Wabi Sabi

[Faust]

The photos are gorgeous (it's already out in French - I leafed through it in Paris). I am actually perplexed at the dearth of photo books about wabi-sabi. Words are all fine and goo, but I want images too!

[DmD]

I often come back to this, because of the following quote by Robert Pirsig

"Neither is the ugliness inherent in the materials of modern technology ... a statement you sometimes hear. Mass-produced plastics and synthetics aren’t in themselves bad. They’ve just acquired bad associations. A person who’s lived inside stone walls of a prison most of his life is likely to see stone as an inherently ugly material, even though it’s also the prime material of sculpture, and a person who’s lived in a prison of ugly plastic technology that started with his childhood toys and continues through a lifetime of junky consumer products is likely to see this material as inherently ugly. But the real ugliness of modern technology isn’t found in any material or shape or act or product. These are just the objects in which the low Quality appears to reside. It’s our habit of assigning Quality to subjects or objects that gives this impression."

I like that quote, especially the part in bold. I agree about the associations we make regarding Quality. But I think some materials more readily lend themselves to the aesthetic qualities of impermanence and natural processes.

Is that from "Zen And the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"? It's been a long time since I read it. It strikes me that the reader will get something different from that book at different stages in his/her life.

[Faust]

Yes. I have read the book 5 times, and I teach some chapters from it, and you are right - it is a very rich text.

[Arizona]

part of some type of traditional Japanese clothing. Natural indigo, 1930s~1950s.

[Arizona]

some more.

1940s sweatshirt, stained and torn.

WW2 Navy pants, red wine stain by myself.

(I wear all of these pieces)

I would say that you can't design wabisabi, but you could design to allow for a piece to acquire this characteristic. Perhaps by using materials that will last but age. In this respect, indigo and other natural dyes are essential.

Also, I don't think a piece has to be old or damaged to be "wabisabi" (frankly, I feel it is silly to declare something to be wabisabi, it's a bit like claiming something is good simply because it's made by a certain designer. Too superficial.)
It can simply by imperfect or a bit ugly in its design. I wear a lot of vintage clothing but also cheap, and to me funny and charming, used/fleamarket clothing from the 70s-90s. I could post those pieces here, but I'm certain that they wouldn't be received well.
However, I can see their qualities despite their crappiness. It's simply about accepting things as they are. Why throw away(or even mend) a shirt that's torn in one or more spots? And why seek perfection in the design itself?

[eat me]

Really liked this photography book.

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I actually have that in my Amazon wishlist, wondering if I should get it.

[Faust]

I'd say yes. It looks like there is actually a dearth of good wabi-sabi images. Strangely enough.

[MASUGNEN]

Really liked this photography book.

«This is the waaiting room. Såm ov yoer frends are'ere.»

[syed]

And yet this makes me sad to think how few people would actually understand the understated elegance of her clothing because they spend their whole lives chasing after bling.

That statement really resonated in my mind, thank you.

I like the idea that you find beauty in simplicity within the wabi sabi philosophy. Although it is certainly not wabi sabi specific, it is something my father taught me without really meaning to.

As a result of growing up in a household where eight people lived in a single room in poverty, and having spent his life to give his family the best he could, he is quite a practical man to say the least. He has never really understood the idea of buying something beautiful if it does not serve a function - heck he does not really see why you would have flowers in a vase around the house. But I was in the car with him a few months after my grandfather passed away. We were driving past the park, and my father told me about how it was once snowing when he drove up there, and there were these small flowers peeking through the snow. People were driving past and ignoring them entirely, but he said he parked up just to look at them. He said it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen

[michael_kard]

I would argue that the emotion that a garment expresses is just as legitimate a claim to wabi sabi regardless of whether it was naturally (or should I say authentically) distressed or fabricated to be so. Of course, not all pre-distressed garments are succesful at this (perhaps it is even harder) nor do all designers intend for this.

I think the visual expression of the principles of Wabi Sabi in a piece of clothing is very much related to the its significance to its owner. It's not about the stains or scratches, but about being absolutely connected to the wearer, being part of his life. I just feel a distressed look should be a natural result of this and not fabricated, because it then becomes sort of ornamental.

I somehow agree with you in the sense that, in the long term, it all becomes quite blurry and similar. However, the way I see it, distressing is for the most part kitsch; a pre-distressed piece of clothing pretends to be something it is not. I love my Rick and other designers who employ this, but I sort of think it really is kind of lame.

[genevieveryoko]

I completely agree with you that in most cases (with the rare exception of Paul Harnden and a few others) pre-distressed garments do look silly if not downright retarded. I guess what I'm getting at more is that a garment doesn't have to be old or even have a relationship with its owner/anyone in order to express the idea of wabi sabi. The way things wear over time is a big part of the definition, but not the only definition. And if wabi sabi can be applied to things that can't be owned then I don't see why long term ownership has to be a prerequisite when it comes to clothing.

[eat me]

It doesn't have to be based off physical appearance, but I was talking about it in the context of fashion/garments, and there the most apparent qualities are visual rather then visceral (at least for the majority of it).

[Faust]

Really liked this photography book.

Read me

[kompressorkev]

Now i have to check out that book Some beautiful spaces. I love that line you wrote: "Breathe in. Breathe out." ... so fitting.

[eat me]

/faints/ I _want_ to have such space. And also, now definitely buying the book, been on the wishlist for too long. Beautiful write-up, Faust.