Wabi Sabi. Andrew Juniper
WABI SABI
First published in the United States in 2003 by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd., with editorial offices at 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, Vermont 05759.
Copyright © 2003 Andrew Juniper
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Juniper, Andrew, 1967-
Wabi sabi: the Japanese art of impermanence / Andrew Juniper.— 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.).
ISBN 978-1-4629-0161-6 (ebook)
1. Art, Japanese. 2. Wabi. 3. Sabi. 4. Art and philosophy. I. Title.
N7350.J77 2003
701’.17’0952—dc21
2003054049
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CONTENTS
The Development of Wabi Sabi 7
Wabi Sabi in the Art of Zen 15
Wabi Sabi and the Japanese Character 53
Wabi Sabi—an Art in Transition 59
Wabi Sabi in the Japanese Arts 69
Design Principles of Wabi Sabi 103
Creating Expressions with Wabi Sabi Materials 121
The Universal Spirit of Wabi Sabi 145
PREFACE
WHEN I FOUND MYSELF bartering for an old oven pot in a Turkish restaurant, I realized that the years spent in Japan had radically and irreversibly changed my perspectives on both art and beauty. The small dark bowl that had so caught my attention had no real design to speak of, its surface was rough and impregnated with years of Turkish cuisine . . . and yet there was something about it that was captivatingly attractive. The glazed surface had become rich with visual nuance and its simple unrefined form was pure and unaffected by artistic considerations—it was one of a thousand similar bowls, but its rusticity and artlessness were extraordinarily expressive and resonated with the imperfections and impermanence of life. The pot we so admired had what the Japanese refer to as wabi sabi.
The Turkish restaurateurs who were asked to part with their bowl for a price far greater than that of a replacement thought we were a little strange, to say the least, but happily accepted our eccentricity and payment.