2
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, emptiness is not separate from form, form is not separate from emptiness, whatever is form is emptiness, whatever is emptiness is form.
A text from the prajnaparamita sutra
x Flux is a faux soap series in collaboration with Aesop and Yoko Ono. Both Aesop and Yoko Ono’s common philosophy inspired it. Flux underlines foam formed by soap and how soap is compared to the idea of form and feelings derived from the teaching of emptiness in Buddhism, which is a large influence to the idea of wabi-sabi. Emptiness in Buddhism is used to refer to a meditative state, where one must not add or subtract anything away from the present. Likewise, foam in soap has the attribute of having a form, yet being empty at the same time.
01 02 01 ARTIST PHILOSOPHY 08-09
Biography and Philosopy
10-17
Artist selected works
18-21
Extracted Keywords Main Key Points Mindmap
02 RESEARCH PHASE 24-25
Wabi- Sabi
26-27 Black
27
Experimental
4| 5 4
03 04 03 CONCEPT PHASE 30-31
Linking of concept
31
Fictional Product Collaboration with Aesop
04 DESIGN PHASE 34
Logo Design
35-37
Invite Packaging Design
CONTENTS
6| 7 6
01
ARTIST PHILOSOPHY Biography and Philosophy Artist selected works Extracted keywords Main key points Mindmap
ARTIST PHILOSOPHY
YOKO ONO Artist’s Biography and Philosophy
Biography Yoko Ono, born on 18 February 1933, is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer and peace activist known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking. She became known worldwide in the 1960s when she married Beatles front man, John Lennon.
8| 9 8
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
Philosophy Yoko Ono’s oeuvre consists of performance art, art installations, poetry, experimental films, in which she uses various everyday objects such as beds, bottles, cloth, doors, hammer, nails, ink, paper, strings, doors, ladder etc. She explores the relationships between love and hate, and peace and war. To these, she seeks an avant-garde approach with everyday objects, poetry and music. Although Ono’s art is avant-garde in nature, she believes in minimalism, where a breathing space is always necessary.
ARTIST PHILOSOPHY
Shadow Painting. 1961.
YOKO ONO Selected Works
10 | 11 10
Yoko Ono with Painting to See in the Dark. 1961.
Painting to Be Stepped On. 1961. ARTIST PHILOSOPHY
12
14
16
YOKO ONO Extracted Keywords | Main Key Points
EXTRACTED KEYWORDS Absence | Presence Avant-garde Art Activist Bohemian Black Conceptual Experimental Feminist Minimal Music Monochromatic Peace Performance Poetic Textile Thinker White
MAIN KEY POINTS Avant-garde Minimal Monochromatic
KEY POINT 01 MINIMAL Even though Yoko Ono has been living in New York since 1965, her work always reflects her Japanese sensibility, and suggests a secular form of Shintoism at play. Precise and minimal, her work always build into something greater than the initial act.
18 | 19 18
“ I know. People say it is too simplistic, or whatever. Some people say, “Oh well, maybe when you get older you want to do something simple.” I thought that was ageist. My work was always minimal. Minimalism, I believed in that. It was always very simple. I think it is as simple as breathing. Breathing is very important. I don’t feel that that’s bad.” — Yoko Ono in an interview with Stanford News Service, 2009
KEYPOINT 02 MONOCHROMATIC Yoko Ono is always seen wearing black. In her recent Yoko Ono: One Woman Show at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), her works were filled with neutral monochromatic pieces. This is also evident in her other works. Her roots which come from Fluxus inspired conceptual art, as well as Japanese traditional practices like brush painting and calligraphy, Zen, and early black and white, encourages the use of
KEYPOINT 03 AVANT-GARDE Yoko Ono is a multimedia artist, singer and peace activist who is known for her avant-garde art, music and filmmaking. As early as her teens, she had already rebelled against her parents’ classical interests and experimented with conceptual music.
ARTIST PHILOSOPHY
MINDMAP Quality > Quantity
Concept is more important than extravagant design
Remove whatever is unnecessary and focus on the main thing.
