05 June 2012

Wabi-sabi

Wabi-sabi 

A comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic that centers on the acceptance of transience (state of passing with time or being fleeting). Wabi-sabi's description of beauty: “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.” 

“…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. [It] nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.

The words wabi and sabi do not translate easily. Wabi originally referred to the loneliness of living in nature, remote from society; sabi meant “chill”, “lean” or “withered”. Around the 14th century these meanings began to change, taking on more positive connotations. Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to the 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.” 

"It is the cracks in the bark of trees that lets us know it is a mature and healthy tree, harboring an ecosystem while protecting itself from many of the denizens of the ecosystem. It is the lines in a person's face that lets us know how much they have laughed, considered carefully, grimaced in their lifetime."

(http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WabiSabi)
 

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