Wabi-Sabi by Leonard Koren
For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers
--
Wabi-Sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. Modest, humble, and unconventional
“Those who know don’t say; those who say don’t know”
Missing or undefinable knowledge is simply another aspect of wabi-sabi’s inherent incompleteness
Rustic is simple, artless, or unsophisticated with surfaces rough or irregular
Self imposed isolation and voluntary poverty of the hermit and ascetic is considered opportunities for spiritual richness. For the poetically inclines, this kind of life fostered an appreciation of the minor details of everyday life and insights into the beauty of the inconspicuous and overlooked aspects of nature
Wabi refers to a way of life, a spiritual path, the inward, the subjective, a philosophical construct, spatial events
Sabi refers to material objects, art and literature, the outward, the objective, an aesthetic ideal, temporal events
Modernism implies a logical, rational worldview, is absolute, looks for universal, prototypical solutions, mass-produces, expresses faith in progress, future-oriented, believes in the control of nature, and romanticizes technology, people adapting to machines, geometric organization of form, needs to be well maintained, purity makes its expression richer, is intolerant of ambiguity and contradiction, generally light and bright, function and utility are primary values, perfect materiality is an ideal, everlasting
Wabi-sabi is primarily expressed in the private domain, implies an intuitive worldview, is relative, looks for personal, idiosyncratic solutions, one-of-a-kind, there is no progress, present-oriented, believes in the fundamental uncontrollability of nature, romanticizes nature, people adapting to nature, organic organization of form, natural materials, accommodates to degradation and attrition, corrosion and contamination make its expression richer, solicits the expansion of sensory information, is comfortable with ambiguity and contradiction, warm, generally dark and dim, function and utility are not so important, perfect immateriality is an ideal
Nonthinking repetition of mechanical forms allows one to concentrate simply on being without the distraction of having to make decisions, artistic or otherwise
You must pay maximum attention to everything happening at this very moment: be here now
Things are either devolving toward, or evolving from, nothingness
Truth comes from the observation of nature
Greatness exists in the inconspicuous and overlooked details
Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness
Accept the inevitable
Appreciate the cosmic order
Get rid of all that is unnecessary
Focus on the intrinsic and ignore material hierarchy
The more systematic and clearly defined the components of an aesthetic system are the more useful it is
Nothingness is alive with possibility
All things are impermanent
All things are imperfect
All things are incomplete
Beauty is a dynamic event that occurs between you and something else
Beauty can spontaneously occur at any moment given the proper circumstances, context, or point of view
Stop our preoccupation with success-wealth, status, power, and luxury-and enjoy the unencumbered life
Just as it is important to know when to make choices, it is also important to know when not to make choices: to let things be
Objects seem to expand in importance in inverse proportion to its actual size
Understated and unassuming, yet not without presence or quiet authority. Things coexist with the rest of the environment
Things are appreciated only during direct contact and use
They have no need for the reassurance of status or the validation of market culture. They have no need for documentation of provenance
Wabi-sabi-ness in no way depends on knowledge of the creators background or personality. It is best if the creator is of no distinction, invisible, or anonymous
Simplicity is the state of Grace arrived at by a sober, modest, heartfelt intelligence
#SharedFromTwos ✌️
