The Japanese (From Upper Paleolith)
Wabi-sabi

I highly appreciate the wabi-sabi concept of Japanese aesthetics. Impermanence, imperfection, incompleteness. I find it very relatable, very embraceable. Works that are very polished, very complete do often come across as inaccessible to me, or even dead. There is no entry point, I am controlled and oppressed by artist’s intent in each attempt to engage with the work. And the only thing I can find there – if I succeed to engage at all – would be that same artist’s intent, a message, an attempt to persuade me. There is no room for new meaning, no room for discovery, no room for exchange, only one-way reception of whatever you are being served.

I prefer the glitches, the imperfections – those are the entry points, those are the conversation starters, those are the openings for emerging new meanings. On the other hand, that also places more responsibility on the audience – to actually engage, to make use of those affordances that imperfections offer. Sometimes it seems that my next project should be re-education of the audience. Maybe it’s gonna be.