Top three stores in Tokyo…#1: ACME FURNITURE STORE
It’s been a while since my last full entry, as I’ve been focusing on a couple of other projects. I’ve decided pick up the pace again, showcasing each of the three shops on my list of favourite stores in Tokyo.
This entry will focus on my favourite furniture store, Acme Furniture in Meguro.
Acme furniture is just across the street from my apartment, and it is the first furniture store along a strip known as “Meguro Interior Street.” Acme Furniture’s store in Meguro is a collaboration with Journal Standard Furniture. Both stores specialize in 20th century American furniture; while Acme specializes in industrial 1940’s furniture restoration and sales, Journal Standard’s aesthetic tends to lean toward 1970’s Scandinavia.
The four floors are filled with beautiful restored furniture (such as the desk and chair set above.) Some pieces are reminiscent of old classrooms and others conjure up images of the factories filled with blue collar workers.
While some of their larger pieces would be a serious financial investment, some of their smaller pieces are definitely affordable for nomads like me.
I just love how comfortable everything in the store feels. All the pieces seem to have been effortlessly thrown together, and everything has the feeling of having been used, loved, and abused in another lifetime. The combination of worn wood, paint-chipped metal and faded leather is just so nostalgic and romantic. Furthermore, I think that Acme’s sustainable practices of recycling, restoring and upcycling are things that more businesses should think about doing.
As I mentioned, Acme is the first store on “Meguro Interior Street” - so as the weather gets warmer, consider taking a stroll down this street - and be sure to stop in here first.
March 20, 2012
If only I were in London…..
The Yayoi Kusama Retrospective at the Tate Modern opened on February 9th. It’ll run until June 5th, so if you’re there, GO!!
February 19, 2012
Dear Mama…
Today is my birthday, and I feel that it is fitting to put a spotlight on the woman who gave me life.
In May of 2010, my Canadian-born siblings and I went to China for the first time with our mother. She always told us how lucky we were, to have been born in Canada. She told us not to take things for granted; simple things like indoor plumbing and heat. My mother always talked about life in rural China, but the life she described always seemed like fiction.
At twenty-seven, I finally stepped into my family’s house in Kaiping, China, and everything suddenly became very real. All those stories flooded back into my mind and I could see it all so vividly: my mother, at the age of twelve, struggling to cook for all her brothers while my grandmother worked in another city…
[The stove my uncle built]
My mother, with three of her brothers all balancing on one bicycle, slowly making their way to school through the countryside…
When she was twenty-seven, she was bringing in water from the well and heating it on the stove so that she could bathe her infant daughter.
[The “bathroom”]
Whenever I feel that I’m getting caught up in insignificant things, I always think about my mother because she helps me put things into perspective. Her journey has been truly amazing. Her life has been difficult and full of challenges, but her strength has allowed her to overcome it all.
And here is one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life: My mother, sitting at her vanity table again, thirty years later.
No one has ever done more for me in my life, and no one ever will.
January 24, 2012
Bright design ideas…
I know, the title is lame but I just couldn’t help myself. Today’s entry will be short but sweet. A couple of weeks ago, I saw this amazing lamp at the Mori Arts Center Museum Shop.
[“Lamp / lamp” by designer Hironao Tsuboi]
How cool is this? More than one design blog has described it as a “head scratcher,” and funnily enough that’s exactly what I did when I first saw it.
I was considering buying it because it’s just so fun. I’m glad I waited because over the weekend, I received a similar gift from two very good friends:
[Hanging lightbulb flower vase by Belgian company Serax]
These products absolutely made my day. Hope they brightened up yours, too. (Sorry! I’m done.)
Monday January 23rd 2012
One of my favourite photographs by Hungarian photographer Brassaï, “A woman admiring petticoats in New York City, 1957.”
January 18, 2012
(Source: firsttimeuser, via theniftyfifties)
Reallllly wish I could see this one in real life.
