Wabi Sabi

[flower]

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

-architect Tadao Ando

1733








Pared down to its barest essence, wabi-sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, of accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. It's simple, slow, and uncluttered-and it reveres authenticity above all. Wabi-sabi is flea markets, not warehouse stores; aged wood, not Pergo; rice paper, not glass. It celebrates cracks and crevices and all the other marks that time, weather, and loving use leave behind. It reminds us that we are all but transient beings on this planet-that our bodies as well as the material world around us are in the process of returning to the dust from which we came. Through wabi-sabi, we learn to embrace liver spots, rust, and frayed edges, and the march of time they represent.



Wabi stems from the root wa, which refers to harmony, peace, tranquillity, and balance.

Sabi by itself means "the bloom of time."





You...are beautiful.

[silverlightning]

I came to think of European painting, especially the stilleben. Often fresh and beautiful flowers, sunlight reflecting wonderfully in the glass of the vase, a bowl of fruit, a glass of wine, but always with element of something disturbing; a rotten fruit, a wilted flower. It it is often called mento mori, reminding us time passes and we do not live forever. Stilleben was at the bottom of the genre hierarchy, not regarded as highly as the historical painting, or any genre really. The mento mori factor was a way to install a more valuable dept to the painting. Maybe all this explanation ruins the experience, but there used to be tons of theories on this subject.



Notice the snails, butterfly, and leaves that have been eaten on by a larvae; the importance of nature and imperfections.
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/images/aria/sk/z/sk-a-268.z?leftcoulisse


http://www.estatevaults.com/lm/%20%20Momento%20Mori.jpg

[noxon]

Wha ta lovely
philosophy ,

and view on life .

- practical
and poetic

- personal
approach

.

[flower]

1740


Simplicity speaks so loudly

[Amer]

Sabi by itself means "the bloom of time."

1741

I remember when I went to the garden centre to buy a rose plant, I had picked one out, not looking very much at it and not knowing too much about roses. This guy approached me and said "why don't you buy that one there, look at the difference of the flowering bud-how can you not see that?" It was true I had picked out a plant whose bud opened way too fast with no layering to the petals, it opened,, looked nice for a day, then the few petals fell; the one that the man pointed out to me had this amazing depth and layering to the petals- a beautiful fulness. I had simpy gone for the plant that on the outward seemed a bit more robust looking and overall prettier, but I'd looked superficially, beauty was in the depth that I'd overlooked.

The rose plant is blooming hearty and healthy. One day I was taking some pictures of it and afterwards when I was looking at them I noticed the one with the earwig and so strangely I got the shivers, it disturbed me and I didn't much want to look at it. But it's strange because it's become a metaphor for so many things for me, a reminder too...... look for depth, for the real beauty that is in looking, really looking and seeing the whole picture and not just what is convenient for me, life and its many layers may be tainted but the beauty is still there ..... the beauty is still there ..........