Category: bonsai
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The Influence of the West on the Development of Japanese Bonsai
Recent articles suggest that Japanese bonsai originated around 200 years ago, and that Western ideas influenced its development.
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Practical Magic
Is there a Tao of Bonsai? The recent article in the New Yorker about Ryan Neil prompted a closer look at the origins of bonsai, “practical magic” and the current relationship of Taoism to both art and bonsai.
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Bonsai De-constructed
The Bonsai Vision of Aarin Packard “A thousand years from now, what will Bonsai be? I guess I would say if it looked the same as it does today, I’ll be very disappointed.”- Aarin Packard I spoke with Aarin Packard at the inaugural Pacific Bonsai Exhibition held at the Bridgeyard…
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Trade Zone
Review of the 2022 Pacific Bonsai Expo The inaugural Pacific Bonsai Expo was held at the Bridgeyard, an industrial site adjacent to the Port of Oakland, on a strip of land within view of the ships, giant cranes, containers stacked five levels high, and other machinery of the global economy.…
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How Big Was Naka’s Bird?
Pacific Bonsai Expo 2022 Special exhibit There were two special exhibits included in this show that underscore the exchange of ideas and perhaps the creative tensions regarding the future of bonsai between East and West. The central area of the exhibit space featured an original art installation by Eric Shrader…
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Scale and Bonsai (Not that kind of scale…)
An awareness of not just the size of a bonsai but also of the relationship of bonsai size to the viewer significantly enhances our appreciation of bonsai art.