art, somewhere in between New York and Tokyo

When the 33-year old art & culture magazine STUDIO VOICE announced last year that that they were discontinuing their print version, they were not alone in their financial woes and I was not alone in my grieving woes. Well the time has come to rejoice because they just announced the release of their iPhone app! Plus, there is an iPad version in the works. The best part? It’s FREE.

I just downloaded the app and its stock full of content including music videos, interviews, articles, all beautifully laid out thanks to Tokyo Pistol, who is in charge of the art direction. My commute just got a little bit better.

Related:

• Honbachi by Tokyo Pistol

Looking for a kid’s gift? This Hand Fork & Hand Spoon set is adorable and would make dinner time just a little bit more special. Especially if you happen to be dealing with a picky eater.

The Hand Fork & Hand Spoon is a recent joint collaboration between Mitsubai Tokyo and illustrator Moe Furuya (whose name is not pronounced like one of the 3 stooges). The set retails for 3,150 yen. If you’re interested, you can see some of Furuya’s psychedelic illustrations HERE.

How awesome is this packaging? If I owned a store I would display them like books in a bookshelf.

REEL 2010 from Kaya Ono on Vimeo.

I had the pleasure of meeting Kaya Ono at a barbecue in prospect park earlier this summer. She’s a recent graduate of SVA (major in graphic design/motion graphics) and has a very impressive body of work. She did a fascinating opening for the Hamptons International Film Festival last year and I especially like this concept piece she did for Alexander Calder. You can check out the rest of her portfolio here or go directly to her Vimeo account.

Eiji Sumi of Design Water, a design practice based in Gifu, Japan, recently updated his portfolio. Browsing through it I spotted these gems: a reworked set of chairs and desks for an elementary school in Japan. There is no text to accompany it so I can only speculate, but it looks like he was working with a lot of recycled materials here. Very clever!

Last summer Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama released a new photo book. The title, Northern, referred to Hokkaido, the northern-most island of Japan, and a location he resided in 1978 for 3-months.

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Roughly 2 months after the release of the book the publisher (and perhaps Moriyama himself) decided not to do a 2nd printing. So the book is, in effect, out of print (but you can still purchase it on Amazon JP).

Moriyama then went on to showcase a series of prints from his book at COMME des GARCONS’ acclaimed “Six” gallery space in Osaka, Japan. Designed by Rei Kawakubo herself, the gallery opened in 2009. Moriyama’s show, which ran from April – July of 2010, was the the 3rd exhibition to date, following Yayoi Kusama and Tadanori Yokoo.

I love all the gritty, high-contrast awesomeness of these prints. I’ve never seen Hokkaido in such light. You can purchase an original print, which is accompanied by the book, at Azito.

You may have noticed when I tweeted about it last week, but I was honored to be one of the chosen bloggers participating in Kiwi Collection’s “Battle of the Blogger” contest.

The competition is tough as I am up against some very talented writers including Carrie of DailyAddict, Erin of ElementOfStyleBlog, David W. of TheWorldsBestEver, Jen of MyFolieaDeaux and David P. of The Roaming Boomers.

The post with the most hits wins a hotel stay of their choice. So help me take a vacation by visiting my article HERE, where I feature the Nowhere Resorts!

Being released alongside Furoshiki Bag 2 (see previous post) is clipico (525 yen), a cute interpretation of the 143-year old unchanged design of a paper clip. The card/photo stand is super portable because it’s made from a single piece of stainless steel and folds flat. It was designed by Toshihiro Aya – a designer I have never heard of.

I also like the negative space it leaves when propped up. I’m not sure if people are still buying card stands but I think I could definitely find space on my desk for this one! You’ll be able to buy it HERE in 2 days.

Japanese product design label +d will release Furoshiki Bag 2 (press release – pdf) on August 18th, 2010. Designer Chie Kanayama, of Genta Design, improved upon her original Furoshiki Bag by reworking the design and adding pockets.

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The furoshiki is a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that was developed over 1000 years ago to carry clothing and gifts. Given their ancient history, people typically imagine them being carried around on the back of an old obachan (grandma). Kanayama hopes to breathe new life into the versatile carrying bag by catapulting it into the realm of fashion once again.

They will be sold in 3 sizes, Shoulder (L), Hand (M) and Lunch (S) and retail for 1,500 yen – 3,100 yen

Rie Hosokai, who made a name for herself by bending balloons, and consequently goes by the name of Daisy Balloon, is having a solo exhibition at Sunday Issue, an art/lounge space in Shibuya. The show will run from August 21st to September 5th. Daisy plans to unveil a spectrum of new work under the art direction of frequent collaborator Takashi Kawada of kotenhits.

Sunday Issue
Tue – Fri : 13:00 – 24:00
Sat, Sun : 12:00 – 19:00
Mon : Closed

Daisy Balloon
Rie Hosokai (Daisy) started balloon art in 2002 and went on to reign supreme in almost every balloon folding exhibition she entered. She garnered the attention of the art community with her haute couture dresses made from balloons.

Related:

• Balloon as vase by Shun Kawakami

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Another private residence in Hyogo, Japan is the recently completed Okurayama House by Kiyonobu Nakagame Architects.

This home was also built on an irregular hilly site but the similarities end there. In this instance the overall design was informed by the surrounding neighborhood, which included cherry-lined streets to the North and South, as well as low-rise housing in both directions.

Supported by 2 steel columns, the structure is defined by a carved out entryway that acts as almost an extension of the road passing in front. The entryway gently guides you inside, where you are greeted by a bowl-shaped hall that radiates outwards into its surround spaces.