thought it was all about pruning, not burning with chemicals. I had not realized exactly how mean one had to be to create these things. I now see less art and beauty and more grotesque deformation.

mikekchar3• 11 years ago

Possibly this is a troll, but in case you are serious...

There are many schools of thought with bonsai. Very many people use "clip and grow" techniques. Wiring techniques are more popular in Japan than in China from what I have heard. I'm not that experienced with bonsai, but the people I have talked to are not so keen on the production of artificial "jin" (bleached dead wood). If there are dead parts of your tree, you need to do it to keep the tree healthy. An abundance of jin seems to be more of an American style than Japanese in my limited experience.

In any case, I don't think the treatment that bonsai trees undergo is harmful to them. In fact, they are arguably much healthier and "happier" than a tree that's left to grow. The pruning of the roots makes them incredibly vigorous because they have many more feeding roots for their size than normal. You have to baby these trees too (i.e., water it every day) because the soil can dry out very quickly (there isn't much of it). So inevitably they are free of disease and insect infestations.

If you spend some time around well cared for bonsai it's pretty obvious how healthy they are. I see no evidence at all that the trees suffer. Quite the opposite. I recommend learning more about it if you are interested in the welfare of the trees (something that I won't criticize anyone for).

sandworm1012• 11 years ago

Tigers kept in zoos don't get flees and live long lives. That doesn't mean I like seeing them in cages. And like the big cats, seeing unique trees taken from the wild to be caged and starved of resources for purposes of art just rubs me the wrong way.

Also, I had thought these trees were grown from relatively normal saplings, not from already unusual wild trees. I see such trees growing in extreme conditions, usually at the windswept treeline of a mountain while hiking. I would not be happy to see some "artist" digging them up.

hueving• 11 years ago

If you think that's cruel, what could you possibly be eating?

j-pb3• 11 years ago

To be fair, there is a difference though, between cruelty for "art"s sake, and killing to survive.

Avshalom3• 11 years ago

As if perfect consistency is something attainable or even virtuous if it was.

ME, personally, yeah I contribute to a lot of ethically horrifying things through my economic choices. Mostly because I'm lazy, also not sufficiently rich that I could afford to consume only things I find ethical even if I was less lazy.

Even if I could control my reactions before I even knew I was going to have them I don't see my lack of action with regards to some feelings of revulsion (I eat eggs despite egg farms being horrifying) as a reason not be uncomfortable about stuff.

fit2rule• 11 years ago

I agree with you, and try as I might I can't help feel that it won't be a good thing for an "American" form of Bonsai to be popularized in the world. America already has a huge PR problem when it comes to martial sensibilities dealing with torture. Embody that in an appropriated culture artifact? I can't see that being an easy sell - at least not outside the American market. Maybe thats a good thing.

gbog• 11 years ago

The japanese bonzai derives from chinese "penjing" but it is not quite the same: the chinese (and vietnamese) do much more of the full landscape-on-a-plate kind, where the trees are only a part of the work. This, to me, is closer to the original intent of the thing: when you are too poor to have a nice garden, you can still grab a stone and make a mock-up mountain in your room. Then, with a bit of imagination, while looking at your penjing, you'll have the most incredible trecks ever.

Cthulhu_• 11 years ago

In case anyone wants a bonsai tree but is put off by this, you can get bonsai trees in all shapes, sizes and budgets. I've had a small one once, but I didn't water it enough. It still looked pretty when dead and dried out though. (That actually is another type of decoration, I've seen them in glass display cases)

j-pb3• 11 years ago

That video send shivers down my spine. Just watch it and imagine, that the guy was a professional torturer.

The way he talks about the dance between manipulating and not killing the thing, about walking the line of live and death for art's sake, while at the same time pushing his desk full of pliers, chisels and wires to his "victim".

_pmf_• 11 years ago

This site is a goldmine of interesting stuff.

The Bonsai Kid

Related Stories