The way of the brush

So I created a site on concrete 5 about my favourite font....which is not a font. Nani!!! you might say...
I chose hiragana as my inspiration, but actually it is about writing with using your God-given hands!!!

I am a hacker...meaning I take stuff apart and remake it with my hands or find ways to use old technology in today's times. I repaired my old Polaroid land camera, made a book, made my Macantosh a jumper out of an old jersey. I'm in the habit of taking old things and using them cause they are.....damn cool!

For my latest college project we had to create a site celebrating typography...the one you love the most. So naturally I picked a font that lends itself to my hands. The beauty and grace of penmanship can never be replaced by machine. The magic of receiving a letter in the mail can never be replaced by an email.

The site focuses on Shodo which is the way of the brush like you would have kendo. The difference with Shodo is that it is not just about writing beautiful letters, it is about a deeper meditation. Life force moves from the heavens, travels through the artist and descends on the paper by way of the ink....this is the poetry of shodo.

Shodo is the coolest way to write anything important:

It saves space cause its syllabic(you don't write out each letter) or you can write in kanji.
It fuses meditation and typography...

in case you missed it....


It fuses meditation and typography!!!
 
Could there be anything cooler than that!

Kami by kisaragichiyo

anshin(peace of mind) by kisaragichiyo

azami by kisaragichiyo

I am not the biggest fan of kanji (chinese characters) but after looking at different artworks, I do appreciate kanji for its beauty and poetry. My favourite kanji has always been kokoro which is you soul/ wellbeing/spirit...for that kanji to roll with another character and mean peace of mind is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Shodo also incorporates pictures like the last artwork. I find that it becomes more whole when the artist has included their interpretation with a picture.

The intensity of the ink from the really dark to light gives it a different meaning, the word chosen, where it is placed and the zen-ness of it all gives you hope and peace at the same time...

"(...) dharma art refers to art that springs from a certain state of mind on the part of the artist that could be called the meditative state. It is



an attitude of directness and unselfconsciousness in one's creative work."


Tibetan meditation master, the XIth Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche