Just in case you haven’t seen it yet. This magical bonsai/castle has been floating around the internet for a while. The artist is Takanori Aiba. No dimensions are given, though the next photo might provide a little perspective. BTW: this is easy to miss; the cascading tree is quite impressive on its own, even without the magical castle and all the rest.
Suddenly, it’s much smaller than we thought.
Here’s another of Aiba’s creations. Like the one above, no dimensions (or species names either) are given.
Two things.
1) This seems to run contrary to all aesthetic principles for bonsai. I like treehouses as much as the next guy, but to me the proportionality is all wrong.
2) I’ve seen in several locations that these are not living trees. That would make it not bonsai. Would love to know if that is true or not.
From Taknori Aiba’s web-site:
http://www.tokyogoodidea.com/bonsai-b
“Mixed Media, 16.5?x 14.5?x 18.9?”
much smaller than I thought when I saw the first images.
Hi NB,
I assumed the trees are living. If not, that changes everything.
However, if the trees are living, then I would take issue with your point 1)
There are not firm aesthetic principles for bonsai. All are just somebody’s ideas. This is not to say some of the ideas aren’t good ideas, just that if we are going to call bonsai an art, then we need to stretch our thinking beyond convention and make room for new ideas as well as old principles.
Thanks Mat,
Yeah. Me too. Much smaller.
Once again….it is a great learning experience to actually see someone’s perspective of how they enjoy the world of “bonsai”. ….makes everything flow……
Quite a few more of his creations can be seen on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/takanoriaiba/
Thanks David
Hi Margaret,
Thanks. I just took a look. OCD for sure, but amazing stuff.
How about just enjoying the view!!! Totally amazing work of art!
I guess it is not a living tree… Aiba’s website says:
“The early bonsai-type models look like bonsai art. Bonsai reflect the Japanese traditional aesthetic sense of expressing the magnificence of nature in a small potted plant. However, the density of decoration and the rich stories of Aiba’s works contain extraordinary times and spaces which differ from the bonsai world determined by plants physiology. “
Hi Andre,
I can’t made too much sense of your quote. I do know the tree fooled some people, at least at a glance. Including at least one well-known bonsai artist who saw the tree in real time/space.