Wabi-Sabi, an Endangered Aesthetic?

A Review of Leonard Koren's Guide to Japanese Wabi-Sabi Design

Sep 24, 2009

In his book, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, Leonard Koren invites us to (re)discover the central pillar of Japanese aesthetics.

How to explain the essence of Japanese design without defining away its abstraction? This would be quite an undertaking for any Westerner, but Koren's evident care and respect for the subject show his book, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, to be labor of love. Published in 1994, his look at traditional Japanese aesthetics has never been more timely, encouraging Western civilization to return to an appreciation of natural beauty.

What is Wabi-Sabi?

A philosophy which prizes the elements of life virtually left behind by Western standards of commercial beauty, wabi-sabi is based on the beauty of the simple, of the imperfect, and of the incomplete. Being nature-based, its hallmark is finding ways of creating beauty without succumbing to materialism and artificiality. He explains that "wabi-sabi" translates roughly to the marriage of spirituality and inconspicuous beauty, a romanticism of the rustic.

Wabi-Sabi Philosophy v. Modernism

Historically, wabi-sabi was never taught theoretically, but passed on by practice and example. For this reason, Koren expresses hesitancy in formally instructing others on how to live the wabi-sabi lifestyle. Yet his guide was written to revive appreciation for what might otherwise become an endangered aesthetic. Apparently wabi-sabi's lack of concrete definition in the past has caused its understanding to fade nearly to extinction with the onset of modern culture. The author acknowledges that wabi-sabi is “a teleological benchmark that can never be fully realized” (Koren, 17). Even so, he outlines its provisional tenets for the sake of salvaging such a valuable counter to Western ideals.

One particular chapter, "A Comparison with Modernism", juxtaposes wabi-sabi and modernism in a wonderfully lucid inventory of their contrasts and similarities. A box serves as the metaphor for the modern world-view: rationality, absolutism, materiality, symmetry, a polished perfectionism, and an attempt to wrest control of nature. In contrast, a bowl represents the wabi-sabi mindset: rooted in intuition, relativity, immateriality, asymmetry, a “crude” imperfection, and adaptation to the uncontrollability of nature. While the entire book is accessible for those new to the philosophical territory, this section is perhaps the most useful for anyone interested in practically incorporating a sense of wabi-sabi in their lives.

Reviving a Nature-based Aesthetic

The very style and format of Koren’s Wabi-Sabi are consistent with its namesake’s aesthetic values. Simple, concise, and unadorned, the book's content offers more practical examples than formulaic prescriptions, proving Leonard Koren to be a true disciple of the movement, rather than a mere historian or art critic pontificating from a distance. It is no wonder that by this book’s conclusion, Western-minded readers find themselves considering conversion to a “new” wave of thought that has already been flowing for centuries. As the cultural tide turns to more ecologically sound living, Koren's classic guide is more relevant than ever.

Why Not Invite Your Child to Discover Wabi-Sabi?

Author Mark Reibstein and illustrator Ed Young introduce you to the making of their children's book Wabi Sabi at www.youtube.com.

The copyright of the article Wabi-Sabi, an Endangered Aesthetic? in Art Books is owned by Katelyn Aronson. Permission to republish Wabi-Sabi, an Endangered Aesthetic? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.