Category: Japan

Prosthetic Restoration of Our Memory

Posted on by Hijiri

Next up is “PROM: Prosthetic Restoration of Our Memory” by Noboru Tsubaki. The mirrored building caught my eye immediately.

Tsubaki has cloaked the former Takamatsu Port Administration Office in mirror panels so that the structure merges with the surrounding scenery. The interior space houses a café and an exhibit designed to stir memories of the people who used to pass through this port. Various remnants of the building such as ferry timetables are presented in the form of a relief.

These title panels are placed for each work and also numbered — they have the Passport and you can collect stamps from each work you see. Kind of like a stamp rally. I wish I were there long enough so I could have joined the stamp rally… I’m sure kids would love that :)

Inside, there was a huge screen with changing objects… This used to be a Takamatsu Port Administration Office, I saw few things from the port office, it was all painted over in white…

Liminal Air -core-

Posted on by Hijiri

I think I saw this art work the most while I was there — “Liminal Air -core-” by Shinji Ohmaki. It was placed right by the Takamatsu station port, where all the ferries to the islands comes and goes.

The mirror surfaces of these pillars capture the changes that occur in light and color through the day, allowing us to see the outer world from a totally different perspective. The appearance of the pillars alters depending on the angle from which they are viewed or the time of day. They present individuals as seen through the eyes of others and, at the same time, serve as a gate to the world of Takamatsu.

It did look different each day and I quite enjoyed this area.

One weekend, there was a Bossa Nova Festival by the gate…

and other weekend, there was a Jazz Festival here, too…

Seto Inland Sea in the background, listening to live music here was such a treat. Really mellow, calm and nice time… sigh. Wish I could do this all the time… :)

Setouchi International Art Festival 2010

Posted on by Hijiri

Here is another awesome timely event that I was really lucky to be able to see some of — Setouchi International Art Festival 2010. It’s going on until October 31st this year, on the seven islands of the Seto Inland Sea + Takamatsu! (where I grew up!)

I was really excited to see my hometown proudly hosting the art festival, the signs were everywhere in the city, people were so enthusiastic about the whole thing…

Love the view of Seto Inland Sea.

Blue and white, stripes were everywhere — very summery!

I will be posting lots of photos this week from the art festival!

LETTERPRESS ~Select Designs from San Francisco and New York

Posted on by Hijiri

I have a very exciting news to share… my letterpress work and my studio has been featured in this new Japanese book called “LETTERPRESS ~Select Designs from San Francisco and New York” — if you are in Japan, it’s going to come out this week on August 14th!!! ((If you are in outside of Japan, you should be able to pre-order from Amazon.com or it’ll be available at your nearest Kinokuniya or any Japanese book stores in 6 months or so, I heard))

I think I’m getting a copy soon, I will share some of the pages when it comes! The author, Miki-san is an amazing writer & person, I enjoyed meeting with her and showed her my work and my (new) space. She also took a lot of photos for the book, I can’t wait to see and read everything! She is covering a lot of amazing letterpress studios in SF and NY, I can’t even tell you how honored I am to be a part!!! Thank you so much!!!

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『LETTERPRESS ~Select Designs from San Francisco and New York』
Edited by Miki Usui (author) / PIE BOOKS / Y2310 / Size: A5 / Format: 210mm×148mm / Pages: 192 / Full color