Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers
dust . The dust will become something else - it will be gathered up in raindrops or hailstones or it will be washed out bit by bit to sea , any of these options deposited as sediment , once again to combine and become a stone . Anything perfect is dead or has taken on another form and will continue to do so in natural cycles . This is a small corner of wabi-sabi .
Koren's book is about seeing beauty , but not a beauty that the average American might expect , appreciate , or even take for granted . To put the concept of wabi-sabi into words is to lessen it . It is a way of knowing , but it is more a way of being . This book is physically short , but it is long . One must read it ten times and with each reading comes further understanding , especially in light of the photographic subjects included in Wabi-Sabi - - cracked pots , ferns , pieces of natural objects , a small dried fish , a wall . Normally , a Westerner would not see the beauty of a cracked pot , but this book can make that beauty understood .
The wabi-sabi realm is described by Koren to include a state of mind , moral precepts , material concepts , spiritual values , all combined with metaphysical properties . This last element is the state of passing through nothingness , either coming from or going to , and always one or the other - or both at once . When Westerners say that the journey in life is more important than the goals achieved , then they are grasping a part of wabi-sabi . The cracked teacup lying in the middle of a dirt road is more beautiful that the new teacup on the ceremonial table .
Wabi-Sabi : For Artists , Designers , Poets & Philosophers begins with a historical consideration of wabi-sabi and some definitions that might be used to understand it . However , no verbal definition is completely correct or inclusive . After this first section , there is The Wabi-Sabi Universe in which Koren discusses all of its elements in an intriguing style . I read the entire volume in one sitting and have read parts of it several times over . The discussion of moral precepts is most interesting . Get rid of all that is unnecessary is good advice . In this consumer culture , Americans simultaneously throw away too much and accumulate unnecessary amounts of things . The explanation of the humble spirit that comes next is very important . Wabi-sabi rejects hierarchy , but it does not advocate anarchy . To this end , in order to enter a traditional tearoom , all participants must bend low or crawl into a small opening where they will find a simple room made from mud , paper , and bamboo . Inside , they put aside social position , politics , and rank and all are respectful to one another , all appreciating the beauty of one another and the simple objects of the tea ceremony . This is one of the spiritual values of wabi-sabi itself : Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness . In addition , wabi-sabi is something that occurs naturally , not something that people purposely create , although some art pieces emulate the essence of wabi-sabi to their viewers .
Wabi-Sabi would be enjoyable and informative to readers interested in Asian aesthetics , nature , philosophy , art , and architecture ,
001 4 As a graphic designer , I was very intrigued by the title of this book , and the philosophies contained inside , so I decided to give the book a shot . This is the type of book you blaze through in about 30 minutes , but will most likely want to keep for a lifetime as inspiration . Reason ? Because there simply isn't another book of it's tone or mission .
The essence of Wabi-Sabi is that true beauty , whether it comes from an object , architecture or visual art , doesn't reveal itself until the winds of time have had their say . A cracked pot , for example , has an essence that a perfectly round pot is lacking . Beauty is in the cracks , the worn spots , and the imperfect lines .
As a graphic designer , Wabi-Sabi is the antithesis of what I pursue every day - - perfection in my typography , layout , tight invisible Swiss inspired gridlines , etc . Mathematical symmetry is an unshakeable mission for many in my profession , and the ancient philosophies of Wabi-Sabi rip a hole in the side of it .
I enjoy owning the book as a reminder that nothing in life , or design , is perfect . The very essence of life , work , art and nature is free of right angles , and chaos reigns supreme .
002 4 I agree with all the good things said about this book ; it is a deceptively short , simple book with potent content .
However , I feel something should be mentioned . This is a book primarily about appreciating wabi-sabi ( about finding it or seeing it out in the world ) , not so much about creating it . Koren describes wabi-sabi almost as a result of karma , or at least as a process in which the artist / designer has little impact . You can perhaps record it , but there's very little direct discussion of how to create wabi-sabi objects yourself ( other than mention of sweaters made with randomly placed holes ) .
This certainly doesn't take away from the book or reduce its value to artists and designers ( seeing wabi-sabi and appreciating it is key to understanding , which in turn helps you use the concepts in your own work ) . I just feel the book's title is a bit misleading .
