Wabi Sabi

Wabi-sabi is one of the ancient Japanese aesthetic senses, which is to find beauty in imperfect and lonely things.

Current life is irrational and ephemeral. Peace and happiness are like a momentary illusion built on a fragile balance. Wabi-sabi is a conversion of the quality of loneliness within the self that accepts these things as beautiful with a sense of maturity.

This work attempts to store the complex concept of Wabi-sabi on the blockchain. Directly, the code dynamically generates brushstrokes based on motifs of Shodo, Japanese calligraphy.

Wabi Sabi begins with a daring movement in which an ink-soaked brush is shaken down onto the paper, causing the ink to splatter. From there, a unique algorithm is used to draw the brushstrokes. The various shapes that emerge from the balance of straight and curved lines, regular and irregular, strong and slight, complex and delicate, and the change in speed makes it seem as if a person's will is in the brushstrokes. At this time, the bleeding, scratching and splattering of ink give the modeling even more complexity. On the other hand, Wabi Sabi is not only trying to recreate Shodo strokes with precision. You will notice that the colors always bleed in the same direction. It is impossible to generate this appearance in reality. This is because even if the brush is impregnated with multiple colors of ink, the brush will rotate as it draws the brushstrokes. It may also generate three-dimensional patterns that are impossible in reality and give the impression of depth, as if brushstrokes were drawn in space. This is achieved by controlling the focus.

The blank spaceare is an important element in this work. Wabi-sabi is to accept the lacking. Some mints may have 90% of the blank space. This may seem odd to be some people. Digital art often takes full advantage of the calculating power of the computer to lay out complex patterns across the entire canvas. Wabi Sabi is minimal in comparison to these pieces.

Each of the brushstrokes, the bleeding and scratching of ink, and the blank space represented in this work is imperfect. However, the contrasts between movement and stillness, strength and weakness, audacity and delicacy, complexity and simplicity, vividness and fadedness reveal a sad beauty.

There is another important feature of this work. It can be edited. A artwork is usually completed by the artist and presented to the viewer. I wanted to make this work as imperfect as the concept of Wabi-sabi, which can be infinitely edited by the viewer. This is not possible with conventional NFT, which uploads the generated image data to a server, and is only possible with on-chain generative art by code.

The search for beauty through imitation and slight modification, and the exploration of the techniques used to create traditional or innovative shapes, is similar to the training in Shodo. In other words, you can't do it well at first. The Japanese word for Shodo, "do", means "road". It is a long road. With long training and exploration, the sensitive concept of Wabi-sabi may be understood.

More broadly, this is also about reliving the process of the artist's exploration. The viewer is the artist and the artist is the viewer.

I wanted to store the work on the blockchain.

[NOTE]

Mouse over the left edge of the canvas and press the Edit button to edit S key to save image R key to redraw

Modern hardware and browser hardware acceleration recommended. Chrome on a desktop with a high-end GPU is optimal. If you are on iOS, for the best experience, view in iOS 12 or later.