MDCM2003 – Reflection Paper: Inspiration Cluster 1

We decided upon wabi sabi as our group inspiration because of the uniqueness of the concept itself, being able to think in a different mindset that is unfamiliar to a western framework. It never occurred to me that Japanese had a particular design sense. After reading the texts, it has highlighted the similarities of design in Japanese society – what appears to us as ‘weird’ but interesting. The idea of wabi sabi or also referred to as a ‘make shift’ phenomenon, as suggested in Juniper; ‘is a quest for the unique and unconventional’. My understanding of this concept overall is to discover the beauty in ugliness in its simplest, natural form.

Juniper has stated the 8 elements of wabi sabi expression; organic, freedom of form, texture, ugliness & beauty, colour, simplicity, space and balance. Through understanding these, I have realized there are many limitations or rather avoidances for my wabi sabi inspired projects. These limitations I will use to my advantage, as it will allow me to further think of other options rather than the norm.

Concepts that inspire me;

I am inspired by the freedom of form; in that you are able to express yourself freely and not have to be mindful of rules as long as there is ‘balance’ in the piece. Texture will be interesting to work with, as the reading suggests – textures can be expressive in it-self. Most of all I am inspired by the notion of beauty in ugliness. Designing accessories in my spare time; I challenge myself to give new life and meaning to a certain material, now it is a chance to translate that into the digital work I am doing. It will be a challenge just trying to understand the conventions of beauty and to surpass it through the little unappealing details which others may have not noticed before.  I’m a fan of simplicity and will try to portray these aesthetics in the simplest ways, highlighting another element of simplicity and use of space.

Translation of ideas;

For the first individual project, some brief ideas I have in mind include a situation of a ‘natural process’, whereby the user is able to experience and interact with it as it occurs. For example, it could be witnessing the change of seasons (represented by textures). Each season will be a different layer which the user will have to pass/interact with, and this layer will tear away showing another. This idea is inspired by the Japanese’ fascination of using layers, and natural processes. The use of layers in architecture is portrayed in the Louis Vuitton building that featured layers to portray suitcases in the Make Shift text.

The colours I consider using include the muted colours you would find on a Japanese scroll/painting on rice paper. I find muted tones are less distracting to the eye, which would keep a simple palette. Another idea is to pair up murky colours with a contrasted colour to see what sort of effect it could create, perhaps the murkier colour will be more interesting in this light. But I will mostly stick to ‘organic’ shades.

More ideas in development…