Victrinia Ridgeway
Senior Member
Posts: 264
Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:46 am
Location: Bremerton, WA

bonsaiboy wrote:Yes, it most certainly does. So in summary, movement is the presence of changes in the direction/ange of the trunk and/or an angular shift in the trunk moving it out of that perpendicular line.
While I am very glad you have found an answer you are very comfortable with... I do hope that the deeper contextual meaning of movement in bonsai and it's rather important role in aesthetics becomes something you can hold on to with equal enthusiasm. :)

V

K13
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Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 9:10 pm

Movement to me is the most important aspect . Even if there is not movement at all !

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

The best analogy I know of to explain movement comes from works of Art. Still life portraits of fruit have no movement. But take a piece like 'The Scream', or the mural in the Sistine chapel depicting the creation of Adam there is not only movement but a feeling of tension as in the scream, and awe and love with the hand of God reaching out to Adam.
When I am looking at a formal upright, I don't see movement. I see balance but not movement. However when I see a windswept style bonsai I can just imagine the wind pushing and bending the tree and the tree resisting the wind.

Movement has direction or flow. In a windswept bonsai all of the branches are on the lee side and usually the tree is also slightly tilted or "broken" to show more or less the relentlessness of the wind.

A formal upright does not really have a direction. When you take a 360 view it shows balance but not much in the way of movement.



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