Comments on: Trees "shaped" into sculptures http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Wed, 22 May 2013 01:20:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Gulliver http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1179553 Gulliver Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:56:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1179553 Noted, and thanks for the tip. My HTML-fu is weak :/ Noted, and thanks for the tip. My HTML-fu is weak :/

]]> By: Antinous / Moderator http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1179521 Antinous / Moderator Wed, 03 Aug 2011 07:42:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1179521 Gulliver, You really don't need to hit Enter after the blockquote tag.  You're just creating more white space. Gulliver,

You really don’t need to hit Enter after the blockquote tag.  You’re just creating more white space.

]]> By: Gulliver http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1179520 Gulliver Wed, 03 Aug 2011 07:35:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1179520 <blockquote>No, this is a bad thing.  The human desire to scew with the natural world for fun and profit must be suppressed.</blockquote> Should we start with suppressing computers or medicine? The human desire to screw with the natural world should be channeled into constructive and harmless activities. Suppressing human desires neither works nor ends well. Unless you're able and willing to commit total genocide, tinkering is here to stay. Repressing human nature under the banner of sacred cows is for religions zealots. Just my opinion, of course.

No, this is a bad thing.  The human desire to scew with the natural world for fun and profit must be suppressed.

Should we start with suppressing computers or medicine?

The human desire to screw with the natural world should be channeled into constructive and harmless activities. Suppressing human desires neither works nor ends well. Unless you’re able and willing to commit total genocide, tinkering is here to stay. Repressing human nature under the banner of sacred cows is for religions zealots.

Just my opinion, of course.

]]> By: Jake Eskel http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178751 Jake Eskel Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:27:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178751  Can you explain why this is a bad thing?  Can you explain why this is a bad thing?

]]> By: pauljodi http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178728 pauljodi Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:17:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178728 No, this is a bad thing.  The human desire to scew with the natural world for fun and profit must be suppressed. No, this is a bad thing.  The human desire to scew with the natural world for fun and profit must be suppressed.

]]> By: Soliloquy http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178598 Soliloquy Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:13:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178598 I have a dark desire to see the tree people on fire. I have a dark desire to see the tree people on fire.

]]> By: Sarah Neptune http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178448 Sarah Neptune Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:03:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178448 The tree chair that the guy in the photo is sitting on looks like a menorah! trees are usually deceased before serving as chairs. The tree chair that the guy in the photo is sitting on looks like a menorah!
trees are usually deceased before serving as chairs.

]]> By: DaveTonight http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178318 DaveTonight Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:03:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178318 Any artist is entitled to sign their own work. Any artist is entitled to sign their own work.

]]> By: onepieceman http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178306 onepieceman Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:37:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178306 Photo is great. Comments are truly bizarre. Photo is great. Comments are truly bizarre.

]]> By: James Adams http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178289 James Adams Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:48:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178289 Trees are people too, you guys. We should accept them for who they are. Trees are people too, you guys. We should accept them for who they are.

]]> By: Jake Eskel http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178274 Jake Eskel Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:06:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178274 Are they forcing the trees? The way these people do it is by convincing the tree that the environment they are in makes them grow best in the shape of a chair. The tree grows as it sees best. Training a tree to take a certain shape is a lot like teaching a child. You tell the child that if they want desert they should be good. The child changes, becomes good, and gets desert. The tree is told that it can grow better in shape XYZ, so it does. The child grows to prosper in his/her environment, and the tree grows to prosper because of what it knows of the environment it is in. Which is the abuse? Are they forcing the trees? The way these people do it is by convincing the tree that the environment they are in makes them grow best in the shape of a chair. The tree grows as it sees best.

Training a tree to take a certain shape is a lot like teaching a child. You tell the child that if they want desert they should be good. The child changes, becomes good, and gets desert. The tree is told that it can grow better in shape XYZ, so it does. The child grows to prosper in his/her environment, and the tree grows to prosper because of what it knows of the environment it is in.

Which is the abuse?

