Thursday, August 6, 2009

Reiner the Bear refurbished

This is Reiner the Bear, the ugliest bonsai on then net. 50 cm high, around 200 years old, collected in Switzerlnad in 1992, pot by Derek Aspinall.
This tree has caused wars on the internet,. A few years ago on the IBC Gallery when I presented this I got outright insults, mainly from Reiner Goebel who at this time seemed the powers to be on the bonsai net. He just would not want to understand that art has nothing to do with beauty. Art absolutely does not have to be beautiful and can be great art. Well, at that time he would not even accept that bonsai was and art.
Anyway, hard to swallow for many: A good bonsai must impress you somehow. Usually it tries to impress you with beauty. But it ca also impress you with ugliness. And still be good.
It is alright to hate it though! So Reiner has fallen into oblivion by now, but he will live with 'Reiner the Bear'.