From the beginning, Bonsai was a practice that encouraged minimalism, through careful pruning and cultivation of both tree and person. For the casual minimalist, the Bonsai tree might be a distant symbol of kindred values–or maybe just a pretty tree for their near-empty Brooklyn-style apartment. The ancient art of Bonsai and the modern spirit of minimalism are, in fact, philosophical siblings. In many ways the Bonsai cultivator and the minimalist enthusiast are speaking the same language. If you’re coming from a Bonsai background, be encouraged by the minimalist movement and Bonsai’s Buddhist interpretations to allow the minimalist aesthetics and principles of Bonsai to flow outward into your life. If you’re a minimalist exploring Bonsai, consider adding Bonsai to your lifestyle as a minimalist interpretation of nature, gardening, and life.
Histories of Bonsai and Minimalism
We’ve got a great post here (link to article) about the history of Bonsai. If you haven’t checked it out, definitely skim it to get a feel for the ancient practice and where it comes from. Bonsai has its roots in dual cultures, China and Japan, and is thousands of years old. “Minimalism” is an aesthetic and philosophical term with a number of reference points, all popping up in a post-World War II environment attempting to subvert the runaway violence, consumerism, industrialism, and capitalism. In visual arts and architecture, minimalism emphasizes barer elements and simple structures. Like Bonsai, minimalist architecture has its roots in Japan. While the term is most readily associated with its artistic and architectural variants, minimalism also saw similar, lesser known movements in literary and musical fields–such as the punchy prose of Hemingway or the eerie sounds of Philip Glass.
Colliding with the self-help craze and the rise of lifestyle blogs, the artistic sensibilities and counter-culture philosophy of minimalism transform it from a brand to lifestyle. Blogs, YouTube searches, Netflix documentaries, and popular best-sellers have taken the internet by storm with the promises of the joy of minimalist lifestyles. Minimalism has moved out of the art and architecture world and into the popular space. It’s trending, it’s happening, it’s a cultural phenomenon. Minimalism as lifestyle or minimalism as personal philosophy is characterized in many different ways. Every blog on the internet, popular best-selling book, and short form YouTube documentary will provide you with a different “authoritative” definition of what minimalism means. Most will agree that minimalism isn’t so much a product as a process, and the process of doing and having less than what you used to do and have, but doing and having things that matter more. Minimalism is what works for you! It can help change your thought process, reorient your values, clean up your life and mind, and become more stylish in the process.
Minimalist Aesthetics of Bonsai Design
You might picture the Bonsai tree as one object among many on a cluttered CEO’s desk, or as one tree among many in a crowded suburban garden, but Bonsai can be a beautiful cultivation process. Minimalism in the art world is defined by subtlety and simplicity, getting at the basic forms and shapes of a thing. Bonsai can be a way of distilling the very basic elements of nature, allowing earth, water, and plant to mix in a tiny ecosystem.
Pruning the Bonsai (check out our article on pruning) is more than just basic plant care. It’s an art form, allowing the Bonsai artist to shape their tree, both cutting away existing plant and preparing the plant for new, strategic growths. If you’re a minimalist artist–or simply interested in minimalist design–a Bonsai tree presents a unique challenge. It’s an artwork that grows with you, or, if ill-pruned, grows against you. The Bonsai tree is a living piece of minimalist aesthetics, requiring a special relationship and special artistic skill.
Finally, once you’ve got your artistic relationship with your Bonsai humming, you don’t have to flop the tree onto a cluttered CEO desk or crowded garden like a 90s Bonsai fanatic! Get a nice clean growing environment, and allow the Bonsai to carry a space. Put it on its own empty shelf on a crowded bookshelf to create contrast. Use it on a sleeker, more modern desk. The Bonsai tree is both an interesting challenge for the minimalist artist, and provides a lot of minimalist aesthetic value.
Bonsai as a Hobby for Minimalists
Bonsai has its roots in Zen Buddhist practice, as a way of practicing truth, goodness, and beauty. The trees were supposed to impact the form of the artist. The Bonsai artist brings a tree into alignment, and through the practice, brings themselves into alignment. Tree and person grow together, pruning and cultivating each other. Here are a few ways that you and your Bonsai can encourage minimalism in your life:
1. Relationship with Nature
As discussed previously, the Bonsai tree is a piece of minimalist aesthetics that grows with and challenges the minimalist artist. It is a living being, requiring pruning and relationship. Minimalists recognize the severing with nature that occurs at the hands of industrialism, digital landscapes, and the modern world. A Bonsai tree can be a great, simple way to reconnect with nature. Taking care of the Bonsai everyday reminds us what our jobs often don’t–of our relationship with the living, natural world.
2. Meditation
If you’re practicing minimalism, or even just dabbling, adding a Bonsai tree to your life may be the perfect meditative space. You can perform care meditations, where you reach out to the tree and ask what it needs, simultaneously asking what it is that you need. You can also use the Bonsai as a meditative icon which reminds you of a specific value, like growth, pruning, mindfulness, or energy. The Bonsai brings positive vibes into your space!
3. Letting Go
Minimalism includes an aspect of release and letting go. It embodies the philosophy “less is more,” helping people realize that they can often live fuller lives and have more beautiful spaces with less–whatever less means for each person. The art of Bonsai includes the cycles of growth and pruning. It requires that the Bonsai artist become comfortable with the concept of release, of cutting off, of letting go. Without proper pruning, the Bonsai loses its special minimalist beauty. In this way, the Bonsai serves as a physical and practical reminder of the values of minimalism.