CRITICAL ESSAY OF ART AND DESIGN - EMPTINESS by charlie mok

空

i. Introduction ii. Kenya Hara iii. Emptiness iv. Inspiration v. Muji vi. Conclusion vii. Bibliography

Introduction

I am born in this era of information exploration which allows me to replace the unknown world with identified events and phenomena quickly. Yet, ironically, I will never doubt if I had a clear interpretation of the surroundings while I did not even realize or I may actually neglect what their fundamental elements are. Before setting the topic of my personal project for art and design, I have kept thinking over what media and theme to go for. When I was constantly raising the above matters for myself, the most basic question came into my mind all of a sudden: To do an art project, what is art and design actually? By that time, I was so frustrated to realize that I have no idea about it. Another question came up after, who am I, the one who is currently setting the topic of a personal project for art and design, which he or she didn't really understand? That sounds so complicated and I am not sure if I have concrete answers to those intriguing questions. Coincidentally, due to my recent obsession with Japanese culture, I read a book called 'designing design' written by the art director of MUJI, Kenya Hara, and I could not agree more with his proposed philosophy 'Emptiness'. He pointed out 'To understand something is not to be able to define it or describe it. Instead, taking something that we think we already know and making it unknown to be empty

thrills is afresh with its reality and deepens our understanding.’ The 'Emptiness' theory definitely altered my thinking process, therein he mentioned 'make the world unknown' plays the most important part in the whole project, which inspired me to make myself unknown. Knowing who I am is what I should do right now before getting into university with the advanced knowledge to further understand art and design. Hence, making Charlie unknown has been the topic of my personal project while 'emptiness' is regarded as my starting point.

For the essay, I am going to cover what 'emptiness' is and the development of 'emptiness' .In order to bring up how Kenya Hara integrated his aesthetics into MUJI' s product and fashion design, its shop display, visual merchandising and its advertisement, I will also talk about my experience in MUJI shop. Most of the sources are from his book' designing design', his magazine interview and his lecture video from YouTube channel.

Kenya Hara The first time I get to know about Kenya Hara(Figure 1) is from a lecture video in Youtube Channel. Kenya Hara’s priest-‐alike looking greatly impressed me: His Grey hair with grey beard perfectly matches with his simpliness, rigorousness and preciseness. His image confirms to the typical impression in the masses’ eyes, which brings great persuasiveness.

Kenya Hara was born in 1958 at Okayama and graduated from Musashino Art University with a graduate degree in Design at 1983. He is one of the most prolific graphic designer in Japan, professor at the Musashino Art University. Hara emphasizes the design of both objects and experiences. In 2000, he produced the exhibition "RE-‐DESIGN -‐Daily Products of the 21st Century", which successfully presented the fact that the resources of astonishing design are found in the context of the very ordinary and casual . Since 2002, he became the art director in communication and board member of MUJI who is synonymous with his acclaimed art direction for the brand. In 2004, he planned and directed the exhibition "HAPTIC -‐ Awakening the Senses" (Figure 2) revealing to the audience that great resources of design are dormant in the human senses. Couple of his notable works including Expo 2005(Figure 3) and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum Signature System (Figure 4)are deeply rooted in Japanese culture -‐ emptiness. First of all, I am going to talk about the rationale behind the ‘‘emptiness’’ theory raised by Kenya Hara.

Figure 1

Figure 2.1

Figure 2.2

Figure 3

Figure 4

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Emptiness

How does emptiness apply on design? Regarding this, Kenya Hara answered with the beginning of design. From the very beginning of human history, anthropoids picked up stick-‐like objects, and hit things with them or used them as weapons. At the same time, in order to drink water without a cup, they have to create something out of nothing. Making a vessel by putting their hands together would be able to let them drink water from their lightly folded palms(Figure 5) . A vessel and a stick are both the original form of tools.Stick is destructive. It undergoes different changes with a lot of possibilities such as knife or big gun. Its function is to make something possible in this ever-‐ changing world. For the original form of a vessel, it functions precisely because it holds ’emptiness’ within. Design is always about the creation out of primary sources. It started at the beginning moment as it possessed the most possibility.