What I would like to see ( because I feel it is lacking in this book ) is ideas on how artists might cultivate mistakes and accidents . Or take advantage of time and wear-n-tear . Or how artists use becoming / decaying metaphors . Just in general I would like to see more on wabi-sabi as it applies to the creation of things , rather than the appreciation of wabi-sabi in things that already exist .
So this is a great book , but I think there's another great book on this subject that needs to be made .
003 4 I have studied Japanese tea ceremony in Kyoto for 23 years and during that time read almost everything published in English on the subject . This book is a real pearl , and covers in all its shortness the subject so well , that you hardly need any other information to transform your life into something more beautiful and meaningful .
It is a must for people directly involved with tea and Japanese aesthetics . It is a clear spring of sweet water that will quench the thirst of everyone . It is a source of inspiration , that can be integrated into any culture and be actively expressed in your own life style .
Read it and feel inspired to do something great and good , not only for yourself , but for all you know , for nature and our common future on this earth .
004 4 A magnificent introduction to an aesthetic sensibility I was always aware of , and appreciated , but didn't imagine had a name . Thanks to this small but finely-honed book I now understand the intellectual underpinnings of a profound way of looking at the world . Wabi-sabi - - the name of this beauty / mindset - - is the perfect antidote to my frenetic , digital life . I've given this book as a gift to friends and have received many heartfelt thanks .
005 4 This is a wonerfully crafted book of basic definitions for those who have never heard the term Wabi-Sabi . The pictures not only strengthen the points the author makes but also illustrate what he can't put into words . Wabi-Sabi is an aesthetic that mostly lives in the ditches , basements , and out-of-the-way places of modern American society . This book gives the license and some philosophical tools to explore the simple life as a thing of beauty contrary to the glittering clutter often thrown at us in every aspect of our lives .
006 4 I love this book ! It reminds me of the scene in Brideshead Revisited when Charles Ryder looks at the Van Gogh prints and travel posters decorating his room , and says , I detected a jejune air which had not irked me before . . . only the golden daffodils seemed to be real . Be warned : after you read this book , everything in your rooms will irk you except some wildflowers in a jam jar , an unpainted wooden table and one black futon . And you'll go insane if forced to stay at a Holiday Inn ! Just carry some acorns and chestnuts in the pocket of your old sweater , and you'll survive .
007 4 This exquisite little volume is food for the soul . It should be required reading for our species . It is a subtle wake-up call . . . which we need to take to heart . . . we need to re-evaluate what we produce . We need to re-evaluate the legacy we leave . This book illustrates the respect we should have for nature . It illustrates the inspiration we should find in nature .
We have become a society producing perishable goods , much of which has little or no merit . Mr . Koren opens our eyes to the merit of producing goods which earn dignity with age , use and wear . It is truly an aesthetic for our time .
008 4 So begins the introduction to this singular and essential book about the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi . Long associated with the Japanese tea ceremony , only few writers have tried to give a perspective on this complex term that describes the sensibility for many aesthetic decisions made in the design and selection of materials for the tea ceremony - ranging from tea utensils , to flower arrangements , to the mood and spatial qualities of tea huts and the gardens that contain them .
Leonard Koren engages us with his views as an artist informed by many years of living with and observing all things Japanese . The book itself is an illustration of the wabi-sabi aesthetic : the careful choice of the paper , the binding , the type-setting and photographs throughout the text convey the essence of what the author is writing about .
For those that have a sense of the unique beauty and quality of the Japanese crafts , architecture and gardens , but have never been able to quite put their finger on the underlying aesthetic , this book creates a context for understanding and further discovery .
009 4 It brings to light a new way of seeing in an ancient way of being . It is a small simple book , fitting for its content , that allows you to open your senses as you read it . Wabi-sabi in a word explains what many know already , life is all there in nature . It also shows us the wonder of decay and the beauty concealed therein .
010 4 Simply , tastefully , and accessibly written . A useful book for all who wish to engage with the world while they go about their business in a conscious way . If you enjoy pictures , this is not the text for you .
