Wabi-Sabi

I came across this term while reading an article related to smartphone applications. The term wabi-sabi (of Japanese origin) is more of a transcendentalist idea. It is the language for aesthetic and here aesthetic means “imperfect, impermanent and incomplete”. Wabi-Sabi is a sense of feeling or an experience, it cannot be connoted with physical characteristics. It is a slight melancholy, sometimes the feeling of chaste love and longing.

Wabi means a bittersweet mixture of loneliness and serenity a sense of solitariness from the material. Sabi means withered connoting tarnish and rust, the process of aging gracefully. Together it is more of an entelechy for those who adopt its ways into their life. 

Wabi-Sabi embodiment can be seen in the Japanese tea ceremony as well, the pottery items used are often quite asymmetrical, with unrefined colors and textures. The aesthetic, lies in the way the colour of glazed items is known to change over time as hot water is repeatedly poured into them (sabi) and the fact that tea bowls are often deliberately chipped or nicked at the bottom (wabi). Later wood and bamboo replaced porcelain, and lacquer and hospitality trumped pretension as the height of taste. The mere mentioning of tea ceremony here wouldn’t serve the purpose. The experience itself would be a realization. In the recent past while watching an anime series named “Avatar-The last air bender” I noticed one of the characters aesthetically savouring tea in small chipped wooden cups. The character being a powerful warlord contrasted his countenance and his hunger for power was long gone, his ultimate desire was to open a tea shop. The peculiarity along with my love for tea has added this one ceremony to my wish-list.

The essence of wabi-sabi can be incorporated in designing of applications and websites also. The software applications are though based on logic but simplicity and elegance in imperfection can add a touch of aesthetic user experience.