Wabi (Japanese): A flawed detail that creates an elegant whole. [noun]
To many people who see the world through modern sensibilities, beauty is represented by the kind of technological sleekness, smoothness, symmetry, and mass-produced perfection that is usually associated with a sports car or a skyscraper. A highly prized Japanese teacup, which might fetch tens of thousands of dollars from a collector, might be very simple, roughly fashioned, asymmetrical, and plainly colored. It would not be uncommon to find a crack. The crack—the beautiful, distinctive, aesthetic flaw that distinguishes the spirit of the moment in which this object was created from all other moments in eternity—might indeed be the very feature that would cause a connoisseur to remark: “This pot has wabi.”