011 4 The Japanese tea ceremony is popular in global literature , movies , and theater to the point of what seems a small cult following . Westerners wonder at its significance and find it mystic . Wabi-Sabi by Leonard Koren provides us with a glimpse of its underlying importance that can be taken as a symbol for the whole of the wabi-sabi aesthetic . To clearly define wabi-sabi in words is to destroy it . However , this book succeeds in preserving wabi-sabi's identity as a way of existence of all things in eternal transition .
Many people are intrigued by the Japanese way of knowing without knowing . This book is a step toward some understanding of this concept that makes Japanese culture different from the West , although there are also similarities . Wabi-sabi is associated with the Japanese tea ceremony , but westerners do not understand that ceremony . Some think it to be simplicity . Others , tradition . Others , magic . They are all correct , but to express these all at once in words tears a corner out of the larger picture and sets the concept off kilter . Nothing is or can be perfect . Everything is in a stage of becoming . Even a stone is eroded by wind and water . When it is finished , it is destroyed , but it has also become another substance : dust . The dust will become something else - it will be gathered up in raindrops or hailstones or it will be washed out bit by bit to sea , any of these options deposited as sediment , once again to combine and become a stone . Anything perfect is dead or has taken on another form and will continue to do so in natural cycles . This is a small corner of wabi-sabi .
Koren's book is about seeing beauty , but not a beauty that the average American might expect , appreciate , or even take for granted . To put the concept of wabi-sabi into words is to lessen it . It is a way of knowing , but it is more a way of being . This book is physically short , but it is long . One must read it ten times and with each reading comes further understanding , especially in light of the photographic subjects included in Wabi-Sabi - - cracked pots , ferns , pieces of natural objects , a small dried fish , a wall . Normally , a Westerner would not see the beauty of a cracked pot , but this book can make that beauty understood .
The wabi-sabi realm is described by Koren to include a state of mind , moral precepts , material concepts , spiritual values , all combined with metaphysical properties . This last element is the state of passing through nothingness , either coming from or going to , and always one or the other - or both at once . When Westerners say that the journey in life is more important than the goals achieved , then they are grasping a part of wabi-sabi . The cracked teacup lying in the middle of a dirt road is more beautiful that the new teacup on the ceremonial table .
Wabi-Sabi : For Artists , Designers , Poets & Philosophers begins with a historical consideration of wabi-sabi and some definitions that might be used to understand it . However , no verbal definition is completely correct or inclusive . After this first section , there is The Wabi-Sabi Universe in which Koren discusses all of its elements in an intriguing style . I read the entire volume in one sitting and have read parts of it several times over . The discussion of moral precepts is most interesting . Get rid of all that is unnecessary is good advice . In this consumer culture , Americans simultaneously throw away too much and accumulate unnecessary amounts of things . The explanation of the humble spirit that comes next is very important . Wabi-sabi rejects hierarchy , but it does not advocate anarchy . To this end , in order to enter a traditional tearoom , all participants must bend low or crawl into a small opening where they will find a simple room made from mud , paper , and bamboo . Inside , they put aside social position , politics , and rank and all are respectful to one another , all appreciating the beauty of one another and the simple objects of the tea ceremony . This is one of the spiritual values of wabi-sabi itself : Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness . In addition , wabi-sabi is something that occurs naturally , not something that people purposely create , although some art pieces emulate the essence of wabi-sabi to their viewers .
Wabi-Sabi would be enjoyable and informative to readers interested in Asian aesthetics , nature , philosophy , art , and architecture ,
012 4 By its very nature Wabi-sabi is difficult to define . It is an aesthetic best learned through observation and personal experience . However , as Westerners we have a need for everything to be explained with words and categories . We seek to make the intuitive , rational . If you are a person who best learns through the written word , this book is for you . It is well written and dispenses with a lot of mystical babble that is often used to explain Asian philosophy . However , if you are a visual learner , you may find this book disapointing . Too much writing and not enough visual examples of the Wabi-sabi aesthetic .
