Let's All Wabi Sabi

Wabi-sabi

"The Japanese view of life embraced a simple aesthetic that grew stronger as inessentials were eliminated and trimmed away."

-architect Tadao Ando



A comprehensive Japanese world view, aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience, of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete." The Japanese word for rust is pronounced sabi. A wabi-sabi aesthetic values asymmetry, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and the suggestion of a natural process.


A good example of this is in certain styles of Japanese pottery. In Japanese tea ceremony, cups used are often rustic and simple-looking, e.g. Hagi ware, with shapes that are not quite symmetrical, and colors or textures that appear to emphasize an unrefined or simple style. In reality, the cups can be quite expensive and in fact, it is up to the knowledge and observational ability of the participant to notice and discern the hidden signs of a truly excellent design or glaze (akin to the appearance of a diamond in the rough.) The glaze is known to change in color with time as tea is repeatedly poured into them (sabi) and the fact that the cups are deliberately chipped or nicked at the bottom (wabi), which serves as a kind of signature of the Hagi-yaki style.



Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect. Wabi originally referred to the loneliness of living in nature, remote from society; Sabi meant "chill", "lean" or "withered."

More positive connotations of Wabi now indicate rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness.

Japanese arts over the past thousand years have been influenced by Zen and Mahayana philosophy of acceptance, and contemplation of the imperfection, constant flux, and impermanence of all things.

These can be of both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It refers to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to an object. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs.

Wabi-sabi is the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of what we think of as traditional Japanese beauty. It occupies roughly the same position in the Japanese pantheon of aesthetic values as do the Greek ideals of beauty and perfection in the West. If an object or expression can bring about within us a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi.

Wabi and sabi both suggest sentiments of desolation and solitude.

From an engineering or design point of view, "wabi" is the imperfect quality of any object, due to the inevitable limitations in design and construction/manufacture, especially with respect to unpredictable or changing usage conditions.

Sabi is then the aspect of imperfect reliability, or limited mortality of any object; to rust.

In the Mahayana Buddhist view of the universe, these may be viewed as positive characteristics, representing liberation from a material world and transcendence to a simpler life. Mahayana philosophy itself, however, warns that genuine understanding cannot be achieved through words or language, so accepting wabi-sabi on nonverbal terms may be the most appropriate approach. (Through the effects of objects, art, or observation of the world.)

The wabi and sabi concepts are religious in origin, but actual usage of the words in Japanese is often quite casual. Japanese belief systems are syncretic in nature.

Honkyoku (traditional shakuhachi music of wandering Zen monks,)

ikebana (flower arrangement,)

Japanese gardens,

Zen gardens,

and bonsai (tray gardens,)

Japanese poetry, particularly haiku,

Japanese pottery, notably Hagi-ware,

Japanese tea ceremony, and

Bonsai, the Japanese art of miniature trees, all have wabi sabi aesthetic.

--Leonard Koren in his book Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers
Summary of Wikipedia description

Great article on Wabi Sabi: http://nobleharbor.com/tea/chado/WhatIsWabi-Sabi.htm


This post is in memory of Allison Sullivan, an other-worldly sprite who I was honored to have met, who I think, exemplified the distilled nature of human existence in all its beauty, through the wabi sabi patina of her earthly teacup of great value to her family and friends.