Wabi Sabi Aesthetics
It is impossible to describe the exact meaning of wabi sabi other than to suggest that it
refers to the feeling one has while conducting the Japanese tea ceremony, or perhaps
the idea of beauty contained within something rustic and separate from modern
commercial slick materialism. It is
something that is natural, simple, and unpretentious whose function causes an
awareness of a certain cosmic order.
Many people are led to wabi
sabi through art or architecture; I was led to it through amateur
radio. Over the years, I become
increasingly disappointed in the growing technological aspects of equipment
that took participants towards performance and away from understanding. I saw many new licensees purchase a 2-meter
portable transceiver to be used just as a jumped-up form of CB, and fewer
operators experiencing the wonder of communicating with a device they built or
restored. I always had a feeling but could not give this feeling a name until I
studied wabi sabi.
My idea of the best book about this is Leonard Koren’s Wabi Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets, and
Philosophers. Also see his web site.