This image- a delightful still-life of tea-bowls and some sort of nature collection- is from this lovely blog discovered today, which has been running a series on Wabi Sabi, a Japanese-based aesthetic movement which is hard to describe in words. The basic elements involved taking joy in the beauty of imperfection, acceptance of the ageing nature of everything that lives, and the humble overtones of living a simple life.
Viva Terra Wabi Sabi mugsIt amuses me that consumer society has tried to market this movement- offering simple (factory-made, mass produced) 'eco-chic' goods for the home, at less than simple prices. Some of them are doing the right thing, offering hand-made stools of reclaimed wood made by African villagers, organic hemp or fair-trade recycled glass beads, but I fail to see the wabi-sabi nature in a rough stone candlestick if that candlestick has millions of identical brothers and sisters, all shipped from their factory in China to sit on the shelves of Target.
Not that I'm not guilty of giving in and buying from Target. We can't be angels all the time. ;)
Every time I stumble across a photograph that is so beautiful in it's decay as this one, and I find out it's from the Katrina devistation...i feel guilty for admiring it. These images of an almost post-apoclyptic environment conjour a reaction in me that's far from my usual excitement- these images make me sad for the people who once thrived there, and they make me angry at the government, it's response and it's abandonment of the situation. I find it interesting that I feel this way about katrina images and not from ordinary abandoned houses and decayed civilization.
1 comment:
Thank you for this thought provoking post...and for some new links to add to my ever-growing list.
Post a Comment