Guggen’ Donut by Mia Liu
Notes about the “Guggen’ Donut” from Liu:
This work also uses Guggenheim Museum’s tickets as the creative medium, and attempts to use this medium in a journal-like documentary project. Using the ticket hole-punched method, I’ve turned my daily routine of eating donuts at the Guggenheim Museum café into the topic of my creative work. Through the process of punching holes, I’ve tried to turn the orange ink used on the tickets into the primary color on the artwork’s surface. The completed work shows an interesting reconstructed twist for the ready-made object.
January 12, 2012
(via designcloud)
Yayoi Kusama at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane
If only I could snap my fingers and transport into this room….. the show is on until March 11th 2012 so check it out if you’re in Brisbane!!
A nice overview of the process from the beginning:
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/01/yayoi-kusama-obiliteration-room/
Here’s a link with more photos of the ‘before’:
Check out a photostream of the exhibit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8159459@N02/6410790603/in/photostream/
The official website for Kusama’s ‘Look Now, See Forever’ exhibit at GOMA:
http://qag.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/current/yayoi_kusama_look_now,_see_forever
January 6, 2012
Irving Penn and Issey Miyake: Visual Dialogue at 21_21 Design Sight
[Promotional flyer for Irving Penn and Issey Miyake: Visual Dialogue from 2011.9.16-2012.4.8 at 21_21 Design Sight]
When I picked up this flyer for Irving Penn and Issey Miyake: Visual Dialogue, I thought that I hadn’t seen such a visually stunning juxtaposition of images in a long time. I loved the way the contours of the dress mimicked the folds of the flower, and the use of complimentary colours. When I noticed that this exhibition was showing at 21_21 Design Sight, I remembered my long forgotten intention to check out that site.
[21_21 Design Sight from the garden of Tokyo Midtown, Roppongi Art Night 2009]
This was the first time I saw the building - in darkness on Roppongi Art Night, two years ago. I thought, Oh la la, what is that building?? I wanted to climb on the roof and just lie there, staring at the stars. I wanted to live in it. I had no idea what it was, but my curiosity was piqued. Being the procrastinator I am, I just kept saying that I would find out what it was and go there someday.
[Daytime photo of the exterior]
So here’s the story. 21_21 Design Sight: the name is derived from the term for perfect vision, “20-20.” The venue is meant to be a space where the meaning and the direction of design can be explored. 21_21 Design Sight is the brain child of designer Issey Miyake, known worldwide for his avant-garde fashion creations. In the 1980’s, Miyake approached other influential figures in the creative scene to discuss the need for a design museum in Tokyo. Their vision was finally realized in 2007. Designed by Tadao Ando, the building is defined by an angled roof made from one sheet of folded steel. From the outside, the size is unimpressive - one might wonder how much could possibly be housed in such a small space.
[Ground floor of 21_21 Design Sight. 133 square metres of gallery space, which is only 30% of the total volume of the building. ]
[Stairs leading to the basement level]
[Overlooking the stairs leading to the basement level. I love how the lines of the various design elements converge at the corner of the building.]
And here’s the kicker: a whopping 70% of the building is underground. This element of surprise that exists in the architecture of the building is a fundamental aspect of 21_21 Design Sight. Miyake and Ando wanted it to be a place where “visitors can be exposed to the pleasures of design and have new experiences filled with surprises.” 21_21 Design Sight not only focuses on exhibitions of works of art, but also on talks and workshops aimed at discovering how design changes our daily lives.
[View of the staircase from the basement. The sunken courtyard allows natural light to come in.]
[Another view of the staircase.]
I had gone to see Irving Penn and Issey Miyake: Visual Dialogue in September 2011 just after the show opened, on a weekday evening about an hour before closing. The place was nearly deserted. Most of the exhibitions I visit in Tokyo are packed to the brim with visitors. I was thrilled - it was my first time at 21_21 Design Sight, and first time really seeing the works of both Irving Penn and Issey Miyake. The fact that I was able to explore all three at my leisure made all the difference.
