THE JAPANESE WORD WHERE CREATIVITY HAS NO LIMITS AND EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
KUU, the empty but energetic space where imagination can be shown in all its immense possibilities.
KUU空
空 (Sky/Empty)
KUU, is one of those Japanese words of inexact translation, and that we can apply to an infinity of spaces and elements.
I remember the first time I heard this word more than 20 years ago and it was difficult to understand and translate in my own language. A very short word but it expresses a universe of possibilities. The concept of the space occupied by energy and in which ingenuity allows it to express itself in all its power.
I find an intimate relationship between the meaning of the word KUU and ZEN. Sūntaya is the spirit of creativity, formless but at the same time reflecting the origin of all capacity. When we give form to what is possible within a reality, we can consider it an act of creativity.
It is then when we can understand the KUU within art as architecture, creating elements or spaces that touch the soul, which also open all those options in our heart to give us inspiration or create emotions such as peace, and make us travel in our mind or incite us to concentration and relaxation.
When I sit in front of a blank canvas, sometimes I have a clear image of what I am going to capture on it, but other times I close my eyes and observe in my mind all the ideas that arise of what could be the new work. This is what KUU is for the artist. Whether it is a blank canvas, a mass of clay or a piece of gold that will become a piece of jewelry… the possibilities are endless. It is the same for the artist as it is for an architect or a writer.
If you like Japanese culture you will enjoy my new book KOTODAMA 言霊. El Corazón de Japón, Arte y Cultura.
