Kitsugi-Kuroi | Art of Wabi Sabi

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/05/kintsugi-the-art-of-broken-pieces/

"Broken but Beautiful"

Kintsugi is the Japanese technique of repairing broken pottery with lacquer and gold dust. While it restores what was once broken, the technique intentionally emphasizes beauty in the brokenness of an object and confers a deeper meaning: “That although broken, if given time and patience, what is broken can heal.”

The myth of the origin of this technique is said to originate during the reign of Ashikaga Yoshimasa; when he sent a precious broken tea bowl back to China, it was returned ugly and repaired with staples. It was then repaired by Japanese craftsmen who looked to repair it in a more aesthetic manner.

I particularly admire this process due to its emphasis on the Japanese belief of "Wabi-Sabi", which is the view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. It contradicts to the traditional Japanese societal belief that all things must be perfect and acknowledges 3 realities of buddhism: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect. 

This is a view I think society lacks today especially in Japanese society. People put so much pressure on themselves to be perfect when that is impossible to achieve because we are all human. This pressure becomes a time bomb and it leads to dangerous situations like the increasing suicide rates or Karoshi (death by overwork due to societal pressures)

Kintsugi Concrete Vessel + Ikebana (Japanese Flower Arranging )

The image above is a project I created to test the limits of Kintsugi. While attending a Materials and Methods class at the University of Arizona, I had the opportunity to explore the concept of turning concrete into a vessel. At the time I had just returned from a Japan Study Abroad where I became interested in the idea of Kintsugi. While it is historically used for pottery, I wanted to push the boundaries of the technique. When a concrete is broken its difficult to salvage what was once whole. Glue nor additional concrete does little to repair the object, usually leading the whole thing to be thrown away and a new object to be made. Using Kintsugi, I applied the technique to prove that concrete can be repaired, and what was once considered a lost cause can be made whole again. Additionally, to match the vessel I dabbled a bit in Ikebana or Japanese flower arrangement that takes flowers in accordance to the location and season.

It was spring at the time so I arranged Palo Verde and Texas Olive flowers.

Info Sources:

https://www.lifegate.com/people/lifestyle/kintsugi