The building is of course, perfect. It is stark, clean, and simple. It is a wonderful space in which to exhibit art because it lets the art speak for itself. The grey of the concrete and translucence of the glass are a perfect backdrop for the lush colours of Miyake’s work. The exhibit consists of Miyake’s original sketches for his creations, Penn’s photographs of the finished pieces, posters, animations, slideshows and Penn’s own original work. The sheer scale of the posters, video projections and animations are all the more impressive because of the cold vastness of the space.
[Video projection of Miyake’s various collections from 1987-1999]
[From Miyake’s 1991 collection…one of his more wearable pieces]
[From Miyake’s 1994 collection - not exactly wearable, but one of his more thought-provoking and well-known pieces]
[Irving Penn’s “Chocolate Mouth”]
I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. 21_21 Design Sight is a really wonderful space and it adds a lot to the architectural landscape of Tokyo. To see the visual products of a thirteen-year relationship between Penn and Miyake in such a dynamic setting was truly wonderful. Another thing that I took away from this experience was the desire to see more of Irving Penn’s work. He was one of the most prolific and well-respected portrait and fashion photographers of our time, and I really hope to see more of his work in the future.
Irving Penn and Issey Miyake: Visual Dialogue is showing for another three months, so head on over to check it out.
**check out this website by photographer Sanghyun Lee of a few of Tadao Ando’s buildings in Japan
January 02, 2012
Kusama’s Body Festival in the ’60s
Yayoi Kusama. She is considered by many to be the greatest living Japanese artist. During the 60-year span of her career, she has worked in a variety of media - painting, drawing, collage, performance art, and installation, creating over 50,000 works of art. One of her most famous works of late is her giant pumpkin in Naoshima, “the island of nature and contemporary art.”
[“Pumpkin” by Yayoi Kusama, Naoshima, Japan]
While the youth of today are more familiar with Kusama’s giant pumpkins and massive installations (such as the one below), Kusama’s Body Festival in the ’60s, currently showing at the Watari-um Museum in Aoyama, Tokyo, focuses on the birth of Kusama’s career in New York City, 1957.
[“Dots Obsession Day” by Yayoi Kusama, from her Mirrored Years exhibition]
[“Yayoi Kusama with her work, against a background of Manhattan, NY. 1961.” Copyright Yayoi Kusama]
Kusama’s Body Festival in the ‘60’s places Kusama’s work in the social and political context of that decade. There are blown up newspaper clippings of anti-war demonstrations organized by Kusama, as well of video footage of the body painting festivals she hosted. The footage is just amazing. It perfectly epitomizes what I imagine art in the sixties to be; a room of nude strangers, artists and friends, all painting polka dots on each other and having the time of their lives. Photographs shows Kusama, young and beautiful, engulfed by polka dots in all of her works. It should be noted that this is the first time that Kusama’s video footage has been shown in Japan completely uncensored.
[Yayoi Kusama, the Polka Dot Princess, covered in polka dots and lying in a bed of phallic polka dot soft sculptures]
[Watari-um Museum, view of the second floor from the balcony of the third floor]
Why polka dots, you might ask. It is a well-known fact that Kusama has been plagued by hallucinations of dots and what she calls “infinity nets” since the age of ten. She herself has said that actualizing her visions in works of art has saved her life; without art, she would be lost. Her struggle to share her visions with the world makes her the quintessential tortured artist and has elevated her to the status of an icon in the art world.
[Watarium Museum, fourth floor installation…sorry for the poor quality!]
In comparison to other large scale exhibitions of Kusama’s work, this one is rather small. Those expecting rooms and rooms of immersive installations like the one above will be disappointed - but if you’d like a glimpse into the 1960’s through the eyes of an artist who influenced the likes of Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, head on over to the Watari-um Museum before the show closes on November 27th, 2011.
Now, for some extra reading, check out some of the links below:
November 21, 2011
