日本"侘寂"美學受追捧

“Take heed of the humble; be what you are by birthright; there is no room for arrogance,” wrote Soetsu Yanagi in The Unknown Craftsman, published during Japan’s folk craft movement in the 1920s. According to Yanagi, the craftsman should be anonymous, and his wares produced by hand, inexpensive and used by ordinary people in everyday life. In an age when the stamp of the designer is often the most desired facet of an object, it is refreshing to find that the hallmarks of Japanese design, anonymity and quality, are now enjoying fresh appreciation.

“注意要謙虛謹慎、做你與生俱來的自己、沒有傲慢自大的餘地，”柳宗悦(Soetsu Yanagi)在1920年代日本民間工藝運動期間出版的《未知的工匠》(The Unknown Craftsman)著作裏寫到。根據柳宗悦的説法，工匠應當隱姓埋名，產品應當手工製造、物美價廉且供普通人在日常生活中使用。設計師的標記往往是一件物品最受喜愛的特徵；在這樣一個時代，可以令人振奮地發現日本設計的特點--匿名性和高質量--現在，它們正受到越來越多的新的青睞。

Japanese design has long been admired in Europe and a recent flush of shop openings and design collaborations suggests a growing hunger for traditionally crafted, sustainable objects.

日本設計長久以來一直都在歐洲受到仰慕。最近一陣的開店熱潮和設計合作則顯示了對傳統制作、耐用物品越來越多的渴望。

“A new generation of Japanese designers from Tokyo and Kyoto are migrating back to making things in a more traditional manner,” says Sam Hecht, who co-founded the London-based design office Industrial Facility and has designed for Muji, the Japanese lifestyle store, since 2002.

“新一代從東京和京都來的日本設計師紛紛迴歸到從前傳統制造方式，”薩姆•海奇特(Sam Hecht)説道。他在倫敦與人共同成立了名為工業設施(Industrial Facility)的設計室，該公司從2002年開始為日本生活品商店無印良品(Muji)做設計。

“Japanese designers don’t make a distinction between things that are meant to be looked at and things that are meant to be used,” adds Hecht. “There is not simply a visual appreciation of craft, but a much deeper relationship with objects. Objects are often left slightly unfinished. For example, a dish might be glazed only in part, but this is important because it means that it’s not complete. The person using it, eating from it and cleaning it completes it. It’s not about perfection, it’s about function.”

“日本設計師不對東西的外觀和實用性作區別，”海奇特補充道。“不只是簡單地在視覺上欣賞工藝品，而是與其有更深一層的關係。作品往往留在略未完成的階段。例如，一個盤子可能只會在某些部分上釉，但這是很重要的，因為這意味着它並不完整。那些使用它、用它吃飯和清洗它的人才能使它變得完整。重點不是在於完美，而是在於功能。”

Many of the designers who are adopting a traditional Japanese style have called upon the aesthetic philosophy of wabi-sabi, a nebulous term derived from centuries of Japanese spiritualism and culture. Leonard Koren, a design and aesthetics theorist, explains the concept as “a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete.”

許多采用日本傳統風格的設計師都遵循“侘寂”(wabi-sabi)的審美哲學，一個來自幾個世紀以來的日本精神和文化的朦朧術語。設計和美學理論家倫納德•科倫(Leonard Koren)解釋説，這種概念是“東西有瑕疵、無常和不完整的美。”

This focus on utility has been picked up by Native & Co, a new shop in Notting Hill, west London. Co-founders Sharon Hung and Chris Yoshiro Green import exquisitely crafted products from Japan, propagating the streamlined aesthetic and lack of embellishment for which Japanese design is famous.

在倫敦西部諾丁山(Notting Hill)新開的Native & Co已經學會了這種把焦點集中於功用的作法。共同創始人洪沙倫(Sharon Hung)和克里斯四郎•格林(Chris Yoshiro Green)從日本進口製作精美的產品，宣傳日本以其流線型的美學和缺乏裝飾而聞名的設計。

“The project started by us sourcing products from Japanese workshops that have been making things in the same way for hundreds of years, ” says Hung. Included in their range are earthy ceramics by Katsuhiko Ogino and wooden products by Oji Masanori.

“這個項目的供貨方是數百年來一直以同樣的方式製造作品的日本工坊，”洪説道。荻野克彥(Katsuhiko Ogino)的土製陶瓷和大治將典(Oji Masanori)的木製品都包括在他們的採購範圍內。

Elsewhere in Europe, designers are also drawing on Japanese design as inspiration. Architect-turned-product designer Thomas Griem released a new collection of rugs earlier this month, which have taken Japanese woodcuts as their starting point. “I was looking at ukiyo-e, at the geometry and the motif of the tree which kept appearing throughout the imagery. It has an elegance and an opulence that I liked,” he says.

