Wabi Sabi — Zen Principles of Aesthetics Chapter 1: FUKINSEI
This is a continuation of my original post on Wabi Sabi — Zen Principles of Aesthetics. If you have not read that article, I strongly recommend you read it before this one.
With this article as the beginning, I will be discussing each principle every week, with my thoughts and examples. I will also show real life applications of the principles and how it can help make your design or artwork more effective and meaningful, or meaningless. I’ve already started to sound profound, read on and you will be able to understand.
Chapter 1: FUKINSEI 不均斉
In English: Imbalanced, Asymmetry
Asymmetry, odd numbers, irregularity, unevenness, imbalance is used as a denial of perfection as perfection and symmetry does not occur in nature.
If you look around you, you will seldom or in fact never observe perfection or symmetry in nature. Water is never completely clear, Clouds are not perfectly white, your left hand is always a different size than your right hand, the moon is never a perfect circle, everything is random and even the most regular of events like day and night have slight differences in time. Measurement is a science invented by humans which does not occur in nature.
Because nature is imperfect, we are comfortable and familiar with a world that is not perfect. Nothing has been perfect since the big bang and the beginning of the universe. We have never live in a perfect world. Although humans have made attempts to strive towards perfection, we can only come close but we will never reach it. This familiarity with imperfection is what makes designs and art created with this principle in mind so pleasing to the mind.
FUKINSEI in Art & Design
Naoto Fukasawa — Shelf
Kenji Oki — 1/2 x 4
Adidas Logo
Related links
http://www.naotofukasawa.com
http://www.plusminuszero.jp
http://www.muji.co.jp
http://www.japandesign.ne.jp/HTM/DCG/OKI/index.html
DT has a nice article on the Design Philosophies of Toshiyuki Kita and Naoto Fukasawa.
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