Figure 5

What is emptiness? People might misapprehend emptiness as simplicity. When I heard the word of ‘Emptiness’ initially, the first two words came into my mind were ‘nothingness’ and ‘energy-‐less’, which was proved that I am totally wrong. Kenya Hara compared Japanese and western cooking knives to make the distinctions between the notions of “Emptiness” and “Simplicity”. He explained it with their first appearance: The knives made by the German company Henckel (Figure 6 )are simple and easy to use because they are highly ergonomic. They are not empty as they lead the thumb of the user automatically to find its place when you grab the knife, which means it is restricted that only one can be used without other possibilities created by ourselves. It is argued that the Japanese knife (Figure 7 ) seems less courteous to the user. Yet, is the German knife over-‐courteous? In fact, Japanese’s knife flat handle is not seen as raw or poorly crafted. It is the emptiness that gives the users an endless amount of possibilities of being held. Its perfect plainness means that people can adjust the way they held and suit their skills at the same time. The Japanese knife adapts to the cook’s skill but not to the cook’s thumb. This is, in a nutshell, Japanese emptiness.

Figure 6

Figure 7

Hara also used The Japanese National Flag as another example to illustrate “emptiness”. The Japanese National Flag is white with a red disk in the centre. The red circle does not refer to a specific meaning at all and the only purpose is to grab the attention of the passer-‐by. In this case, we can expand it to the maximum using our imaginative power. It can be aggression, the Emperor, Kamikaze, Peace, the Sun or Umeboshi (Japanese plum). No restriction and particular message is required that leaves a lot of imagery space for us.

To conclude, emptiness indicates a condition which will likely be filled with content in the future.

Inspiration

If someone asks me, ‘What has captured your interest in emptiness?’ I would say its historical context is the main attraction which you may think it’s boring. The more I know about emptiness, The more introspection towards Chinese traditional art I had. While I am discussing the emptiness theory raised by a Japanese artist, what is ironic is that the origin of the idea “emptiness” is actually based on Buddhism and Taoism value emptiness as a key concept. Both Early Japanese art was influenced by Zen Buddhism thinking, which came from India to China, and then from China to Japan. The embodiment of such influence could be found in ancient Japanese scenery paintings with large white area and simple outlines. As a Chinese, I am given many chance to get to know about emptiness of Zen Buddhism. However, when I was still a shallow kid, it was synonymous with “ old fashioned” and “annoying” in my eyes. It was such a pity that China, with 5,000-‐year-‐long civilization, also has not much further expansion to pass on to further generation for itself. Meanwhile, under the uplifting influence of globalization, a blind worship on extravagance and the modern trend is gradually losing the native and originality. Within Japan and China, where both are Asian countries and sharing similar cultures, I show more appreciation towards Japanese culture.

Muji

In order to truly understand the rationale behind Kenya Hara’s emptiness theory, I would love to have personal experience apart from a superficial information research. As there are no exhibitions of Kenya Hara organized in England and Hong Kong, visiting the Muji stores in both Hong Kong and UK are the best choice instead. Not only can I know how different categories in Muji integrated into its ‘emptiness’ concept, but also find out the key point of striking a balance between commercial factor and aestheticism. MUJI is one of the most influential popular brands in Asia-‐Pacific region. Its unique feature of Emptiness embedded in simplicity echoes the Buddhism in Oriental culture. I will analyzes the design of MUJI products in the perspective of function, shape, configuration, material and culture. To carry out my personal experience, I paid several visits to the Muji stores in both London and Hong Kong. First of all, I am going to start with its visual merchandising and shopping environment as it is telling the shoppers story and served as the first point to engage and inspire the customers. Every branch in MUJI store has unified tune, with the emphasis on white and wooden colour. They also got energy-‐efficient lighting, conforming to its nature image. The products are mostly displayed against the wall showcase with a large space left proportionally. To be honest, i was slightly disappointed about the monotonous

shop layout initially due to the hollow demonstration. For instance, in household goods category, there is only a bed and some bedroom items showcased against the wall but nothing else (Figure8). At my first thought, the spaces are not fully and perfectly utilized. But after that, I experienced the effects developed by “emptiness”. Under a large space with nihilism, seemingly imperfect, yet when shoppers shop under the sufficient area, it enables them to shop their own way without distractions. It clearly shows the importance between the object and experience. Using the same example as explanation, just because Kenya Hara did not blindly and fully take commercialism into consideration, when customers step into the area where only a bed is situated, they will naturally sit on the bed as if they are home. I guess ‘To make the imperfect perfect by users’ is perhaps derived from “possibilities from emptiness” by Kenya Hara. It may be too abstract and exaggerated, but it cannot be denied that Muji really gives us a fantasy of an ideal home.

