Am quite taken with Tomoko Kashiki’s paintings. Could be partly because of what I’ve been reading lately, but I’m rather drawn to the fragmentary neither-here-nor-there figures.
Flower
Inside a box
Shadow play
Gallery (Ota Fine Arts) writeup, and exhibition details on Tokyo Art Beat (ahhhh). Here’s a review (in Japanese only) with more images of the exhibition.
(Images taken from Ota Fine Arts and Kalonsnet)
Updated
I haven’t been reading a lot of manga of late, but after reading this, I do want to read more about the first manga mentioned. I think a lot of people have this mistaken idea that a lot of manga either have 1. fighting, 2. supernatural stuff, or 3. romance/love, which isn’t untrue at all (far from it), but there are so many, many manga that aren’t all that. Some are really quite educational and are excellent primers on the niche or specialised topics/themes they deal with. Some are poignant slice-of-life stories. Some are pure (good) entertainment, which isn’t a bad thing too.
- Nodame Cantabile, by Ninomiya Tomoko
“The series depicts the relationship between two aspiring classical musicians, Megumi ‘Nodame’ Noda and Shinichi Chiaki, as university students and after graduation.” Classical music! Don’t know your Bach from your Beethoven? Well, I’m still pretty clueless most of the time, but reading this has cultivated a deeper appreciation for the genre, however superficial it may sound.
- Iryu, by Nagai Akira and Nogizaki Taro
About the healthcare and hospital system in Japan, with an added emphasis on the Batista procedure. This manga is heavy going, but very educational too, if that’s your thing. I read a couple of volumes, and each volume took forever (they were in Chinese, and my command of the language does not include medical jargon) so I gave up.
Interesting reads or things.
Total Recall: The Woman Who Can’t Forget
“Researchers had never found a subject with a perfect memory — then along came Jill Price.” I think I over-romanticise the idea of having a perfect memory. Watching Kiina certainly didn’t help that.
Monopoly Killer: Perfect German Board Game Redefines Genre
“Klaus Teuber took four years to create what some have called the perfect board game (The Settlers of Catan).” I wanna play this. All your settlements are belong to me.
Diane Ducruet on Lensculture
“In a brilliant new photobook, French photographer Diane Ducruet has come up with a thought-provoking series of staged portraits that play with the ideas of family dynamics, identity, control, influence, postures of power, and more.”
Traceyscapes
“Aki Lumi’s new work ‘traceryscape’ consists of monochrome photographs of everyday landscapes and urban scenes directly on top of which have been drawn countless fine lines and elaborate shapes.” Very interesting images indeed.
Sir Roger Casement: The Unlikely Irish Martyr Whose Death Hinged on a Comma
Size Matters: The Mini Comic Blog
And featured in one of the blog posts, Oliver East and Trains Are… Mint! I am utterly convinced of the statement. Unfortunately, the first three books are no longer available. Book 4 can be viewed online here.
Claska, Tokyo by Tokyo
I want this. An alternative guide to Tokyo by Tokyoites. Each contributes a themed list of his/her favourite spots and places in the city. Some themes: “Getting along with the neighbours physically and mentally”, “Tokyo cliches viewed from overseas (the Bladerunner district)”, “Visiting real restaurants that appear in manga”
Mary Ellen Mark
USA American Characters: Photographers. The Character Project is:
[...] an on-going artistic initiative to capture the character of America and pay tribute to the extraordinary people, from all walks of life. Inspired by USA’s iconic “Characters Welcome” brand, and with the support of the not-for-profit photography organization Aperture Foundation, USA has assembled a team of 11 world-class photographers to create a powerful photography book entitled American Character: A Photographic Journey to be released by Chronicle Books in March 2009.
Photographers include Dawoud Bey, Anna Mia Davidson, Jeff Dunas, David Eustace, Joe Fornabaio, Mary Ellen Mark, Eric McNatt, Eric Ogden, Sylvia Plachy, Richard Renaldi, and Marla Rutherford.
