Under Construction
Catalog of Influence
Project Advisor Kristen Coogan
Boston University Fall 2019
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Boston University Fall 2019
Wabi–Sabi
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, Wabi–Sabi (侘寂) is a world-view centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is ‘imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete’. It is a concept derived from the characteristics of the Wabi-Sabi aesthetic including asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes. The quest for my ultimate purpose has driven me to a lot of different fields of study, and somehow this helps me unravel a new chapter to my identity that I was not aware of. I realised that without conscious effort, Wabi–Sabi is a Japanese philosophy which influences my life, my interests, my work and how I make sense of things happening around me.
Editorial visual system and material choices
The cover page follows a minimalistic scene of shooting stars in a twilight sky to illustrate the Wabi–Sabi curatorial spirit of the publication. The visual elements used for the scene has been used throughout the book as tools for layout demarcation. The choice of paper for the final printed publication had random specks of colour in it to mimic the imperfection in natural surfaces to represent how materiality of paper influences a composition.
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, Wabi–Sabi (侘寂) is a world-view centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is ‘imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete’. It is a concept derived from the characteristics of the Wabi-Sabi aesthetic including asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes. The quest for my ultimate purpose has driven me to a lot of different fields of study, and somehow this helps me unravel a new chapter to my identity that I was not aware of. I realised that without conscious effort, Wabi–Sabi is a Japanese philosophy which influences my life, my interests, my work and how I make sense of things happening around me.
Editorial visual system and material choices
The cover page follows a minimalistic scene of shooting stars in a twilight sky to illustrate the Wabi–Sabi curatorial spirit of the publication. The visual elements used for the scene has been used throughout the book as tools for layout demarcation. The choice of paper for the final printed publication had random specks of colour in it to mimic the imperfection in natural surfaces to represent how materiality of paper influences a composition.
Photographs of a few pages from the book
Final Book
Special thanks to Wei Yun Chen and Mahnoor Butt