Posts from — December 2009

One of h concept’s recent product releases is this adorable cupmen figurine who is determined, and works ever so diligently, to hold down the paper lid of your cup-ramen. Sure, your chopsticks could probably match the task. But do your chopsticks react to heat, changing color to notify you when 3 minutes has elapsed? I didn’t think so.
Designed by Akira Mabuchi.

Related:

• Tate Otama from h concept

Japanese interior planning and furniture heavyweight Actus has recently added a few new stylish pieces to their lineup of furniture. KAHVY (derived from the Finnish word for coffee, kahvi) was designed by Kaichiro Yamada and includes two pieces, a dining room sofa set and cabinet. I love the colors and textures of the sofa set but there’s nothing incredibly unique about it.

On the other hand, the cabinet/cupboard is something I would seriously consider as an addition to our humble abode. It comes equipped with a pullout extension table that can function as a counter top, and AV unit, or it can pivot around to serve as a work station. Nice!

Related:

• Kotori Shoehorn by Kaichiro Yamada

Apparently December 3rd was the 15th anniversary of the original playstation release. Wow…15 years. Has it been that long already? Anyway, I love the logo. Maybe I’m not hardcore enough, but I don’t get the yellow ducky.

via designer Masahiro Minami’s blog

This sounds really interesting and perhaps worth a trip. Shiseido Art Director by day and installation artist by night, Hisashi Narita (aka Cue-chan) will be holding a show at Gallery Yori between December 12 – 27. Narita primarily uses textiles in his work and his previous shows, “Bedroom Exhibition” and “Ishoku” (both 2008) were both highly tactile and  engaged the viewers in a dialogue concerning clothing as costume.

His upcoming show is curiously titled “My Closet Only Opens Once Every 2 Years.” There’s not much information available on the gallery website but here is what the invite looks like.

PS this may sound kind of shallow, but I like it when artists put a little thought into the title of their exhibition.

I spotted this interesting tid-bit last night and thought I would post it to kick off the week. Ruffy, the protagonist of the popular manga series ONE PIECE, will be gracing the cover of the January 2010 issue of Men’s Non-No, which is, according to Mekas, the sales leader of all Japanese men’s fashion magazines. The article goes on to explain that this is the first time a manga character will be featured on the cover in the mag’s 24-year history.

It’s actually part of an interesting trend that we’ve see gain steam over the year. The blurring of boundaries between manga and real-life probably hit a high-note back in September when you had a group of wives step forward into the public to complain about their husbands who were cheating on them with girlfriends who resided within the Nintendo DS video game Love Plus. The husbands were sleeping, taking baths, and basically doing everything aside from having illegitimate children, with their virtual mates.

The new issue of Men’s Non-no, which hits stands on December 10th, looks like it may be setting us up for another year of combat in which we must fight to protect our homeland from those thieving virtualists. We will not forget the moments of silence and days of mourning as wives watched their husbands disappear with 20-somethings in short skirts and binary code. Nor will we forget the magazine models who now face extinction. We have been awakened to danger and called to defend our freedom from those who seek our occupations and our societal standing.

Japanese business men, with their dull suits and carefully orchestrated combovers (also known as barcode hair styles) have been the butt of jokes, both in media and in colloquial chit-chat, for as long as I can remember. Younger generations call them ossan, or boring old man, and ridicule their obedience and lack of independence. There was even a popular comedy sketch that depicted a Japanese business man (played by Teruyoshi Uchimura) who gets repeatedly transferred by his company to the most outlandish outposts. But being the slave that he is, he reluctantly accepts each new assignment. In the final episode his company sends him on an Armageddon-like mission to save the planet, obviously without enough fuel to return to earth.

Anyway, the story—call it the Parable of Salarymen—has been told many times, with varying aims. But in its latest iteration by photographer Yuki Aoyama, a lift-me-up is provided to businessmen across Japan. Solaryman (published by Piebooks in November 2009) is a photo-documentation of actual Japanese businessmen escaping from the mold that has characterized them for decades through the simple action of jumping. The photographs are quite humorous but at the same time filled with a restrained desperation, as if whispering to the reader, look at me… I have a personality. The intent of the book is to capture the hidden laborers who carry the world’s second largest economy on their shoulders and to make people think, instead of sweaty, balding old man, ah funky dude in a suit, or something like that.

Exciting news! The kind folks over at Branch just emailed me to inform me that that it’s official. They have signed an agreement to be the exclusive U.S. distributor of WASARA line of biodegradable tableware. They are taking pre-orders now and expect to start shipping in mid-December.

This is especially exciting for me because I helped facilitate the introduction and initial communications between Wasara and Branch!

Related:

• the very first Wasara post
• designer of the Wasara plates here and here

We recently had brunch at iCi with the talented, Brooklyn-based (yay!) creative director Kaori Sohma and I wanted to share her work because it’s not often we get to associate a name with the type of motion-based art she produces. If you have ever watched VH1 you are most likely – unawarely – familiar with the motion graphics she creates for upcoming shows or events.

Most recently she worked on the show open and promo packaging for VH1 Divas, which aired back in September. I love the way she tells a story, and builds up anticipation, typically without the use of words at all. Also be sure to check out her short films, all of which are available for viewing on her website.

VH1: Movies That Rock

adidas : 60 years of originality

Thank you to the kind people of 42×60 for letting me know that London-based Japanese artist Toru Nagahama has a fascinating new piece currently on display. Below is en excerpt lifted directly from their communications (You say I’m slacking? Nonsense).

[42X60] call on an artist to create an original work creation to be edited on a [42x60] format. The artist has to work within this imposed format and take into account the specificity and constraints of the given format. Three thousand copies, exhibited per usual posting method, cross the Parisian passer-bys during two months. For them all, copies deposited in various art centres and foreign distribution are be studied.This exhibit concept confronts the artist work against an authentic environment.

Related:

• The curious work of Toru Nagahama