Perfection doesn’t exist. In our opinion there is a variety of beautiful imperfections which make things and people unique. It’s also the passing of time that plays a fundamental role in this vision because it changes inevitably every single thing.
We are not saying anything new, we know. The Japanese aesthetic concept of Wabi-Sabi is based on the temporal and imperfection of things.
Wabi-Sabi is a very special word and doesn’t have a direct translation. It implies a precise aesthetic value. It’s a philosophy that covers a large conceptual area and teaches detachment from the idea of perfection as a must, in order to rediscover a spontaneous and incomplete beauty – by going beyond the mere appearance.
Nothing is perfect – nothing stays forever – nothing is incomplete: beauty is linked with the transience of things and the effect of time.
Wabi-Sabi is an aesthetic concept that can be detected but isn’t linked to defined physical features. However, to our material culture, Wabi-Sabi objects are often seen as rustics because at first, we view them as asymetric, simple, with unrefined surfaces, they are irregular and faulty.
A perfect example of this kind of aesthetic are Raku ceramics.
We have built our kilns in our garden, near the bamboo thicket, and when the sun goes down we wait for the evening to arrive. That is the perfect moment to remove our bright red heated works from the kiln, and to see the thick cloud of smoke covering the garden like a mantle of fog.
In the silence of the night, our expectations are always fullfilled by all those small setbacks that make each piece unique. Raku means finding great pleasure in those moments, they contain the core of this ritual. I strongly feel that beauty often lies in the freedom of being able to surprise myself with the unexpected.
The “freaky raku” is a project about the search for beauty that can be found in the uniqueness of anything that is not perfect.
Every object has its own story, it's own time, and its own soul.
