Expressions of Time Frozen – Sabi Leaf Prints by Norm Architects

Any long time followers of this website will recognise my fascination with Japan, which has been further fuelled by the BBC’s recent ‘Japan Season’ series that they’ve been airing lately. I know many of you are from different countries, meaning it may not be possible to watch these, but if you can somehow view them in the future I highy recommend it. Not only do they explore handmade crafts in Japan, such as pottery and textiles, they also look at the arts and all the elements that coincide with it. To be honest, it’s exactly what we talk about here.

This ‘Sabi’ series of prints by design studio Norm in Copenhagen grabbed my interest. They are simple but consist of 4 prints that depict leaves photographed using the new XF 100 that can take incredibly detailed images. The leaves themselves are positioned in a mixture of different positions under glass, which lends itself to the concept of this collection.

Sabi is hard to translate from Japanese to English but people generally use the term ‘beauty in imperfection’ to summarise the meaning. Norm has frozen nature in time and shows the effects of weathering and the discolouring that these leaves go through, highlighting the impermanence of all worldly things. I think it’s a great little series, so here are some photos below for you to enjoy. More prints by Norm can be found on their website.

normcph.com

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