]]> By: wobinidan http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178234 wobinidan Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:25:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178234 I don't think the trees are necessarily suffering, but I do dispute the mentality of people that presumably think they're 'at one with nature' while forcing trees to comply to their desires.  I don’t think the trees are necessarily suffering, but I do dispute the mentality of people that presumably think they’re ‘at one with nature’ while forcing trees to comply to their desires. 

]]> By: Gulliver http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178170 Gulliver Tue, 02 Aug 2011 04:52:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178170 So I take it you're none too big on piercings then. Or lawn mowing. So I take it you’re none too big on piercings then. Or lawn mowing.

]]> By: solitaire http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178128 solitaire Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:58:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178128 Oh noes, look at all these deformed trees!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Porta_-_Gran_Mesquita_de_Kairuan.jpg Oh noes, look at all these deformed trees!
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Porta_-_Gran_Mesquita_de_Kairuan.jpg

]]> By: Guest http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178109 Guest Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:19:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178109 True.  I like trees at least as much as I like women, and I'm very fond of trees. To see either deformed for aesthetic reasons sickens me. True.  I like trees at least as much as I like women, and I’m very fond of trees. To see either deformed for aesthetic reasons sickens me.

]]> By: Calimecita http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178107 Calimecita Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:11:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178107 It may be appropriate to remember at this point that trees (as most plants) grow in modules. Unlike a mammal, that does indeed have genetic instructions to build 4 limbs (and will end up with 4 limbs, no more and no less, except in cases of abnormal development), a tree is not born with a predetermined number of branches, and it grows continually as long as the conditions are favorable. Their final shape depends on the interaction of their growing modules with external factors (including, now, the people who engage in this art, craft, practice or whatever they prefer to call it). It may be appropriate to remember at this point that trees (as most plants) grow in modules. Unlike a mammal, that does indeed have genetic instructions to build 4 limbs (and will end up with 4 limbs, no more and no less, except in cases of abnormal development), a tree is not born with a predetermined number of branches, and it grows continually as long as the conditions are favorable. Their final shape depends on the interaction of their growing modules with external factors (including, now, the people who engage in this art, craft, practice or whatever they prefer to call it).

]]> By: countablyinfinite http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178090 countablyinfinite Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:22:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178090 There's something about this that reminds me of orthopaedic braces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthotics ). We shape people into forms we deem better/healthier/more aesthetically pleasing all the time, without even getting into body modification (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_modification ). There’s something about this that reminds me of orthopaedic braces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthotics ). We shape people into forms we deem better/healthier/more aesthetically pleasing all the time, without even getting into body modification (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_modification ).

]]> By: Iscah http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178050 Iscah Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:28:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178050 What a revolting analogy.  Trees are not women.  What a revolting analogy.  Trees are not women. 

]]> By: i_prefer_yeti http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178038 i_prefer_yeti Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:53:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1178038 Love the concept. Hate the aesthetic.  Love the concept. Hate the aesthetic. 

]]> By: Gulliver http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177999 Gulliver Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:20:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177999 I was going to sarcastically concern troll, but I've been beat to the punch. So here's a (bad) joke. Bonsai: "Don't hate me because I'm different. My creator made me this way." Bush: "Nonsense. Topiary's a choice, you unnatural abomination." Bonsai: "Get bent." I was going to sarcastically concern troll, but I’ve been beat to the punch. So here’s a (bad) joke.

Bonsai: “Don’t hate me because I’m different. My creator made me this way.”

Bush: “Nonsense. Topiary’s a choice, you unnatural abomination.”

Bonsai: “Get bent.”

]]> By: origilla http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177969 origilla Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:36:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177969 Why the quotes around the word "shaped"? Why the quotes around the word “shaped”?

]]> By: Guest http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177932 Guest Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:52:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177932 I agree.  Slowly and while using force, altering the genetically predetermined shape of a living thing's appendages to achieve a pleasing miniaturized form need not be motivated by sadism or brutality.  It could be an expression of love. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8966942 I agree.  Slowly and while using force, altering the genetically predetermined shape of a living thing’s appendages to achieve a pleasing miniaturized form need not be motivated by sadism or brutality.  It could be an expression of love.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8966942

]]> By: Guest http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177876 Guest Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:09:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177876 Trees shaped to look like humans.  What an appropriate reflection of the art. Trees shaped to look like humans.  What an appropriate reflection of the art.

