Looking for pics of "Japanese" or "Bonsai&quo

[MFisher]

These tanks are nice but nothing that any of us couldn't do. I suspect that these people live near a good retailer (which I do not) and they have lots of money to fill their tanks (Which I really do not). The first one has tons of actinic and corals that glow under actinic which makes for good photography.

Bottom line.. Don't sell yourselves short to the japanese. We have great reefs too.

 

[esmithiii]

Whenever anyone on this board asks what chemicals to dose I will show them this photo

 

[Anonymous]

hi,

digging into some ZIP disks i found this image of a 10 gal micro-reef i used to run.

l8r,

Toine

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Cindy W:
<strong>I have to admit these tanks are beautiful. OMG the colors!!! BUT...where's the coralline? Cindy</strong><hr></blockquote>

That's one of the key features of the style. Think bonsai tree sitting at the bottom of a japanese water garden.

Btw, thanks for all the links. I buddy of mine still in college is writing a paper on oriental versus european art.

 

[fishfarmer]

FWIW they are nice looking tanks but do they really relay the "artistic" principles behind bonsai. I've seen several tanks from members of this board that are just as visually appealing as these japanese tanks, but haven't been set up with the aesthetic priciples behind the art of bonsai.

 

[Seawrath]

these tanks are nice and all, but i dislike the ultra clean look of them. they seem to lack the diversity of a european style reef, and the color of some of those corals is almost too much for me, as is the overcrowded look of that first tank

and why has nobody commented about the strange slanted front glass deal? wish i had a tank shaped like that (or of that size...)

 

[pathos]

what are the aesthetic principles behind the art of bonsai?

 

[fishfarmer]

These quotes are taken out of a good book on bonsais. The book is "Bonsai Masterclass" by Peter Chan, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. New York, 1988. Mind you this is a book about trees, but I believe the same principles could be applied to bonsai reefs.

Aesthetic principles of bonsai

"As an art form, it has certain basic aesthetic principles which can be analyzed and studied. These principles are based on the aesthetic guidelines which shape all Chinese and Japanese art."

"There are two fundamental principles which permeate Chinese and Japanese art and culture: the concepts of "wabi" and "sabi."

"Wabi implies poverty, simplicity and contentment; sabi, entails loneliness, solitude, some deliberate antique imperfection, and the absence of over-sophistication. Interwoven with these attributes are the innate qualities of a love of nature, preference for imbalance and asymmetry, avoidance of abstraction, intellectualism, and praticality."

"In addition to wabi and sabi, there are seven other charateristics which are regarded as expressive of Zen in a work of art, and which link the concepts of wabi and sabi. These are: asymmetry, simplicity, austere sublimity, naturalness, subtle profundity, freedom from attachment, and tranquility. While any one or more of these qualities may predominate in a particular work of art, all should be present to some degree, and should create a perfect harmony which characterizes that work."

 

[Anonymous]

"Wabi implies poverty, simplicity and contentment;

Nothing about those tanks in any of the pictures implies poverty to me.


From my captivation of bonsai tree keeping, I think the term bonsai is used less in the Zen sense and more in the customary Western interpretation when it is applied to these tanks.

That is, the tanks are well manicured, very high maintenence, and require much patience with careful attention to detail.

There is nothing that seems to mimic the actual art of dwarfing a coral though, as many of the corals are normal sized when compared to those found in other hobbyists tanks.