(Sometimes all-flash websites make simple things i.e. making a list very difficult.)
I haven’t gone through the site yet (thus the listing for future power Google searches; and gosh, my nose is running a marathon), but I think it’s a great initiative.
A delightfully enjoyable (and hilarious!) animated film, Sita Sings the Blues is now “legal“. Indian folklore has never been so fun or accessible! The latter, well, to me at least since I’m absolutely ace at forgetting/confusing names. All the fairy tales + folklore + mythology I’ve ever read is probably jumbled up in one single tale with thirteen protagonists eating at the wrong tables and all going after the wrong enemies. My brain’s theory of evolution involves data assimilation solely for convenience’s sake/laziness.
But anyway, watch the entire film online here.
Sita: Once he (Rama) comes, your ass is grass.
I did go for the M1 Fringe Festival after all (a day before the festival closed!). As I went to the Museum of Broken Relationships first, when I came down to the Esplanade tunnel where the photographs were exhibited, I actually had to start in the reverse order (I could had walked to the beginning of the tunnel, but I didn’t). I wouldn’t had done that if I hadn’t already seen the series online in its rightful sequence, but since I did, I thought going about that way might give me a different perspective, which it did albeit a little belatedly.
On a totally different note, this will cause serious darkroom envy. In a good way. I want a darkroom. (link via Conscientious)
I guess you don’t want to talk to me anymore, by Kelly Shimoda. Do check out her personal projects as well. I quite enjoy her “pairs” series.
(Image from here)
Daniel Mafe’s artist statement:
We see things, shapes and forms we think we recognise like heads, circles, eyes but their relationship to one another is not so clearly perceived. It would be true to say the paintings are not quite as they appear; that they unfold slowly over time and act as mirrors to the vagaries of the viewer’s perception. The work shifts attention at first towards a narrative of process only to later focus that attention onto the notion of a “forming ground”, that is a ground that seems to generate form and sensation. In this way the paintings function dynamically and generatively. Layers of poured paint, veil and then reveal detail while continuring to work as both figure and ground. Each painting is an actively self-constructing whole, both disassembling itself into a diaspora of fragments, geometric and gestural, and then reassembling itself into whole that is only so through time. In this way the paintings are never fully present to the eye but instead are only wholly present, virtually, in memory.
Dan was actually my mentor/tutor for my last studio class in university. An extremely kind and patient man, he agreed to oversee my project even though I was neither a BFA student nor was I in any of his previous classes. A thankless task, I must imagine, seeing that I tend to ramble and think that I-don’t-know counts for a very reasonable answer to questions. (I suddenly recall my long meandering final report and this book.)
But personal history aside, I’ve always enjoyed Dan’s works and I do visit his site on a regular basis, since that seems to be the only way to get to see any new art. You hear about how artists have the greatest egos and talk about themselves all the time, but Dan was exactly the opposite. I don’t recall him ever saying anything about his art; he had a painting in his office and for the longest time, I didn’t know who the artist was (googling your tutors can be informative). Anyway, I am really liking his new stuff. They strike me as more dynamic and intuitive, but also more layered and considered. I am doing such a horrid job at this. I like! The end.
(All images from artist’s site)
An(other) interesting profile on NYT’s One in 8 Million feature: Melissa Dixson, a former painter turned taxidermist. “[...] taxinet. It’s basically like ebay for taxidermists.” Heh.
I’ve always found taxidermy fascinating though a tad morbid (and watching Taxidermia didn’t help that a bit). There’s just something about how perfect taxidermies are/look that unsettles me a little, but it is probably that same something that interests me. Quite like creatures made realistic by their lifelikeness, but rendered fantastical by the impossibility of existence (under that specific skin, at least). La di da.
Still on the topic of taxidermy, Danielle van Ark’s The Mounted Life is a great series on the topic(ish). None of the photographs are posed, by the way. And therein lies the charm, at least for me. My favourite is this.
(Image from the NYT profile)
