1. Wabi-Sabi

2. Emptiness vs. Nothingness
All…phenomena are intrinsically void and yet this Mind with which they are identical is no mere nothingness.
-Huang Po, “Zen Teaching of Huang Po”

3. A History of Obfuscation
the “zen of things”
dharma transmission—from mind to mind
“wabi-sabi” as ineffability: to explain is to diminish
reason is subordinate to perception in matters of art

4. Defining the Indefinable
“wabi”—“abandonment, misery in nature”
“sabi”—“chill, lean, withered”
an evolution toward a more “positive” and “aesthetic” value
the hermit’s life as an opportunity for spiritual enlighenment
the ten-thousand things either are devolving toward or evolving from nothingness (emptiness)

6. “Wabi-Sabi” Observation of nature
All things are impermanent
All things are imperfect
All things are incomplete
Greatness exists in the inconspicuous and overlooked details
Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness
Acceptance of the inevitable
Appreciation of the cosmic order

9. “Wabi-Sabi” Get rid of all that is unnecessary
Focus on the intrinsic and ignore material hierarchy
Material Qualities
the suggestion or natural process
irregular
intimate
unpretentious
earthy, murky and simple

11. Modernism A reaction against classicism Abstract and lacking intimacy
Mass-produced and modular
Control of nature
A confidence in techne and machinery
Minimalist and geometric
Artificial materials

12. Modern Wabi-Sabi

13. Modern Wabi-Sabi?

14. Can Mars be Earthly?

15. Gardening Zenwise

17. Kare-sansui—withered landscapes
“setting-off and framing”
“familiar paths and vegetation are replaced by a stark rectangle of flat racked gravel, grouped or single stones, and space”
“a sudden, almost deathly stillness”
“soothing and shocking”

19. A questioning of reality: “In a garden we may open our minds in the face of nature, stilling our preconceptions and opening up the possibility of viewing ourselves and usual ways of thinking from an entirely different perspective.”
An aid to meditation: “Zen gardens serve as perfect backdrops to empty ourselves of our own frivolous clutter, our clung-to experiences and passionately-held views”

21. Raku: Drinking Tea as Art and Meditation

25. Drawing with Zen Mind

30. Mountain

31. yhpargotohp nez

37. Wabi Sabi… or Not?

41. Modernism: Antithesis or Collaborator?

48. Modern wabi-sabi or Wabi-sabi modern?