013 4 a close friend of mine loaned me the book on saturday - i read it once on sunday , and again yesterday ( monday )
the book is more powerful than i can describe in a review . 5 - stars , no-brainer . . read this book !
the orientation is more ideological than demonstrative or critical . . the relative shortage of ( delightful ! ) examples leaves me wanting more . and as much as love it , i would like to read the large glossy version titled wabi-sabi : for people with ipods , large televisions , and who generally disdain reading : )
in its existing form , the book is an easy and inspiring read . if you're intrigued by the beauty of a pair of worn-out shoes , the grime of a subway station , the cracks in a crumbling rock , a decaying leaf , etc . . this book may give words , insight and extension to your aesthetic perception . given the relative lack of high-fidelity examples , it may be hard for others to gain an appreciation of wabi-sabi through this book
wabi-sabi is primarily contrasted with modernism , providing a much more useful and forward-focused comparison than against its more classical / baroque aesthetic ancestors - however the comparison does imply an inappropriate ( imo ) us-vs-them context with modernism . modernism is concerned with the clean , permanent , undistracting , impersonal , etc . . wabi-sabi is about the dirty , organic , distracting and personal . the author positions wabi-sabi as occupying a subset of aesthetics that is * not * modern . . i don't know if this anti element is a crucial part of wabi-sabi ( ? ) . wabi-sabi would be more powerful to me if it were described only in terms of its own fundamental traits , without counter-reference to other aesthetic ideologies . i find my ipod attractive * and * i find decaying leaves attractive - is it possible there could be more one good aesthetic ? ! the author generally defines wabi-sabi as fundamentally antithetical to modern design aesthetics . for example , on page 9 he writes :
wabi-sabi - deep , multi-dimensional , elusive - appeared the perfect antidote to the pervasively slick , saccharine , corporate style of beauty that i felt was desensitizing american society . i have since come to believe that wabi-sabi is related to many of the more emphatic anti-aesthetics that invariably spring from the young , modern , creative soul : beat , punk , grunge , or whatever it's called next
otherwise , i don't know anything about zen buddhism - and the book left me wanting to know more
014 4 This is a wonderful book giving insight to a world that doesn't understand there is beauty without perfection as defined in magazines .
As a designer people will often want to lean into a contrived , look that is staged .
This book validates it is often good to step outside of the box and make a space more interesting and creative by doing so . Using the unexpected material or leaving a space uncluttered , simple to give the eye a rest .
In general it is finding perfection in imperfection in life . Our perception of things change as we grow and view the world differently .
We can only hope in a world filled with diversity we learn to open up and this is a good little book to enlighten any reader .
015 4 You cannot learn Wabi-Sabi from a book anymore than you can learn to love music from a book . Wabi-Sabi is the name the Japanese have given to this state of mind , and Zen is the means by which they arrive at it . However , it was not unknown the the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius . The following paragraph is taken from Book III of his Meditations :
This also thou must observe , that whatsoever it is that naturally doth happen to things natural , hath somewhat in itself that is pleasing and delightful : as a great loaf when it is baked , some parts of it cleave as it were , and part asunder , and make the crust of it rugged and unequal , and yet those parts of it , though in some sort it be against the art and intention of baking itself , that they are thus cleft and parted , which should have been and were first made all even and uniform , they become it well nevertheless , and have a certain peculiar property , to stir the appetite . So figs are accounted fairest and ripest then , when they begin to shrink , and wither as it were . So ripe olives , when they are next to putrefaction , then are they in their proper beauty . The hanging down of grapes - - the brow of a lion , the froth of a foaming wild boar , and many other like things , though by themselves considered , they are far from any beauty , yet because they happen naturally , they both are comely , and delightful ; so that if a man shall with a profound mind and apprehension , consider all things in the world , even among all those things which are but mere accessories and natural appendices as it were , there will scarce appear anything unto him , wherein he will not find matter of pleasure and delight . So will he behold with as much pleasure the true rictus of wild beasts , as those which by skilful painters and other artificers are imitated . So will he be able to perceive the proper ripeness and beauty of old age , whether in man or woman : and whatsoever else it is that is beautiful and alluring in whatsoever is , with chaste and continent eyes he will soon find out and discern . Those and many other things will he discern , not credible unto every one , but unto them only who are truly and familiarly acquainted , both with nature itself , and all natural things .
If you have spent much time outdoors for love of nature , you are likely already aware of Wabi-Sabi .
