ちなみに来週火曜のトークはこちらです。 ↓ TAB Talks is bilingual art+design talk held every Tuesday from 8:30 in Gotanda. The talk is followed with lounge time.
TAB Talks #12“Japanese Aesthetics and Design”
Japanese aesthetic styles like “wabi-sabi”, “ma” and “silence” have a substantial influence on both design and architecture in Japan and abroad. For this TAB Talk, we are pleased to invite Kimiko Gunji, a professor at the University of Illinois who has for over 30 years continued to explore and lecture on these singular concepts that exist in no other language. Professor Gunji will speak on the topic of “Japanese Aesthetics and Design”.
Professor Gunji is director of Japan House, a Japanese cultural learning center, strikingly situated in the vast, flat serenity of cornfields, which make up much of the American Midwest. This institution, part of the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois, includes an authentic tea house, called Seikou-an, installed thanks to a gift from Dr. Genshitsu Sen, the 15th generation Grand Master of the Urasenke tea tradition. The Seikou-an is one of the few instances of authentic Japanese architecture located outside of Japan. It is here that Professor Gunji has been teaching her students about Design and Japanese Aesthetics and Zen Aesthetics.
What is it exactly about this Japanese aesthetic that continues to fascinate designers around the world? How does one go about explaining the manifestations of this aesthetic to foreign audiences - the sharpened sensations that come with a single cup of tea, or the design concepts that are demonstrated in an ikebana flower arrangement? What does “spiritless” design refer to? We hope you will join us for this talk that Professor Gunji has kindly made room in her busy schedule for.
Next Talks in July * July 8: Electrical Fantasista * July 15: Keisuke Sakuai - Japanese Contemporary Dance * July 22: Butoh - Beauty of playful and grotesque dance from archive * July 29: Satoshi Okada