28: Spirituality & Japanese Design Practice

Excerpts from the article I found interesting:

The Japanese have demonstrated a rare syncretic genius in learning how to borrow and adapt from their own culture and elsewhere, and then to retool these materials into something uniquely theirs.

The Japanese don’t see emptiness as synonymous with infertility or barrenness as we tend to perceive it. Instead, nothingness is that from which form can emerge. The painters of Japan believed that emptiness was apparent as a context only after the first well conceived stroke was put to paper. What might seem like an inconsequential difference actually structures an entire people’s appreciation of meaningful presence. Emptiness to us, by any other name, plays a procreative role in Japan and, through its subtle mastery, achieves meaningful presence. A similar appreciation can be seen in design theory, such as in Alex W. White’s Thinking in Type: “The spaces surrounding and within letters are as significant and the letters themselves. In fact, the shapes around the letters define the letters. Managing the spaces between and around letters makes type more or less legible.” A simple context taken outside of the constraints of language can allow for a deeper understanding of typography, architecture, or one’s spiritual journey.

Read the full article here: http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/spirituality-and-japanese-design-practise