Stripped to its essential
Simple yet profound
Breathing Space
Clean
MY PERSPECTIVE ON MINIMALISM
Japanese Design
20 | 21 20
Monochromatic
Zen Philosophy
Wabi-sabi
Idea of simplicity
Appreciates absence of unnecessary features to view life in quietness
Usually 1 to 2 colors
Does not take the focus away Calm
Cool
Not jarring Black
Single Hue
Neutral
White
Tints
Grey
MY PERSPECTIVE ON MONOCHROMATIC
Zebra
Japanese Art and Design
Cinema
Black and white
Design Calligraphy
Brush painting Japanese Zen idea
Social Economical
Dada
Conceptual
Pushes the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm
Opposes mainstream culture Political
Movements
Unorthodox
Art
MY PERSPECTIVE ON AVANT-GARDE
Experimental
Music
Theatre Radical
Daring
ARTIST PHILOSOPHY
Different
22 | 23 22
02
RESEARCH PHASE Wabi- Sabi Black Experimental
RESEARCH PHASE
WABI SABI From the keyword minimalism
From the keyword minimalism found in Yoko Ono’s works, I went to further research on the idea of wabi-sabi. Wabi-sabi is a Japanese worldview or aesthetic, which values the quality of simple and plain objects. It appreciates the absence of unnecessary features to view life in quietness and reveals the most innate character of materials. Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese worldview and aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is described as one of beauty that is imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. Transience: Lasting only for a short time, temporary. Imperfection: Not perfect, lacking completeness.
MY PERSPECTIVE ON WABI-SABI
01 Japanese Aesthetic Transience Imperfection — 02 From Buddhism teaching Impermanence Suffering Emptiness — 03 Japanese Arts Honkyoku Ikebana Bonsai Japanese gardens Japanese poetry Japanese pottery Japanese tea ceremony — 04 Characteristics of wabi sabi Asymmetry Asperity Simplicity Austerity Modesty Appreciation of natural objects —
24 | 25 24
02 FROM BUDDHIST TEACHING Emptiness
Śūnyatā translated to English as emptiness, voidness, openness, spaciousness or vacuity is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. Development of concept Over time, many philosophical schools have developed within Buddhism in an effort to explain the exact philosophical meaning of emptiness. The Pali Canon uses the term in three ways 01 As a meditative dwelling 02 As an attribute of objects 03 A type of awareness-release
According to Thanissaro Bhikku, an American Buddhist monk, emptiness as a mental state means a mode of perception in which one neither adds anything to nor takes anything away from what is present, noting simply, “There is this.” This mode is achieved through a process of intense concentration, coupled with the insight that notes more and more subtle levels of the presence and absence of disturbance. The Heart sutra, a text from the prajnaparamita-sutras, articulates this in the following saying in which the five skandhas are said to be “empty”:
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form Emptiness is not separate from form, form is not separate from emptiness Whatever is form is emptiness, whatever is emptiness is form.
A simile from the Pali scriptures compares form and feelings with foam and bubbles
RESEARCH PHASE
BLACK AND WHITE From the keyword monochromatic
From the keyword monochromatic found in Yoko Ono’s works, I went to further research on the idea of black and white. Black and white, oftenabbreviated B/W or B&W, and hyphenated black-and-white when used as an adjective, is any of several monochrome forms in visual arts. We learn in Art that black and white are not colours but a shade and tint respectively. Since the advent of color, black and white mass media often connotes something “nostalgic”, historic or anachronistic. Colour is a way to draw attention but if you truly put your heart and soul into your work, you don’t need colour to express the feeling you are trying to portray. Black and white have a certain clean look to them, a particular look and feeling you cannot achieve with colour. Moreover, black and white drawings also show the raw beauty and truth behind an art work. Black and white television in the past are expressive, they had a lot of emotion caught up in them. They could be dramatic, romantic, horrific etc. Eg. Psycho.After accepting art for the way it is, you will realise that just as a good film draws you in black and white or not, art will do the same.
