Wabi Sabi - Corpo Quarterly

CORPO QUARTERLY

wabi sabi

issue one

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a piece that will lead the viewers to draw beauty out for themselves

(the extinction of flawless beauty) 3

Final Major Project Cambridge School for Visual and Performing Arts MA in Visual Communication: Graphic Design August 23rd, 2019 Tutor: Martin Andersen

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CORPO QUARTERLY issue 1 / August 2019

WABI SABI : THE ART OF IMPERFECTION FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to the first issue of Corpo Quarterly, an art publication committed to addressing vulnerabilities and imperfection. I believe this is a very important theme in art - although often not addressed enough. I recently read a quote by Salvador Dalì that said “have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.”

This seemed quite ironic to me, considering that ‘perfection’ and ‘art’ have often been used together throughout centuries of art history. In some contexts, even used as synonyms. How many times have we heard people say, “Oh this is a piece of art!” or “This is a masterpiece” to signify that something was perfect? Exactly. But why? Perfection is an unrealistic myth. Imperfection and vulnerability are the two qualities that make us humans, “human,” and the world around us authentic and real. Vulnerability is present in intra-personal relationships, in jobs, in bodies, in what we eat, and in all the objects that surround us. Embracing it means living a more authentic and free life; hiding from it is painful and frustrating.

Artists and creatives are often burdened by this concept. Artists are often taught that imperfection in art is “to be avoided” and vulnerability “unwelcome.” But this is the exact opposite of what creative work is. The simple act of creation and artistic expression is in itself an act of vulnerability.

For this reason, this first issue is dedicated to wabi sabi. This Japanese philosophy and aesthetic is all about accepting vulnerability and embracing imperfection. It is about freedom, and about appreciating life and the world as it is. Wabi sabi invites a pause. It opens space. For acceptance, forgiveness and vulnerability.

For defining one’s unique vision of “beauty,” and accepting and identifying beauty in the most unexpected places. For loving the flaws that make the world real – in the cracks, in us, in our relationships - and allowing ourselves to be attracted to it without too many preconceived rules. Ultimately, wabi sabi opens space for love. Love for others, and no less for ourselves. Love for our virtues and our scars, our strengths and our flaws.

Enjoy this first issue !

Editor in Chief and Designer Enrica Barberis Contributors Alexandra Folino Evan Fishburn Emma Louise Holt Sijia Zhang Tehanee Bardolia

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FEATURED CONTENT Defininition

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Wabi Sabi in Art

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Unpretentious

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Intimate

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Irregular

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History

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The Random

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Time Passing

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Bodies

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Places

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drawing by Sijia Zhang

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wabi-sabi is the beauty of things

imperfect,

impermanent,

and incomplete. it is the

beauty of things

modest

and humble.

it is a beauty

of things unconventional.

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wabi sabi (n.) a concept, an aesthetic, and worldwide philosophy that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfection life and accepting the cycle of growth and decay.

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Wabi sabi appreciates the old, scruffy, and lopsided.

It snubs the ideals of perfection, completion, and grandiosity.

It prefers the simple, modest, and authentic. It believes nothing in life is finished, perfect, or permanent.

The western art ideal pushes artists to aim for perfection, focus on progress and self-improvement, and prioritize finished products over process.

It encourages artists to draw things “correctly” and accurately. This is not authentic though.

Wabi sabi also accepts and appreciates the passing of time. It sees beauty in rusted barn roofs, tattered shoes, the pilled texture of a favorite coat, and a seasoned cast iron skillet passed down through generations.

Art the Wabi Sabi Way The wabi sabi philosophy - instead - parallels the ongoing journey of an artist developing their artistic style. It encourages artists to explore, play, and experiment more. To loosen up and allow the process to take over.

Against the Western Art Ideals Much of the western world’s beliefs about beauty began with classical Greek art and are rooted in European ideals. The western world sees beauty in the decadence of the marble statue of Venus de Milo, the grandeur of the Sistine Chapel, and the perfection of the accurately rendered anatomical drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Western art strives for perfection, and buries flaws.

“Wabi sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished and nothing is perfect."

–Richard R. Powell, writer

“The idea of wabi sabi speaks of a readiness to accept things as they are.

This is contrary to Western ideals that emphasize progress and growth as necessary components to daily living.

Wabi sabi’s fundamental nature is about process, not final product, about decay and aging, not growth. This concept requires the art of “slowness,” a willingness to concentrate on the things that are often overlooked."

–Richard Martin, photographer

Creating art the traditional way means there are no mistakes. However, there’s no wrong way to make art.

Taking up this philosophy frees artists from the anxiety and worry that stops them from making the art that feels most real, and sometimes stopping them from making it at all.

Tips for Artists Wabi sabi doesn’t tell us what our artistic style is or where we’re going. It tells us to appreciate and see the beauty of where we are right now. It tells us not to obsess over the future when our art will be “better” or focus on the day we’ll finally be “successful.”

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How to Embrace Wabi Sabi Learn to love the process of art making and the process of discovering your artistic styles. The making is what matters most, not the final piece of art. Art is impermanent, but what we learn from making art will last forever.

understanding of ourselves, and the passing of time.

The more of ourselves we can be aware of and appreciate, the more genuineness and authenticity we will have in our artwork.

At this moment aim to explore, and be the best you can.

Follow your intuition over rules and other people’s artistic ideals.

Be patient and create modestly.

Forget illusions of fame, success, and wealth. Slow down on your quest to “find yourself” or “become a great artist,” and learn to love and appreciate your art for what it is, rather than constantly trying to perfect it.

Notice and embrace the imperfections in your art.

Be aware of and understand what comes to you naturally. Accept and appreciate yourself as the artists you are today, including the imperfections and mistakes.

