Praise of the Shabby Room

“Praise of the Shabby Room” is an exploration of the subject of creativity, as well as a deep questioning of it, as expressed in the guiding principle “Mountains are not high, but fairies are named. Water is not deep, but dragons are spiritual. Confucius once said: ‘How could we call a room shabby as long as there is a virtuous man in it?’” The aim of this series of posters is to reflect the environment and the state of artistic creation through a purist and simple design. The posters visualise this idea by centring on stylised bonsai trees and showing them in three different scenes or versions that are characterised, and in fact marked, by the words “Pure”, “Dull” and “Odd”. The design thus intends to integrate the current and traditional East Asian creative state in the shape, the colour and the use of white space. At the same time, this concept is also conveyed through the use of local handmade paper and screen-printing techniques.