REFLECTION PAPER ON INSPIRATION CLUSTER ONE.
By Horwoon Irene Cheng.
After reading all the components on cluster one, I will be drawing my inspiration from the Japanese world view of Wabi Sabi and how it differentiates from the Western view of modern design.
The concept of Wabi Sabi describes the beauty of imperfection, impermanence and incompletion in Japanese design. The Japanese culture adopted these aesthetics to create simple but beautiful objects while bringing about the awareness of what it is to be human in an awe-inspiring world.
While observing the works of artists such as Sachiko Matsubara (musician), Akira Rabelais (composer) and Shinichi Maruyama (artist and photographer), I noticed that their style and approach were very similar and heavily influenced by this sense of beauty and simplicity. Their ideas are drawn from improvising in a makeshift manner. By working with materials immediately available to them, these artists strive to bring about the innate beauty found in nature. In other words, although there are often limited supplies of material to work with, these artists try to make their objects of art as attractive and appealing as possible while keeping it true to their nature and the environment around them.
With this in mind, I’m interested in looking at the beauty of deterioration and destruction that occurs naturally. By this, I’m not talking about the destruction of buildings or the deterioration of bodies or anything gruesome like that. Let me put it in this way, as Japanese architect Arata Isozaki reflects on his design aesthetic, [Why make something to last when it simply will not...when a more powerful means of expression can be obtained from its impermanence]. (cited in Makeshift: Some Reflections on Japanese Design Sensibility” Sarah Chaplin, Architectural Design, Volume 75, Issue4, Jan 2006, pp 81). While most modern designs are sleek, uniform and very refined, the discipline of Japanese design prefer the irregularity and the unconventional aspects of beauty.
Every piece of Wabi Sabi art is organic in nature. The materials they choose to use are not shiny nor uniform, asymmetrical, unrefined and raw. Rather than discarding an object because of its physical decay or natural wear and tear, Wabi Sabi artists believe these features add to their visual appeal. For instance, the changes in colour and unevenness in texture provide the space for imagination and spiritual connection. It allows the artist as well as their audience to become more involved and aware of the process of devolution with the object.
The definition of true beauty differs immensely between the Japanese and the Western view in design aesthetics. While western designers prefer to use inorganic materials for a smooth and sleek finish, Wabi Sabi enthusiasts believe they are defying the beauty of the natural process of aging. In other words, the western view is lacking intimacy between the object and the nature around them that.
Wabi Sabi on the other hand tends to leave an object with a rough and uneven surface. The idea of perfection, as Andrew Juniper argues, “[perfection] is an unattainable concept that can only be approximated.” (“Design Principles of Wabi Sabi”, The Japanese Art of Impermanence, Tuttle Pub: Vermont, 203, pp109). They believe that ugliness and beautifulness are the same and only divided by learned perceptions. It is through the simplicity of an object that embodies the very essence of beauty.
So throughout the semester, I will be looking at Haiku poems, Chinese Calligraphy, Zen gardens and draw inspiration from the aforementioned artists to assist me in completing my assignments. Even though Chinese calligraphy isn’t really related to Wabi Sabi, it is through its unpredictability of the strokes and the efforts of the calligrapher (because it is actually really hard to write using those brushes without making a smudge –I’ve tried it before, and failed quite miserably) that will inspire me with the beauty of imperfection, impermanence and incompletion.