MY PERSPECTIVE ON BLACK AND WHITE
01 What is BW? Shade and tint Used in the past in media Connotes something nostalgic — 02 Why use BW? Clean look Raw beauty Not jarring Don’t need colour to express the feeling you are trying to portray — 03 Artists that use BW Kazimir Malevich Franz Kline Jun Inoue Dragana Crnjak —
26 | 27 26
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich’s painting (Feb 23, 1878 – May 15, 1935) He was a pioneer of geometric abstract art and the originator of the avant-garde Suprematist movement.
EXPERIMENTAL From the keyword avant-garde
From the keyword avant-garde found in Yoko Ono’s works, I went to further research on the idea of experimental. To be experimental is to involve a radically new and innovative style of a work of art or an artistic technique. Experimental includes experimental art, products, photography, design, film, music etc.
RESEARCH PHASE
28 | 29 28
03
CONCEPT PHASE Linking of concept Collaboration with Aesop
CONCEPT PHASE
CONCEPT PHASE Linking of concept
30 | 31 30
WHAT IS IMPERMANENCE IN NATURE? Impermanence is not permanent, is transient, or in a constant state of flux. It is an undeniable and inescapable fact of life on earth. From a humble branch to life of a human being,
WHAT IS ASPERITY IN NATURE? Asperity is unevenness and the roughness on a surface. Asperity can be found in natural objects and the result of nature in objects in materials such as clay, native metal, wood etc.
WHAT IS AUSTERITY IN NATURE? Austerity is the plainness and simplicity of style or appearance. Natural objects or the result of nature in objects are never too jarring and always preserve some kind of plainness and simplicity to it. For example, the lines, curves and form in nature always maintain a certain kind of simplicity to them.
CONCEPT PHASE Collaboration with Aesop Why Aesop?
Aesop sells hair and body care products of the finest quality. They investigate widely to source plant-based ingredients, and use only those with proven record of safety and efficacy. Alongside their commercial activities, they explore the arts as an avenue through which to inspire, learn and communicate. They do collaborations with designers and architects for the design of their products and shops and believe unequivocally that wellconsidered design improve lives. They also believe that order and simplification are the first steps toward the mastery of a subject. Therefore, their products are always always minimally designed and carry a monochromatic colour palette. All these factors are great for collaboration with the chosen artist, Yoko Ono as her works too carry the same notion. Aesop also sells hair and body products which are plant based and is closely related to the concept of nature and plants.
The concept of emptiness
During my research on one of my keywords minimalism, I found that wabi-sabi, a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic was a huge influence to the idea of minimalism. Wabi-Sabi is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching and one of the teachings, the teaching of emptiness compared the idea of form and feelings to foam. Emptiness in Buddhism is used to refer to a meditative state. To attain this meditative state, one must not add or subtract anything away from the present. A text from the prajmaparmita-sutras goes like this: form is emptiness, emptiness is form, emptiness is not separate from form, form is not separate from emptiness, whatever is form is emptiness, whatever is emptiness is form. Hence, the comparison of form and feelings to foam in soap is an important idea to emptiness, which in turn also is to minimalism.
CONCEPT PHASE
32 | 33 32
04
DESIGN PHASE Identity Logo Design Packaging Design Invite
DESIGN PHASE
DESIGN PHASE Identity | Logo Design
A foam bubble
Stylized form of flux
The Logo Based on the concept of nature, the graphic of the identity possesses an uneven organic line, which symbolizes the asperity or unevenness in nature. The shape of it is drawn to depict a single foam bubble which symbolizes emptiness in Buddhism. The stylized brand name “flux� is designed in a minimal way to emphasize the brand idea on being empty. The overall brand name is incorporated in the graphic such that it flows from the top left to the bottom right just like how we must cleanse ourselves literally or metaphorically in the teachings of Buddhism.
34 | 35 34
The Logo
DESIGN PHASE Packaging
The packaging is designed in line with the concept of emptiness by maintaining a series of minimal products following the keywords minimal and black and white, as well as incorporating the use of wild flowers, handcrafted textured paper and organic ropes to emphasise the concept of nature.
DESIGN PHASE
36