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Re: Re: Amano-One hand clapping
>>Aging naturally is a difficult thing for aquariums, because the plants
grow so quickly compared to the size of the aquascape. The plants are
contantly trimmed, replanted, renewed and replaced. The aquascapes in
Amano's books
often reflect this very dynamic quality. Many of the photographs feature
heavily trimmed and/or immature plants and could never mature into a state
that is nearly as attractive as the state that was created for the
photograph.<<
Roger, I think you should take a look at book three again, if you have it.
It pictures some displays over a five or seven year period, showing how the
display matured over time. I dont think there is much doubt that his
aquascapes are very maticulously planned for the long term.
>>Not everyone holds Amano's work in the same awe that people on this list
commonly express. Soon after I bought his first book I sat down with a
friend (himself a long-time aquarist and an on-again, off-again artist from
a family of artists) and we went through the book. He was completely
unimpressed. In fact he pointed out many of the smaller tanks (which in the
first book were not very small) as examples of exactly the sort of
uncomposed
crowd of plants" that he particularly disliked.<<
Well thats certainly true. Some people just do not get it. And straight out
annomosity isnt that uncommon either. Over the years I have often read
comments on the WEB like, he thinks he's God and we should all bow down to
him. Thats ridiculous. He is just a man who loves his craft, and from what
the people here who have met him say, he is a pleasant, good natured person.
For whatever reasons, many people love to critisize anyone who has earned
adulation. I love looking at his pictures and consider him an artist, but I
am not an Amano groupie!
>>Only a fairly small fraction of Amano's compositions that I've seen
actually bear any resemblance to a natural scene, much less to a
recognizable landscape. In most instances Amano's title and description are
the only clue that would lead the viewer to believe that the composition may
have been inspired by some natural setting.<<
I think its partly in the eye of the beholder, as well as well as your
definition of natural. No matter how much you pick apart any of his
pictures, they in my mind have the illusion of looking natural: all flowing
together. A garden instead of a bunch of flowers stuck in a vase. They look
like they should be natural even if they aren't!
>>I personally love the symbolism and the extra layers of meaning that are
often woven into Japanese gardens. Those same features can be carried over
to aquascapes, but their value is lost on anyone who doesn't grasp the
cultural context.<<
I find it all interesting. Edwards interpretation, Ryan Stovers writing on
Zen aquascaping, the ideas of japanese gardening and the comparison to
Bonsai gardening, (which has a lot of spiritual mystisism), but that aspect
of it doesnt interest me much. And who really knows how much of that people
are reading into it, and how much Amano really uses. However he does it, no
one else has really ever fully duplicated or topped his work individually or
in volume. On the other hand, I am a bigger fan of Dutch tanks!
Robert Paul Hudson
http://www.aquabotanic.com