Saved by Lael Johnson and
Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
Rikyu took the baton of artlessness from his predecessor, Ikkyu, when he introduced Korean craft pottery into his tea ceremony. The Korean potters, who might have made a hundred similar pots in a day, were probably totally devoid of any thought of artistic aspirations as they worked, and it was just this lack of intellect that proved so attractive
... See moreAndrew Juniper • Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
it is the almost mystical process of balancing different elements of a design in an aesthetic way that separates the proverbial men from the boys.
Andrew Juniper • Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
The Zen movement developed hand in hand with the arts it was inspiring. And it was Takeno Joo who, having received instruction in the ways of tea from Shuko and Jotei (the reputed son of Ikkyu), then transmitted his teachings to Sen no Rikyu.
Andrew Juniper • Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
Beyond architecture, the modern tea ceremony has been accused of becoming spiritually vacuous by people like Yanagi Soetsu, a leading figure in the craft movement of Japan, who was vehemently opposed to the so-called high art that he saw bringing down the whole aesthetic sensibility of the Japanese.
Andrew Juniper • Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
With the Zen belief of greatness in the smallest things, immense emphasis was put on all the small details of life,
Andrew Juniper • Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
However, if one had to suggest one common thread that is able to link all wabi sabi expressions, then it might be said that those sensitive to its mood should, when coming into contact with wabi sabi expressions, find themselves touched in an indefinable yet profound way. They have a sensation of yearning for something that defies articulation and
... See moreAndrew Juniper • Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
In the tearoom there is a sober veneration for unadorned rusticity, for the greatness to be found in the most restrained expression of the humble and simple.
Andrew Juniper • Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
Design criteria: Disregard for conventional views of beauty An aesthetic pleasure that lies beyond conventional beauty Beauty in the smallest most imperceptible details
Andrew Juniper • Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
from the simple lifestyles of the monks who lived a life of wabi, referred to as wabizumai. ( Wabi here means solitary and simple and zumai being a verb extension meaning to live.)