Category — Events

Featuring 10 of Japan’s most cutting-edge fashion designers, a new exhibition in Tokyo has just opened. “Feel and Think: A New Era of Tokyo Fashion,” now on display through Christmas (details below), is a dynamic investigation into the contemporary Tokyo fashion scene through the unique lens of an equally unique group of designers.

images courtesy japan-architects

The exhibition space was designed by architect Ryuji Nakamura, who decided to compartmentalize the different works not by walls but by steel pillars strategically placed at eye-level. The thick white lines create an almost artificial boundary between the different spaces and also force visitors to exert a certain amount of physicality in order to proceed through the exhibit.

(read our previous stories on Ryuji Nakamura)

Participating designers

Anrealage
h.Naoto
Keisuke Kanda
matohu
mina perhonen
mintdesigns
SASQUATCHfabrix
Somarta
Theatre Products
writtenafterwards (remember Big Bra?)

source: japan-architects

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Feel and Think: A New Era of Tokyo Fashion
Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery
2011.10.18 ─ 12.25
11:00 ─ 19:00 (closed Mondays)
General admission: 1000 yen

photos by kenta hasegawa | click to enlarge

I had heard about this installation so I was delighted when designer Shun Kawakami uploaded pictures of it. Bokusho (墨象), also known as zenei shodo (前衛書道) is an avante-garde form of calligraphy that sprung out of post-war Japan. Kawakami, in collaboration with calligraphy artist Gen Miyamura, has incorporated the art style into his work in the past. As the deconstructed form suggests,  it is seen as a much more free and unrestrained way of expression through ink.

Installed for the New Year’s opening of the department store, the piece is arresting as it is intimate. It exhales serenity yet also heightens anticipation for what’s to come. Pretty fantastic!

source: Shun Kawakami’s blog

StillforJapan is a new campaign launching today at 1 PM in New York’s Times Square in front of the Spectracolor Board, envisioned by students and friends of VCU Brandcenter. An effort to encourage people to observe a “moment of stillness”  and once again reflect and remember the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Northern Japan four months ago.

“[W]hile the rest of the world may have stopped running breaking news broadcasts and resumed life as normal, there are millions there who cannot.”

Even if you can’t make it to the public event, people can visit the StillforJapan website and observe their moment of stillness virtually. [more info from IHAVEANIDEA]

Source: StillforJapan | IHAVEANIDEA

Two design heavyweights of the late 20th century get mashed up in this latest show, which opened in early February at 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo.

“Miss Blanche”　(1988) by Shiro Kuramata

[Read more →]

I made my way over to Javits Center this week for the New York International Gift Fair to check what what some of the Japan-related booths are offering. It’s always an interesting exercise to see what other people think other people will like. The center – if you’ve ever been there you know – is so massive in size that it’s daunting to even consider making the full round. So if I missed you, and I’m sure I did, I apologize. But here are a few items that caught my eye.

[Read more →]

click images to enlarge

Nosigner will unveil his latest work, Waterful at Detour 2010, Hong Kong’s annual design event. Organized by the Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design, and now a full 5 years old, Detour 2010 aims to showcase Hong Kong as a regional creative hub by featuring young and emerging creative talent.

Nosigner will present a table with 1000 glasses full of water – a prime example of “power in numbers.” A glass of water, standing alone wouldn’t make me blink an eyelid. But when amassed together in such multitude and such form… well, I’ve never seen anything like it.

This year, the event will be held in partnership with Japan and is slated to take place in a prison and, ever so appropriately, will run with the theme “Not Guilty.” Events will be held at Victoria Prison（16 Old Bailey Street）from November 26 to December 12.

Japan’s sub-theme, dubbed “Not Guilty – Pure Water Design” attempts to reconcile our current environmental concerns – resources, food, water, energy – with Japan’s perfectionist aesthetic, such as their delicate eye for materials, simplicity and balance in form and shape.

Related:

• HK Gravity Pearls by Nosigner
  
• AWA by Nosigner
• Kanpyo Udon by Nosigner

Meisa Kuroki accepts her trophy | image © Haruka Nakagawa

Yesterday Vogue Nippon held it’s annual Women of the Year ceremony at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The event, which logged its 6th year, commemorates 8 women in Japan who had a spectacular year. The recipients for 2010 were:

• TAO – supermodel
• Miliya Kato – R&B/pop singer
• Satomi Ishihara – Actress
• Rieko Saibara – Cartoonist
• Shinobu Terajima -Actress
• Tamiyo Kusakari – Dancer turned actress
• Meisa Kuroki -Model, singer, actress
• Kimiko Date-Krumm -Tennis player

However, it wasn’t the women who caught my eye (that’s a lie) but the unique trophy that was presented to the recipients. Consistent with the traditional ball-shaped design, this year’s trophy is a stunning piece designed by architect Ryuji Nakamura.

click images to enlarge | images © ryuji nakamura & associates

Looks light as paper right? That’s because the “bouquet” is made from paper.

Ryuji Nakamura has had quite a year himself, including creating an installation for Design Tide Tokyo, participating in the Or-Ita Exhibition, the Llove Hotel Exhibition, the Earth: Materials for Design exhibition, the Where is Architecture exhibition and creating a special inclusion for Wallpaper magazine. And if he wasn’t a dude, he’d be right up on stage accepting one of those beauties.

As you probably know, Tokyo Designer’s Week closed on Wednesday, marking the end of another successful showing. Although we were stranded here in NYC and weren’t able to be there physically, we did manage to send a correspondent there to cover the event. Dustin Malstrom, creative Director of ReMade – an architectural and design studio now based in Japan – was kind enough to scoop out the event and send us some pictures.

But before we continue on, I have to point out how much I love their logo. And while I look forward to seeing the new ideas that come out of Sapporo Design Week each year, I’m so happy that they found a nice clean logo, designed by Micha Weidmann, and stuck with it, making simple subtle modifications each year.

[Read more →]

While Tokyo was busy with their festivities, the northern folk have also been partying it up at Sapporo Design Week, which ran parallel to its Honshu counterpart. Although I never cover it in much extent, I do love their logo, which may serve as an impetus to providing more coverage.

click to enlarge

It was designed by Mr. Morikawa of Terashima Design, a graphic design firm headquartered in Sapporo. The theme of this year’s event was “party” and, using only semicircles, the designer has created a quilt-like pattern that spells out the word.

PS Both festivities have now ended. Yesterday was the last day but stay tuned as we have some exclusive coverage from the Tokyo side.

Related:

• Terashima Design Poster Exhibition

To commemorate the start of Tokyo Designers Week, product design label h concept is jumping the gun and holding an exhibition through 11/3 at Light Box Studio Aoyama.

They plan to showcase a series of new products including a 3rd installation of their popular cupmen figurines (rumor has it that the 3rd is a woman), as well as these fun pitacoro rock magnets (840 yen for 5), designed by Senichiro Watanabe.


click images to enlarge

I like how they can be used as a toy (reminds me a bit of the tumi ishi game) as well as for something entirely practical.

But the highlight of the exhibition, without a doubt, is this city of cupmen, constructed out of 30,000 figurines.

Related:

• Cupmen: waiting for your instant noodles
• Cupmen 2: waiting for your instant noodles