As an ideology detached from the commercial world, wabi sabi provides an
alternative to these poorly designed and mass-produced environments. It can
rekindle the dwindling awareness of our own spirituality and bring back a
sense of what it means to be human.
(Andrew
Juniper)
Andrew Juniper
Andrew Juniper has written an excellent book concerning wabi sabi.
He examines zen, tea ceremony, aesthetics and design in an attempt to unravel a deeper root significance.
The book is called Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence, and we
highly recommend that you purchase it.
Another good book is Wabi-Sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets and
Philosophers by Leonard Koren.
Wabi sabi
This is a sample of what Andrew Juniper has to say about wabi sabi:
How
can a person be moved by a single flower in an old bamboo vase? How can this
simple expression enable a person to experience a heightened sense of himself
and his environment?
There is something in the flower arrangement that manages to condense, into
something so utterly simple, a refection of existence and our lot as human
beings. The flower may be just coming into blossom and so signify the force of
life, while the vase may be deformed or split, showing the signs of decay that
define the inevitable path traversed by all things organic. These thoughts may
not be verbalised, but something within us is touched by the knowledge that we,
too, are part of the coming and going of life, and as certainly as we have
enjoyed the vigour of youth, we will grow older and move toward the winter years.
(Andrew
Juniper)
Page created 5 December 2003