If you have had youthful , mind-altering experiences by which you came to see incredible beauty in ordinary things like a weed or a rock , you are likely already aware of Wabi-Sabi .
If you are an artist who draws inspiration from the natural world , you are likely already aware of Wabi-Sabi .
A book such as this can drive away the very spirit that it is trying to invoke by trying to capture it with intellect and reductionism . However , I think this book strikes a nice balance between simply pointing-the-way ( like a Zen master ) and attempting to offer some explanation . The photographs are the best , and most revealing , part of the book . Read the text , but don't think on it too much .
016 4 This review is from :
Wabi-Sabi : for Artists , Designers , Poets & Philosophers ( Paperback )
After a first quick read through , I realized this is a book I will go back and read again and again . I purchased it to read in relation to the artwork I produce ; to see if there was the spirit of Wabi-Sabi in my work .
While it is an easy read , the philosophy is a bit harder to grasp , as I feel there is such a cultural difference between East and West that there is only so much a Westerner can truly understand .
On the other hand , it is a text that is exceptional in explaining as well as possible a phrase that , even among the native population that gave birth to it , finds difficult to put into words . It is a concept , a part of the spirit , a unique state of being .
I highly recommend this book for the provoking thought it will produce both at a work level and at a spiritual level .
017 4 After a first quick read through , I realized this is a book I will go back and read again and again . I purchased it to read in relation to the artwork I produce ; to see if there was the spirit of Wabi-Sabi in my work .
While it is an easy read , the philosophy is a bit harder to grasp , as I feel there is such a cultural difference between East and West that there is only so much a Westerner can truly understand .
On the other hand , it is a text that is exceptional in explaining as well as possible a phrase that , even among the native population that gave birth to it , finds difficult to put into words . It is a concept , a part of the spirit , a unique state of being .
I highly recommend this book for the provoking thought it will produce both at a work level and at a spiritual level .
018 4 Unlike Taro Gold's glossy take on the subject ( Living Wabi Sabi ) , this book illustrates Wabi Sabi principles with its plain and simple construction . Koren's design experience gives him a base to discuss Wabi Sabi on the material plane , and he moves from there into a brief but well outlined discourse of Wabi Sabi philosophy . If it had not left me hungry for more information , I would have rated this book with five stars . Perhaps , it deserves five stars for arousing that hunger .
019 4 This review is from :
Wabi-Sabi : for Artists , Designers , Poets & Philosophers ( Paperback )
Wabi-Sabi is an aesthetic , individual and ethereal . The author recognizes that true Wabi-Sabi is indefinable and that writing about it is not keeping true to that idea . However , his descriptions of meanings and how this concept seems to have developed are delightful and honor the spirit of Wabi-Sabi .
If you have not heard of this concept and value the impermanent , incomplete and imperfect , you will enjoy this book .
020 4 Wabi-Sabi is an aesthetic , individual and ethereal . The author recognizes that true Wabi-Sabi is indefinable and that writing about it is not keeping true to that idea . However , his descriptions of meanings and how this concept seems to have developed are delightful and honor the spirit of Wabi-Sabi .
If you have not heard of this concept and value the impermanent , incomplete and imperfect , you will enjoy this book .
021 4 This is a beautifully written book ! It has inspired me to try my hand at Wabi Sabi - the art form / it also has provided me with a new tag line for the way I work and live . Doors will open . . .
022 4 This book has been very important for me in its ability to explain something that is hardly explainable - more to suggest the essence of Wabi Sabi and let the reader take it the rest of the way . Particularly in the second half of this slender book does the nature of Wabi Sabi come to life . It is a book I will continue to read on occasion , and it sits next to my Tao te Ching ready to be accessed at any time .
023 4 A good introduction to the history and basic concepts of Wabi-Sabi . It has good examples that are relevant to our culture and lifestyle . I wish it had better photos . But overall I recommend it .
024 4 This was a great intro to the ideas of wabi sabi . the use of modern art as a reference point is a very constructive way to describe what is and what is not wabi sabi . I definitely recommend this book for any artist or creative mind .
025 4 An informative and enlightening introduction to the concept of ' wabi-sabi ' , that also succeeds at inducing the actual feeling of wabi-sabi , leaving you not only with a sense of heightened awareness , but wanting to linger in that pensive , slowed-down state-of-mind into which you are deftly drawn .