Develop a deeper understanding of yourself, and be compassionate towards yourself and your art. Let your hands lead you, not what you’ve been told is the “correct” way to make art. Step back from the rational, formula-based drawing and into a more natural, intuitive form of art making.

Embrace and see the beauty in your sketchbook.

Celebrate your sketchbook as it is always in a state of flux, always evolving and never complete, just like us, and just like our art.

Accepting the imperfection and constant evolution of your art will free you from many of the anxieties that stop you from creating.

Embrace mistakes, and trust the process.

“With my freckles & messy hair, bruised knees & chapped lips–this morning I am splendidly imperfect and alive.”

–Sabrina Ward Harrison, artist

Developing a Wabi Sabi State of Mind This wabi sabi way of being and the search for our artistic styles are both lifelong journeys. Our artistic style can only be found through experience, deep

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drawing by Emma Louise Holt

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UNPRETENTIOUS

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simple, artless, or unsophisticated

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INTIMATE

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IRREGULAR

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history of wabi sabi wabi sabi is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence (三法印 sanbōin), specifically impermanence (無常 mujō), suffering (苦 ku) and emptiness or absence of selfnature (空 kū).

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.

After centuries of incorporating artistic and Buddhist influences from China, wabi sabi eventually evolved into a distinctly Japanese ideal. Over time, the meanings of wabi and sabi shifted to become more lighthearted and hopeful. Around 700 years ago, particularly among the Japanese nobility, understanding emptiness and imperfection was honored as tantamount to the first step to satori, or enlightenment. In today’s Japan, the meaning of wabi sabi is often condensed to “wisdom in natural simplicity.” In art books, it is typically defined as “flawed beauty.”

From an engineering or design point of view, wabi may be interpreted as the imperfect quality of any object, due to inevitable limitations in design and construction/ manufacture especially with respect to unpredictable or changing usage conditions; then sabi could be

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interpreted as the aspect of imperfect reliability, or limited mortality of any object, hence the phonological and etymological connection with the Japanese word sabi, to rust. Specifically, although the Japanese kanji characters 錆 (sabi, meaning “rust”) and 寂 (sabi, as above) are different, as are their applied meanings, yet the original spoken word (pre-kanji, yamato-kotoba) is believed to be one and the same.

A good example of this embodiment may be seen in certain styles of Japanese pottery. In the Japanese tea ceremony, the pottery items used are often rustic and simple-looking, e.g. Hagi ware, with shapes that are not quite symmetrical, and colors or textures that appear to emphasize an unrefined or simple style. In fact, it is up to the knowledge and observational ability of the participant to notice and discern the hidden signs of a truly excellent design or glaze (akin to the appearance of a diamond in the rough). This may be interpreted as a kind of wabi sabi aesthetic, further confirmed by the way the colour of glazed items is known to change over time as hot water is repeatedly poured into them (sabi) and the fact that tea bowls are often deliberately chipped or nicked at the bottom (wabi), which serves as a kind of signature of the Hagi-yaki style.

understanding cannot be achieved through words or language, so accepting wabi sabi on nonverbal terms may be the most appropriate approach. Simon Brown notes that wabi sabi describes a means whereby students can learn to live life through the senses and better engage in life as it happens, rather than be caught up in unnecessary thoughts. In this sense wabi sabi is the material representation of Zen Buddhism. The idea is that being surrounded by natural, changing, unique objects helps us connect to our real world and escape potentially stressful distractions.

In one sense wabi sabi is a training whereby the student of wabi sabi learns to find the most basic, natural objects interesting, fascinating and beautiful. Fading autumn leaves would be an example. Wabi sabi can change our perception of the world to the extent that a chip or crack in a vase makes it more interesting and gives the object greater meditative value. Similarly materials that age such as bare wood, paper and fabric become more interesting as they exhibit changes that can be observed over time.

Wabi and sabi both suggest sentiments of desolation and solitude. In the Mahayana Buddhist view of the universe, these may be viewed as positive characteristics, representing liberation from a material world and transcendence to a simpler life. Mahayana philosophy itself, however, warns that genuine

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credit: Quinn McDonald

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how do you achieve simplicity without inviting boredom?

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Wabi-sabi can be seen as a resilience, or commitment, to keep finding beauty in the most unexpected places.

Wabi-sabi is about allowing ourselves to see beauty in the broken, in the cracks. How many times do we find ourselves attracted to something although it is not aesthetically perfect? How many times to stop to admire the quirkiness of nature, or the crack in the coffee cup?

These imperfections make the world around us, they speak of authenticity and vulnerability -- they speak more than a thousand perfect paraphernalia.

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58 drawing by Sijia Zhang

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wabi sabi

it is in the places we love the most

the broken in the old

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is in the random

everyday objects around us

in the authentic beauty

and in our

imperfect bodies 61

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the random

an appreciation of the minor details of everyday life and insights into the beauty of the inconspicuous and overlooked moments

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time passes

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real imperfect bodies

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loved spaces and places

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photo by Allie Folino

pictures by Evan Fishburn

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what is poetry

if not the most curious way of living

looking for the sharpest most neglected

pieces of beauty from the ordinary existence?

seeing possibility in the dull

finding philosophy so boring

that you create a story around it.

make it more accessible or less.

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Collage work by Enrica Barberis. Picture by Sally Mann.

All photography is mine, unless otherwise stated.

Article at page 17 by Christine Nishiyama, Art+Making.

Article at page 52 by Keren Brown, Medium.

Alla mia famiglia wabi sabi - "c'elamo fatta!" & a M, EL, P, S. Infine, sopra tutti : ad A.

NEXT ISSUE: on Naricissism

issue one 98