Can we find beauty in imperfection?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 - FEATURES
[SEE. THINK. TALK.]
I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Let's just say that when I was a kid, I used to cry if I colored outside the lines. But it's also why I have a great appreciation for art—it is, after all, often times perfect. So I was surprised by what there was to learn from artist/photographer Shinichi Maruyama. Much of Shinichi's work is inspired by the concept of wabisabi, the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. Each swirl of water and ink is unique and perfectly, well, imperfect. So I chatted with Shin about how to perfectly understand the art of imperfection.
SP: Where do you find inspiration?
SM: Currently, we find ourselves in a sea of mass media inundation, but actually this idea came from when I was a child and also evolved naturally from the project itself. Photography also requires a great deal of technical skill, and I like new technology, so it becomes easier to create something new with new tools.
SP: I love the concept of the wabisabi. How does that concept play into your work as well as your daily life?
SM: I’ve always been more of a logic-oriented person, and photography is a very precise and exact way to record something. However, it might be because I’m older or because I’ve been living in urban areas so long. But personally, I am interested in this concept of wabisabi.
SP: A lot of your work plays with abstractions and symbols. Does each piece have special meaning or are they random?
SM: Nearly all of the works are done without contrivance, a simple exploration of liquid in mid-air. However, my work Kusho #1 is an Enso symbol, and Kusho #18 is Kanji for ‘heart/mind’, done deliberately.
SP: You also have a passion for calligraphy, where each brush stroke must be perfect. How do you reconcile the perfect and imperfect in your life?
SM: Actually, I think that a Shodo (calligraphy) master is not someone who is mentally restricted by the idea of perfection but someone who, with the fundamentals fully mastered, expresses that which is then taken by others to be perfect. I myself am chasing the perfect with my work, but one day I would like to have mastered what I am doing and be expressing freely as well. The irony of my work is that liquid is always ephemeral and changing, and I’m attempting to capture a ‘perfect’ frozen moment of something that is always in flux.
SP: Do you consider yourself a spiritual or religious person?
SM:I can only say that I have a logical character. Observing objectively events that occur is a character that is very befitting to the art of photography.
How have you learned to appreciate the imperfections in art—and in life?
:: imperfections accepted by Lindsay McComb
As much as I like to pay attention to detail, I like the little imperfections in the world. I definitelly appreciate physical imperfections in people > it makes us unique and beautiful. Art is fun when it is imperfect... i just think of impressionist paintings and there you go! how beautiful and yet there are no defined lines! I still work on accepting people's imperfections when it comes to communication styles or some ways of thinking that are stimulated by the big egos... but that's the beauty of this imperfect earth... the imperfections of this world make us grow spiritually if nothing else. i even appreciate my own imperfections cuz it makes me strive to be better while accepting that noone (including me) can be perfect
it's not something you necessarily learn, it's more of something that hits you directly in the face. in art-it shows that a PERSON can make something with flaws, but to some might not be flaws at all. and in life- accepting the possibility that something isn't going to perfect, but knowing before so you don't get let down
I see imperfections everywhere- in art, in life ! I also get swept away by the perfect beauty. They go hand in hand. The imperfections come from the part of me that's the critic.He is as imperfect as imperfect can be. This isn't good enough, that's not good enough. O he thrives. I love it though when I am walking home and catch a look up at the sky. A blue I haven't seen before and clouds like ink full of thunder. Scary big clouds swathed over a blue that melts my heart. Those big imperfect clouds couldn't do a better job of magnifying that magnifecint shade of blue I had never seen before. Imperfections are ultimately intensifiers of the beauty.We quite simply fear them because they are chaotic and remind us that we are not in control.Art and life are full of imperfections but it is what we do with them that counts.
I believe that perfection is in the eye of the beholder... truly.
I have a scar on my chin that some find an "imperfection" but my husband finds it sexy. It represents my fiesty, outdoorsy side. Each scar on my body is a memory, a physical reminder of an action or reaction. Some may find scars ugly or something too hide. I find mine beautiful!
The world would be boring without imperfection. Imperfection is what makes life interesting and fun. When you look up at a gorgeous sunset, do you see something that is perfectly mapped out and planned or do you see a mass of creatively placed imperfection that has come together at that exact place and time? How can you explain the beauty of a sunset if you can't explain the beauty of imperfection? There is nothing perfect and symetrical about a sunset, yet we hold is as a high sign of beauty in our society. So, yes, imperfection is what creates and is the basis of all beauty in out lives.
Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Ones culture* will influence how the word "perfect" is understood and how the meaning of the word is derived. I believe that no two people will ever perceive perfection exactly the same.
[*by culture I mean a persons' experiences, values, beliefs, religion, ethnicity, etc]
I think that in understanding that everyone has their own culture that influences their understanding of and interaction with the world I have become more appreciative of the imperfections and differences that I experience in my life. That's not to say that I'm never angered or confused by the imperfections that I see/experience, but I am learning from everything. I'm changing everyday, and hopefully the changes are positive.
@eccho You illuminate an interesting point. Maybe its not possible for us, as human beings, to fully appreciate perfection in-and-of-itself. Since we are imperfect ourselves. Maybe we naturally appreciate perfection only if its mixed with imperfection - some sort of palatable balance between the two, that reflects our own balance.
On the other hand, maybe some of us become "bored" with perfection because we don't have any REAL problems and its been a cushy life....LOL
- LIFE's BIG QUESTIONS
- ATTACK A CHALLENGE
@NWestfall well said :)