Tag: art

Re:Form School, a REDU project

Posted on by Hijiri

On Sunday, I went to check out the Re:Form School, a REDU project — so glad I did, it was awesome! I saw cool art work, learned something new, being inside of an American high school (I graduated Japanese high school — so different!), saw lots of great designs, signs, typography… I enjoyed so much, what a great concept and a campaign!

Throughout history artists have lent their creative expression to ideas and issues of culture & politics, combining innovation with art’s greatest strength — its ability to transcend boundaries and make an impact, while not relying solely on language. RE:FORM SCHOOL gathers together a diverse array of hundreds of the nation’s most talented visual artists under one roof to celebrate that role and to send a loud message that the time has come to fix our ailing public school system.

RE:FORM SCHOOL is a high profile group art exhibition, event series and public awareness campaign, taking place in New York City. Thousands of artists, parents, community leaders, educators and grass roots organizers are coming together in a vibrant and creative space in order to shine a light on what is working, explore the potential of what might be and celebrate the role imagination, creativity and innovation will play in the process. (via Re:Form School website — see the video from their homepage also.)

Entrance on Mott Street:

Throughout the project, I saw these wooden type signs and I loved it.

These arrows, too… so great!

REDU room:

Paper house kit — so neat! I grabbed one, of course :)

A blackboard with “I can” message — so simple and strong.

The “Teach Me” wall:

There were lots of unbelievable facts… shown in an interesting art way…

This “High School Graduates” chart map is all created with pencils. (see the video here.) Where it’s empty, only 50.5 – 66.9% graduate high school…

Each belt had State’s name that is still legal to hit students… 20 of them.

This hallway caught my eye… with countries names… which led me to…

A boys bathroom sign — isn’t it cool?

& a girls, too…

Inside of the girls bathroom; “Smart girls are pretty.” LOVE that.

These might be my favorite. Awesome handmade (I think) types.

A free poster for everyone:

Hallway statues:

This room was interesting — the sound and the wave and the light were all making an art together… by Michael Murphy. You can see the video here!

A court yard had some cool art, too… I loved seeing people hanging out in here…

I hope the campaign was a success!

Sea Gull’s Parking Lot

Posted on by Hijiri

Last post from Megijima (Setouchi International Art Festival — it’s going on until October 31st!) :: Sea Gull’s Parking Lot by Takahito Kimura.

Kimura has placed a host of weathercocks near the fishing port. When the wind blows, they turn en masse, giving the invisible wind a visible form. The work brings the visitors’ attention to the natural phenomena that abound on the island.

These sea gull weathercocks were placed everywhere around the port. When I first saw it, I thought they were real… :) I love that concept of “giving the invisible wind a visible form” — so cool.

A couple other art work I saw…

Flower / Happy Snake by Jose de Guimaraes. These welcome signs are also placed at the Takamatsu port and the various islands hosting the festival, each is differently created by the artist.

and Megi House project by Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music: Led by landscape designer Kimio Tsuchiya, the project team has transformed the courtyard of an empty house into a stage that integrates internal and external space. Concerts and performances are planned during the festival. The main building will be used as the Fine Arts Department atelier and gallery.

Couldn’t take pictures inside of the house, but even the outside of the house was cool. Love the “Megi House” sign, too. (above)

Time to move on to next island! :)

Equipoise

Posted on by Hijiri

After the Fukutake House, I walked over to…

(LOVE walking around the island!)

see “Equipoise” by Harumi Yukutake. Stepping into really old farm storehouse…

Using over 10,000 rectangular strips of glass, painstakingly shaped by hand, Yukutake creates a spiral inside an old farm storehouse. Stepping inside, the viewers find themselves reflected in the glass along with their surroundings, producing a labyrinth-like sensory experience.

Yes, you read it right, over 10,000 “handmade” strips of mirror glass! This is the work you have to be in it to see and feel… (couldn’t capture well…)

(do you see my eye?)

You can go upstairs and look down the spiral…

I also enjoyed the surroundings — these benches were great!

and loved this texture of the house next to the farm storehouse…

Happy Friday!

Fukutake House 2010

Posted on by Hijiri

Continuing my posts from Megijima this week…

#37 :: Fukutake House 2010

Fukutake House is a project started by seven of Japan’s leading art galleries and the University of Tokyo’s University Museum at the “Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2006,” in response to a call from Soichiro Fukutake to create an art market in Echigo-Tsumari. At the following Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial in 2009, art galleries from China and Korea joined the call, and the total number of attendees more than doubled that of 2006. For the third opening of the Fukutake House, we are moving it to Megijima Island to give it a new try in a new location. This time, we plan not only to be joined by galleries from Asia, but also by galleries and art museums from throughout the whole world. We plan to open the Fukutake House at the former Megijima Elementary School and Preschool, which are currently not being used.

I loved this one personally, not only I could see lots of different art from art galleries all over the world (inside is strictly NO photography so no photos to share), but also…

all these typographic installation!! As soon as I saw it, I was in love :) Inside the school (yes, they took over Megijima Elementary School & Preschool, which was another awesome part of this project.), throughout the exhibition, these wooden letters are used for art work titles and indication of the different rooms etc… I loved it!