在歐洲其它地方,設計師也從日本設計得到靈感。原來是建築師的產品設計師托馬斯•格里姆(Thomas Griem)前段時間發佈了一個新系列的地毯，起點來自於日本的木刻版畫。“我看着一幅浮世繪(ukiyo-e)、看着幾何形狀和充滿了以樹為主題的圖案。我喜歡那幅畫的優雅和豐富。”他説。

Inspired by the trend for Japanese style, paint and wallpaper specialist Farrow & Ball recently released four new wallpaper designs inspired by traditional Japanese craftsmanship.

從着迷於日本風格得到靈感，繪畫和壁紙專家Farrow & Ball最近推出了四種受到日本傳統工藝啟發的壁紙設計。

Textile designer Jennifer Shorto based her most recent designs on a book of swatches of early 20th-century men’s kimono fabrics. Inspired by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki’s 1933 essay on aesthetics, “In Praise of Shadows”, Shorto worked to maintain the element of wabi-sabithat she encountered in the originals. “I enlarged the designs and painted them on to the cloth to make them more dramatic,” she says, “but I chose to use raw linen to keep the humbleness of the cloth.”

紡織品設計師詹尼弗•肖託(Jennifer Shorto)根據一本20世紀早期男性和服面料的色板書設計了她最新的作品。從谷崎潤一郎(Junichiro Tanizaki)1933年的一篇美學文章《陰翳禮讚》(In Praise of Shadows)受到啟發，肖託在她使用的原物料中努力保持侘寂的元素。“我放大了圖案，將它們畫在布料上使它們看起來更生動，”她説，“但我選擇使用原始的亞麻布來保留布料的謙遜。”

This idea of the “humble” quality of materials can also be seen in Freyja Sewell’s designs. Sewell, who lives in Japan, has designed lighting and furniture that reflects the urban lifestyle — her Hush chair is a response to finding peace and solitude in the Japanese capsule living culture. “Traditional Japanese culture has an ingrained respect for materials and objects, and perhaps the recent rise in the popularity of Japanese design is down to consumers desiring real value and sustainability from their purchases,” she says.

這種“謙虛”材質的想法也可以在弗蕾婭•休厄爾(Freyja Sewell)的設計裏看到。居住在日本的休厄爾設計出反映城市生活方式的照明和傢俱——她的“噓！”座椅是對日本膠囊生活文化裏尋找和平和孤獨的響應。“日本傳統文化對材料和物品有種根深蒂固的尊重，也許最近流行起來的日本設計是因為消費者渴望買到真正有價值和可持續的商品。”她説。

Working from her pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, Anglo-Japanese ceramic designer Reiko Kaneko fuses Japanese principles with centuries of British expertise in the production of porcelain. Kaneko recognises the power of collaboration in sharing and interpreting ideas, and has recently set up the Japan Store on her website, which sells ceramics made in Japanese workshops.

在斯托克城(Stoke-on-Trent)的陶器廠，英籍日本人金子玲子(Reiko Kaneko)將日本元素與英國幾個世紀以來在生產瓷器方面的專長相融合。金子意識到一起分享和詮釋理念的力量，最近也在她的網站上設置了日本商店來銷售製造於日本工場的陶瓷。

“There is a phrase in Japanese which is mono-zukuri no nakama, which means the way makers look out for each other,” she says. “It is up to us to support smaller workshops.”

“有一個日本短語叫‘產品製造的夥伴’(mono-zukuri no nakama)，意思是製造商彼此互相照顧,”她説。“該由我們來支持小型工場。

London-based Emma Peascod has integrated Japanese craftsmanship into her decorative finishes for interior and architecture projects. In 2009 she spent a year learning how to make washi (Japanese paper) from master craftsmen in the city of Mino, central Japan.

公司在倫敦的愛瑪•皮斯克(Emma Peascod)將日本工藝融入到她室內和建築裝飾的項目裏。2009年，她花了一年的時間在日本中部的美濃市(Mino)向工匠大師學習如何製作和紙(washi)。

Peascod combines the washi with the traditional gilding technique of verre églomisé to create shimmering finishes decorated with gold leaf, which can then be used for anything from tabletops to wall coverings.

皮斯克將和紙與傳統鍍金技術鏡像反繪(verre eglomise)結合，創造出裝飾着金色葉子的閃亮拋光，可以用於從桌面到牆紙等任何表面。

“One thing I noticed about the experience of working in Japan is how simple a workshop can be. The paper I use is made using an aluminium water trough, a silk screen, and a hose pipe with a homemade nozzle.”

“我在日本工作時注意到的一個經驗就是，一個工作室可以多麼純樸。我使用的紙是由一個鋁製水槽、一個絲網和一條帶有自制噴口的軟管制作而成。”