The Beauty of Bamboo

 

    If I were rich -- filthy rich, I mean -- I wouldn't spend my money on jewelry, designer bags, or fancy cars.  Nope-- my "discretionary spending" would be on bamboo artworks, especially the modern stuff.  I just love it! 

    I love bamboo for its versatility, its resilience (it will literally take over your garden if you let it) and its practicality.  I've read that there are some 1,450 species of bamboo worldwide. Wherever bamboo grows, people have used it in a multitude of different ways -- they eat it, make shelters, utensils and weapons from it, and create works of art out of it.  There's even reputedly a nasty form of torture that takes advantage of the extraordinary speed at which it grows (one species can grow at 1.2 meters a day), but we won't go into unpleasant stuff like that in this friendly blog.  

     They say that high-quality bamboo can have the strength of steel.  Nowadays, people have discovered that bamboo flooring is attractive and ecologically sound.  But such applications  are just the tip of the iceberg.  We modern folks just getting on the band wagon a bit late after this practical and beautiful material has already been in use for millennia. 


     The aspect of bamboo that appeals to me most, however, is its aesthetic rather than practical use.  I have some lovely old bamboo baskets in the "Becky Collection," all of which are now, out of necessity, stored away where I can't appreciate them. Sob, sob!  Among my favorites is one I got for almost nothing at a Japanese recycle shop where the young whippersnapper who priced it had no idea what he was holding -- thank you very much!    
                 

Lovely old artisan bamboo basket

     Don't get me wrong -- if someone were to give me this lovely old Japanese basket, I'd be thrilled to have it.  It would be a great addition to my small-but-beloved basket collection.  How could anyone not appreciate the dark twig that's been incorporated into the handle and body of this work of art?

      However, it's the modern stuff that really appeals to me, like this room-sized installation, a recent work by a trained "bamboo artist" called Shochiku Watanabe, pictured below.  Unfortunately, no abode of mine would ever be big enough to accommodate such a piece, so I'll have to settle for smaller ones like these others (not that I could afford any of them, either!)

Recent Bamboo Art Installation by Shochiku Tanabe

My birthday is coming soon. I want this!

     

Or this.  Either will do.

      












   
                        What amazes me is the amount of training and skill a bamboo craftsman has to have.  For example, this artist, Shochiku Tanabe, comes from a line of craftsmen or should I say "artisans," whose family art name is Chikuunsai.  So far there have been three before him who carried this name and, when the time comes, Shochiku-san will become the fourth.  He's in his early 40s now, I believe.  I saw on a recent NHK World TV show (my favorite channel, by the way) that, after graduating from college with a degree in art, he spent three years simply splitting and preparing bamboo before being allowed to spend another eight years learning how to fashion things out of it.  That takes a lot of patience and forbearance, but that's the Japanese way. 
 

Shochiku Tanabe and his work

      
      The thing is, though, for every skilled, trained artisan like those in the Chikuunsai line, there are millions of simple, ordinary folk scattered around the world, quietly using their skill and experience to produce their own works and products out of bamboo.  They'll never get global recognition, they'll never have their handicrafts on display in museums.  At best they'll get just a small amount of the local currency for their work.  Yet their creations have their own value and charm and perhaps more "justification for their existence" than more "collectible" pieces.  

      Whether it's a room-sized installation created solely for viewers to appreciate on the aesthetic level or simply an item for daily use, it's all art to me (and many others, I hasten to add.  I obviously didn't originate this momentous concept.)  But I respect both because I couldn't do either myself. Perhaps it'd be smarter for me to yearn for what I can afford, like this simple, utilitarian bread basket that can be found online at "housewaresvietnam.com."  

       Whatever craft we love, whatever items we acquire to use or collect, whatever we feel we can afford, we should all keep this pithy quote about all handmade items in mind:

 Purchase from artisans or craftspeople who enjoy creating their wares. The object holds that positive energy and it spreads.