Page 36 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q2

Book Review

Serendipitous Synergy

Spirit Stones: The Ancient Art of the Scholar’s Rock

By Michael Collins-McIntyre, Canada

cientists studying human perception concluded, many years ago, that we organize
perception in a way that could not be predicted by the study of each of the com-
ponent elements in isolation. These scientists formed what was called the “Gestalt
Sschool” and emphasized that a complex perception often involves synergies that
produce indivisible wholes. The slogan that emerged from their many analyses was: “The
whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Spirit Stones: The Ancient Art of the Scholar’s
Rock is an example of the kind of coherence and excellence that derives from an abso-
lutely prepossessing interaction. The synergies here are unrivaled as is the final product.
Spirit Stones has an interesting prehistory that was discussed in detail in the first issue
of BCI Bonsai and Stone Appreciation Magazine of 2013. Briefly, it began when Jonathan
Singer’s casual photography of several orchids at a local florist caught the eye of Marc
Hachadourian, a curator at the New York Botanical Garden. Hachadourian was capti-
vated and believed that Singer’s botanical photographs were so extraordinarily rich in
detail that they captured aspects of exotic plants and orchids that otherwise would have
eluded notice. Marc gave Jonathan access to rare plants under his care and arranged an
introduction to John Kress at the Smithsonian. Jonathan was welcomed and allowed to
photograph the rare and exotic plant collection at the Smithsonian. The publication of
the widely-heralded Botanica Magnifica ensued. The master prints of this work are on
permanent display at the Smithsonian. In addition, a visit was arranged, quite seren-
dipitously, for Jonathan to see the bonsai at The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum
Cover: Spirit Stones: The Ancient Art of the Scholar’s Rock, at the National Arboretum. Here he met the Director, Dr. Tom Elias, and plans for Fine
Jonathan Singer, Kemin Hu, and Thomas Elias, Abbeville Bonsai materialized. At the same time, Jonathan saw the National Viewing Stone Col-
Press, 2014. lection. This astonishing collection is displayed in Awakening the Soul: The National
Viewing Stone Collection that was published, with Tom Elias’ guidance, by the National
Bonsai Foundation in 2000. At the time, Jonathan was preoccupied with the photogra-
phy of living forms, of the living art to be found in extraordinary plants and bonsai and
thought that photographing viewing stones was unlikely. Times change. A wager was
made with Jonathan betting against Tom’s belief that Jonathan would ultimately decide
to photograph stones. Jonathan confesses that a debt of one dollar is owed. The title of the
book presenting the National Viewing Stone Collection—Awakening the Soul—is telling.
Jonathan’s soul was indeed awakened to the beauty and the art that nature has wrought
in the stones he encountered. He attended the International Viewing Stone Symposium
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Kemin Hu also attended. Kemin is both a leading scholarly
authority on viewing stones and has also assembled one of the world’s truly great col-
lections. Kemin and Jonathan were introduced. In very short order, Jonathan asked to
photograph her collection. Kemin quickly agreed and Spirit Stones was born. Dr. Tom
Elias provided scholarly guidance and authored large portions of the book’s text. Ab-
beville Press made the project possible with its commitment to the printer’s art and the
adroit editing that allows the synergistic contributions from very different authors to be
integrated seamlessly. One of the stones as displayed on its base is strikingly symbolic
Images from Spirit Stones: The Ancient Art of the Scholar’s of the beautifully integrated synergies in the book. Figure 1 is a Taihu stone on a natural
Rock. Photographs copyright 2014 © Jonathan M. Singer. tree-root base. The coherence of the curves is such that the stone and base fuse as one.
Published by Abbeville Press, New York, NY. Used by
permission of the publisher. The integration could not be more complete or captivating.

34 | BCI | April/May/June 2014