TheLAB | Pacific Bonsai Museum

The LAB project concluded in 2020. This groundbreaking collaboration explored new approaches to bonsai design and pushed the boundaries of the art form. While the project is no longer active, the work and ideas generated continue to influence contemporary bonsai practice. To explore our current exhibitions and programs, visit Exhibits or Events.

Pacific Bonsai Museum’s LAB (Living Art of Bonsai) was a four-part, multi year-long experiment investigating

the influence of inspired architectural settings, and
the effect of collaboration resequencing on the art of bonsai.

The overall goals of the project were to

advance innovation in bonsai and
stimulate a critical dialogue around the art of bonsai.

MEET THE TEAM

Standmaker: Austin Heitzman, Austin Heitzman Furniture, Portland, OR
Ceramic Artist: Ron Lang, Lang Bonsai Containers, Southport, NC
Bonsai Artist: Ryan Neil, Bonsai Mirai, St. Helens, OR
Facilitator: Aarin Packard, Curator, Pacific Bonsai Museum, Federal Way, WA

THE WORK PLAN

Rather than starting with a styled tree and asking both the pot and the standmaker to respond to it (as is traditionally practiced), the LAB asks: What if the stand comes first?; or the pot?; Where can these makers take the art of bonsai if they allow themselves to influenced by each other in an entirely new way? These are the questions the LAB seeks to answer. The LAB artists’ collaborations are being choreographed in the sequence shown in the Workflow Diagram.

WORKFLOW DIAGRAM