▲ Chair
constructed for Grandpa Tseng (2018)
The ensamble is composed of a chair and a bonsai turn-table. The turn-table is lifted
up, or ‘uprooted,’ through a hole in the center of the chair when the master is ready
to work. The two parts of the chair, the
chair and the turn-table, represent Jin or
Shari and live-wood, respectively.
The walnut, a wood which keeps it’s brilliant
colour longer, represents the bonsai turntable,
or live-wood, of the set.
The teak, a wood which changes colour
as it ages, represents the chair, or Jin or
Shari.
Leg detail
Detail of a technique used in bonsai
when the master wants to manipulate
branch or graft two trees together.
The action involves wrapping a wire
around the branches to support the
grafting process; an action mimicked in
the detailing of the legs of the bonsai turntable.
Tenon detail
The live-wood of the ensemble is
represented in the detailing of a
“sprouting” tenon in the mortise and
tenon joint. The turntable is placed on
top of the sprouting tenons and pivots
around a center joint. As the bonsai
master rotates his bonsai on the table,
the sprouting tenons will scrape the
underside of the turntable, creating
rings of time, or growth rings created in
the trunks of trees.