Mono no Aware
The Passing-Of
A WORD ENGLISH NEVER MADE · READ THE CUSTOMS HOUSEJapanese. The gentle ache at the impermanence of things. Ending is what makes a thing beautiful, and the ache is the awareness of that, some distance from sorrow.
The word
Japanese, the pathos of things. The scholar Motoori Norinaga used it in the eighteenth century to name what The Tale of Genji had been doing for seven hundred years already. Cherry blossom is its national emblem: most beautiful in the week it is dying.
The feeling
A soft ache that arrives at the exact moment of appreciating something, because appreciating it includes knowing it will end. Nothing is wrong. The feeling needs no tragedy, only attention. It is closer to tenderness than to sorrow, and it sharpens the present without saddening it.
Against its neighbours
Melancholy settles on a person and colors everything. Mono no aware belongs to the thing observed, and lifts when you look away. Grief mourns after the loss; mono no aware loves during it.
In the work
It appears wherever a work refuses to resolve, holding a moment at its peak precisely because the peak cannot hold.
7 works composed with Mono no Aware
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CORE, 85 editions. Open the tier key.$350- Sg2
- Vd
- St
- Tm
- Mn
SURRENDER - The Interval of Becoming
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INFINITE, uncapped. Open the tier key.$75- St2
- Gt
- Wn
- Pc
- Mn
For a Moment the Waters Stood Still
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APEX, 1 edition. Open the tier key.
$352SOLD- Sg2
- Hs
- Aw
- Wn
- Mn
Baptism
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APEX, 1 edition. Open the tier key.
$163SOLD- Ep2
- Wt
- Lv
- Ct
- Mn
Mama's Quiet Lullaby
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APEX, 1 edition. Open the tier key.
$650SOLD- Nt2
- Sg
- Sl
- Su
- Mn
I Guess My Journey Ends Here
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APEX, 1 edition. Open the tier key.
PRIVATESOLD- Dr2
- Su
- Pr
- Rn
- Mn
Revenge In Forever EQUINOX
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APEX, 1 edition. Open the tier key.
PRIVATESOLD- Sg2
- Ct
- Ns
- Mn
Pink+White
How big, actually.
Drawn to scale against a person of average height. Every size is a 4:5 rectangle, the same proportion as the work itself, so nothing is cropped to fit.
Sizes are the printed image. Framed works add the moulding around that. Standard US shipping is free at every size.
Paper, or canvas.
Same image, same inks. What changes is the surface it is printed on. Tap either one.
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PRINT
Hahnemühle Photo Rag
The paper itself. A heavy 100% cotton matte sheet with a smooth surface, printed edge to edge with no border. Ships flat, or rolled in a tube at large sizes.
- Every size, up to 40 × 50
- You pick the frame
- Just paper and ink
- Needs framing to hang
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CANVAS
Satin poly-cotton, gallery wrap
Printed on canvas, then stretched by hand over solid wood. The image continues around the sides, so there is no border and no glass.
- Hang it the day it lands
- No glass, no glazing
- Real depth off the wall
- Up to 36 × 45
Series 001 numbers are shared across every size and material, and the certificate records exactly which object you own. Open editions carry no number and no certificate.
Framed, or not.
One frame, satin black, solid wood. We pick the moulding that suits the size and the material, so it arrives ready to hang. Tap either one.
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NONE
The work, as it is
A paper print ships flat or rolled and you frame it your way. A canvas needs nothing: it is stretched, wired and ready for the wall the day it lands.
- The lightest to ship
- Your framer, your call
- Canvas hangs as it is
- Every size
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BLACK
Solid wood, chosen for the size
Sealed, hung with hardware fitted, nothing left to arrange. Paper sits behind acrylic; canvas floats inside the moulding with no glass at all.
- STANDARD BLACK ⅞ in face · ¾ in deep · behind acrylic Paper, 8 × 12 and 12 × 18
- ALTO BLACK THIN 1⅜ in face · ⁹⁄₁₆ in deep · behind acrylic Paper, 16 × 24 and up
- BLACK 2 FLOAT ⅜ in face · 2 in deep · ¼ in reveal · no glass Canvas, every framed size
Framed work ships boxed with the hardware fitted. The largest sizes are sold unframed, because a frame that size can only travel by freight.
The list hears first.
Composed with
- Sg Surrender 4 works
- Ct Tenderness 2 works
- St Stillness 2 works
- Su Sublimity 2 works
- Wn Wonder 2 works
- Aw Awe 1 work
The rest of the Rare-Liminal family
Where Mono no Aware sits Mn · RARE-LIMINAL FAMILY
OPEN THE TABLERARE-LIMINAL FAMILY75 NAMED · 5 UNDISCOVEREDTAP ANY CELL TO OPEN ITS PAGE