]]> By: CastanhasDoPara http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177857 CastanhasDoPara Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:49:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177857 Hoping that your hyperbole is in jest. In any case 'tortured baby' makes it seem as if bonsai is a brutal and painful process done in the interest of being sadistic to trees. While it is an unnatural and unusual method of plant care I don't really think there is any intent to harm. The bonsai artist uses slow and consistent coercion to achieve an aesthetically pleasing form. And many of these extraordinarily well cared for trees live very long (probably happy) lives, some are known to be hundreds of years old in fact. Hoping that your hyperbole is in jest. In any case ‘tortured baby’ makes it seem as if bonsai is a brutal and painful process done in the interest of being sadistic to trees. While it is an unnatural and unusual method of plant care I don’t really think there is any intent to harm. The bonsai artist uses slow and consistent coercion to achieve an aesthetically pleasing form. And many of these extraordinarily well cared for trees live very long (probably happy) lives, some are known to be hundreds of years old in fact.

]]> By: MandoSpaz http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177813 MandoSpaz Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:11:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177813 Can't anyone else hear the trees screaming in agony? Oh, the torture!   Won't someone think of the trees? Can’t anyone else hear the trees screaming in agony? Oh, the torture!
 
Won’t someone think of the trees?

]]> By: SarekOfVulcan http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177812 SarekOfVulcan Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:07:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177812 The tree shaping dispute on Wikipedia got all the way to the Arbitration Committee, where various practitioners were banned for a full year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Tree_shaping The tree shaping dispute on Wikipedia got all the way to the Arbitration Committee, where various practitioners were banned for a full year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Tree_shaping

]]> By: baronkarza http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177784 baronkarza Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:22:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177784 There used to be a big park of shaped trees, sort of a roadside attraction, in Scotts Valley, California, between San Jose and Santa Cruz. It was called Tree Circus, and was created by a Swedish immigrant named Axel Erlandson. Later the land was bought by someone else who installed dozens of giant replica dinosaurs on the site and renamed it "The Lost World". We never went there as kids, as it was rarely open, but loved to drive by it and see dinosaurs and the nearby "Santa's Village" on family trips to the beach at Santa Cruz. Some of the trees remain at Gilroy Gardens amusement park in Gilroy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Erlandson There used to be a big park of shaped trees, sort of a roadside attraction, in Scotts Valley, California, between San Jose and Santa Cruz. It was called Tree Circus, and was created by a Swedish immigrant named Axel Erlandson. Later the land was bought by someone else who installed dozens of giant replica dinosaurs on the site and renamed it “The Lost World”. We never went there as kids, as it was rarely open, but loved to drive by it and see dinosaurs and the nearby “Santa’s Village” on family trips to the beach at Santa Cruz. Some of the trees remain at Gilroy Gardens amusement park in Gilroy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Erlandson

]]> By: tsa http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177777 tsa Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:18:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177777 I want a chair like that in my garden! I want a chair like that in my garden!

]]> By: BarBarSeven http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177758 BarBarSeven Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:53:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177758 One day the trees will rise up and “guide” you gelatinous human meatsacks into a more appealing framework! Get some knots in your trunk and loose some leaves already! One day the trees will rise up and “guide” you gelatinous human meatsacks into a more appealing framework! Get some knots in your trunk and loose some leaves already!

]]> By: Lane Rasberry http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177756 Lane Rasberry Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:52:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/01/trees-shaped-into-sculptures.html#comment-1177756 If you printed it out single space in 12 point font, the discussion on Wikipedia over the name of this art form would be at least 100 pages.  It is among the longer-running and more contentious non-political disputes, largely because various practitioners of it want their preferred terminology used.  Note that the above picture has a logo - it is a branding war. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tree_shaping If you printed it out single space in 12 point font, the discussion on Wikipedia over the name of this art form would be at least 100 pages.  It is among the longer-running and more contentious non-political disputes, largely because various practitioners of it want their preferred terminology used.  Note that the above picture has a logo – it is a branding war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tree_shaping

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