We make transient objects, like spoons and bowls and rugs and houses out of materials resilient enough to far outlast their aesthetic appeal we come to hate them. Humans in Japan and other eastern countries have spent centuries contemplating their end, while those of us in the west prize our ability to pretend like we’ll be here forever. Have you ever noticed how the perfect vinyl siding on the outside of a house can become dated pretty quickly, while slowly crumbing brick covered in leafy vines pretty much always looks good? Or, how about how beautiful an unkept field of wildflowers looks compared to a manicured flower bed that’s gone unattended for a few weeks? Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence, written by Andrew Juniper, is an introduction to a traditional Japanese aesthetic, which, I’m just gonna say it, is better than modern Western aesthetic.
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