026 4 The book is unconventional and perhaps that is the beauty of it as it attempts to define the essence of the term Wabi-Sabi . It is important to be in the right frame of mind when reading this as it is philosophical , contemplative and yet , very relaxed , understated . It's a peaceful , poetic and elightening read . I've given it out as gifts in my designer circles .
027 4 This review is from :
Wabi-Sabi : for Artists , Designers , Poets & Philosophers ( Paperback )
I bought this book in my pursuit of design concepts / ideas for a book layout . It is accessable philosophy on humility and dignity , and it moves your thoughts nicely into realms of material design . And if you plan on participating in a tea ceremony , as I did , you will appreciate the Wabi-Sabi concept that much more . A must read .
028 4 I bought this book in my pursuit of design concepts / ideas for a book layout . It is accessable philosophy on humility and dignity , and it moves your thoughts nicely into realms of material design . And if you plan on participating in a tea ceremony , as I did , you will appreciate the Wabi-Sabi concept that much more . A must read .
029 4 The book is small but it is an high concentration of
suggestions and also of information about the particular way of thinking wich is a peculiarity of
Japan , of cultured Japan , I think .
A reader should get his brain empty forgetting every western precept concerning aesthetics in order
tgo get in tune with a vague undefined mood which is
blooming when things are trying to reveal their souls .
While reading this book we should try to get into a sort of meditation and we should make an attempt to
perceive things through the scent of their sense .
030 4 This review is from :
Wabi-Sabi : for Artists , Designers , Poets & Philosophers ( Paperback )
This introduction into a key part of Japanese culture is very moving and revealing . The author does and excelent job of extolling the virtues of Wabi-Sabi in a very comprehensible way . While I did enjoy the book I did feel left a little wanting for examples .
031 4 This introduction into a key part of Japanese culture is very moving and revealing . The author does and excelent job of extolling the virtues of Wabi-Sabi in a very comprehensible way . While I did enjoy the book I did feel left a little wanting for examples .
032 4 This is a small book , but takes awhile to appreciate and process . I am therefore still reading it , but am glad I bought it . It was highly recommended by a photography instructor - with specific recommendations on this author since there are many books out with this title .
033 4 This review is from :
Wabi-Sabi : for Artists , Designers , Poets & Philosophers ( Paperback )
This reader was quite intrigued by the comparison of Wabi-Sabi and Modernism - - both being minimalist styles .
This book has modest sections based on particular themes of Wabi-Sabi - - which seems a good way to present Wabi-Sabi - - via various angles .
This book seems a Creative meeting of Wabi-Sabi and Modernism in its written and visual aspects - - minimalist quietly natural elegant quality - - and can be an on-going ever-useful source of Inspiration in many areas of Life + + +
034 4 This reader was quite intrigued by the comparison of Wabi-Sabi and Modernism - - both being minimalist styles .
This book has modest sections based on particular themes of Wabi-Sabi - - which seems a good way to present Wabi-Sabi - - via various angles .
This book seems a Creative meeting of Wabi-Sabi and Modernism in its written and visual aspects - - minimalist quietly natural elegant quality - - and can be an on-going ever-useful source of Inspiration in many areas of Life + + +
035 4 Leonard Koren consistently brings a fresh , unjaundiced eye to design and aesthetics . Lucid and unpretentious , Koren never fails to go directly to the heart of the matter .
036 4 This review is from :
Wabi-Sabi : for Artists , Designers , Poets & Philosophers ( Paperback )
OK for a beginning understanding but very over done . The concept is lost because it is too well defined . Wabi sabi takes right brain intuitive thinking which cannot really be explained . Through book study one can begin to map out a foundation . The rest is gained through feeling and insight . It is creative spirit . I do not think wabi sabi means rustic . The term does not categorize in such a materialistic manner .
037 4 OK for a beginning understanding but very over done . The concept is lost because it is too well defined . Wabi sabi takes right brain intuitive thinking which cannot really be explained . Through book study one can begin to map out a foundation . The rest is gained through feeling and insight . It is creative spirit . I do not think wabi sabi means rustic . The term does not categorize in such a materialistic manner .