To explore from another category-‐ fashion design, for this piece of clothing (Figure 9), you may find it a bit far from the fashion trend, but that is probably what Muji is seeking. The reason behind is that fast fashion in the market must keep the fastest speed to sync with the trend and every trend requires its time limit. By that time, a new one is manufactured. Therefore, only those which keep away from the trend will be the front of the trend as they will never be eliminated but forever “current”. This also highlights Japanese’ practical and simple character.

Not only did the Muji products convey the super-‐simplicity design, but the posters and advertisements as well. In most of the posters, there’s no text information other than the brand name. I think it is because Hara wants the customer to feel the softness and deepness that the brand is subtly conveying, rather than a strong sense of pushing and direct persuading.

For example, below is the MUJI advertisement in 2003 named as Horizon (Figure10).

Figure 9

Figure10

The images were either the products themselves or photography of a horizontal line that connects the sky and the earth. The concept Hara proposed for Muji's advertising is emptiness. The poster does not present a lucid message, but offers an empty vessel to the audience and let them freely deposit into their ideas and wishes. The idea of these posters was simple: to indicate the reunification of human and the nature, seemingly nothing there but actually everything people need to live with – indicating the dispensability of the Muji products. Hara mentioned ‘There are many product designers all over the world who have attempted to borrow Muji’s design philosophy to influence their work, just to find, however, Muji is a brand that can only bud in Japan because the design philosophy roots in the culture.’’ When I seriously realize and explore the underlying motive of MUJI, I wonder if MUJI is a brand? Brand name products are supposed to consist of a strong message, but MUJI is definitely an exceptional case. It reminded me of the two tools which was discussed in the first few paragraphs: a destructive stick and a vessel for taking in functions. In this case, brand name products can be regarded as a destructive stick while MUJI is the vessel for taking in function and that is why I am in love with MUJI.

Conclusion

After knowing the historical context about Japanese culture, I wonder that Japan itself is also like the vessel, which ‘absorbed’ different culture influences ranging from India to China. Yet, the wars eliminated the beauty of the culture. They did not have the gracefulness, but what they possessed is nihilism, which is seen as another beauty. Thus, a new thought has come into being. Unlike China, history urged Japan to cherish its culture, and further its art generalization and exploration. Knowing one’s own culture well and publicize it to the world is what Hara has always been endeavouring at. In his interpretation, all cultures are local. He always raises an argument that different cultures can communicate with each other but cannot be commingled. The design can spread over the world and be accepted and appreciated by users, but cannot be reused or remixed. One culture’s communicating with other cultures makes its own identity much clearer. It is through a cultural identification process. After a deep understanding of the ‘emptiness’ theory behind, I do not have such an ambition to try to change China, What I want is just to be like an empty after-‐war Japan, making myself unknown to be a vessel for re-‐questioning and identifying myself. An empty bowl does not have a definite stuff inside but requires unlimited possibilities. My personal project is not confined to a specific topic as well since it will be an exploration about the unknown Charlie and the unknown world around her. I may not do any fancy

pieces. Yet, for me, what is of utmost importance is the story within the ‘empty bowl’. As for the beauty of the bowl itself, it is counted as a bonus. As Kenya Hara said, what a culture identification process needs is time.

vii Bibliography

SOMA magazine vol. 24.9 Kenya Hara Institute http://www.ndc.co.jp/hara/en/ MUJI Global www.muji.com/ Hara .K. (2007). White (English edition). Hara.K. (2011). Designing Design (English edition). Hara.K. (2008). “Authors at Google” Presentation from youtube