art, somewhere in between New York and Tokyo

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This is kind of genius! Design unit FIFT, comprised of husband and wife design-duo Katsunari and Ami Igarashi, have designed Wipe Shirt (13,650 yen), a button-down with built-in microfiber cloth for wiping down glasses or cell phones.  It syncs perfectly with the designer’s mission statement to promote interaction between their products and the user.

What’s great about this shirt is that it’s actually a good looking shirt; meaning, I would wear that even though I don’t wear glasses. And it’s no wonder. They consulted with a clothing designer who flaunts a degree from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts. No edges were cut when procuring material either, using only the finest microfiber furnished by the technologically advanced fabric maker Unitika.  And fear not, all you tuckers for there is a cuff version of the shirt as well.

Product designer Eisuke Hori’s latest design is a stacking coffee pot and cup (7,245 yen). The top cup turns upside down to form the pot. The middle cup is actually the dripper that rest perfectly above the pot – compatible with almost any store-bought filter. The bottom cup is the actual coffee cup. You simply pour hot water over the beans and voila – the most painless cup of coffee you will ever make at home.

In the words of the designer, the idea was born from a love for coffee combined with painstaking effort of having to make one. Minimalism at its best!

Related:

• Donut Coffee Dripper

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Planet Creations, an architecture firm fronted by Masato Sekiya, earlier this week uploaded photos of their most recent project, Asukadai House. The unit is located in a quiet neighborhood of Northern Nara and serves as the primary residence for a family of three. The house is constructed primarily around its environment, with sweeping openings and expansive porches all designed to encourage light and scenery to enter.

Despite my initial cynicism – begging to tire of the Johnny Depp-Tim Burton-Tim Burton’s wife-tie-up – I have a renewed enthusiasm for Alice In Wonderland, which just hit theaters. Unfortunately, my day-to-day parenting responsibilities will, without a doubt, delay any form of viewing until a DVD release. But this is no reason not to have a little fun.

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When thinking about the film I keep coming back to the work of Midori Araki, a Japanese artist who creates fantastical and whimsical installations and furniture. Some of her stuff looks like it could be seamlessly placed onto the set. In 2007 she created “Spice of a Day” for the popular lifestyle goods chain Afternoon Tea.

I am also a big fan of the fun and creepy “Phantom Light” (2006) which projects unsuspected shadows onto the ceiling.

Stump (2000) was, in Araki’s own words, modeled after mankind’s very first chair. A limited series of 20 chairs were made, each with their own unique inscription. When arranged properly, they complete an entire verse from a poem.

cover for Zoo, the hit single by Tsuji’s band Echoes

Hitonari Tsuji is a writer, musician and film director. His career got started in music but he really began to shine in ’97 when he was awarded an Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan’s most prestigious literary awards. He went on to be the first Japanese awarded with the French Prix Femina prize in ’99. Although he had retired his instruments in ’91, his band, Echoes, made a huge comeback in 2000 when one of their songs was used in a TV series.

The multi-talented artist created a twitter account at the beginning of this month. Ten days later and 82 “chapters,” or tweets, later, he has written a substantial beginning to his twitter novel about an author who decides to write a twitter novel. You can follow him here (Japanese only).

“The Light from the Strait,” Tsuji’s Akutagawa Prize-winning novel

The 2nd potter I wanted to share was Chikako Kojima, who has been based in nyc since 2005.

Her work has appeared in Café Life New York, as well as in several catalogs from Morozoff, the Japanese maker of chocolate, cake and other confectioneries. She has also shown at galleries in Soho and Tribeca. Kojima also maintains an active blog where she posts scrumptious photos of her work as a vessel for food.

Kojima’s work seeks beauty in texture and surface, a stark contrast to the energy and form that shapes Aoki’s work. What I find so admirable is the lack of arbitrariness. It reclaims the notion that thrilling and beautiful can still emerge out of the realm of the decorative.

Via here and there

Today I wanted to share 2 potters that I recently discovered, both of whom are Japanese. They both create functional pottery yet stylistically they couldn’t be farther apart.

Thirty two-year old potter Ryota Aoki has had a fairly distinguished career so far. His work has appeared twice in the prestigious Takaoka Craft Competition – Bijoux, his 2nd attempt in 2005, won him the top prize. Bijoux went on to win silver at the 4th World Ceramic Biennial in 2007.

What I admire about Aoki’s work is that it possesses a strong energy that enhances the imagination of the user. The sculptural beauty is perhaps the one defining feature that sets Aoki’s work apart from his contemporaries.

Thanks for the tip Masako!

Related:

• Takaoka Crafts Competition 2009
• Birch Sake Bottle | Takaoka Crafts Competition 2008

Masahiro Minami takes us on another photo tour of a senior thesis exhibition, this time at Kyoto University of Art and Design. I am constantly amazed, inspired and then puzzled by the level of craftsmanship and creativity I see at these shows. Puzzled as in, where does all this talent disappear to after graduation? Does everyone join a Japanese firm where their innovation is suppressed and then extinguished? Anyway, let us move along to some of my top picks.

This bookshelf is like something right out of Alice in Wonderland.
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Imagine a grey world of washi paper and felt

If home appliances were inhabited by a community of tiny, industrious, architecturally advanced peoples. (I love this series)

What an awesome idea for a housing complex.

Related:

• Kobe Design University thesis exhibition

photo via Futatsumata-san’s blog

I would love to get my hands on School Road, a new photo book published by Plancton. The idea was to photograph paths and roads all across the country that children use to commute to school. Some of the fondest memories I have of growing up in the outskirts of Tokyo were the walks and bicycle rides to school. There were huge slopes and odd tunnels and I still murkily recall some common faces I would see each morning.

Although my commute was not quite as lush and rural as the picture above, it wasn’t too far off. Volume 1 covers 13 prefectures with each prefecture receiving the treatment of a photographer who grew up there. Tokyo is covered by Saori Tao.

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Japanese architecture and environmental research office S.O.Y. LABO recently designed the Shobon Bookcase. It looks like it would be perfect for organizing cookbooks and using it as a stand while you cook! It even has interchangeable pegs that adjust to the size of your book.