In Praise of Shadows, by Junichiro Tanazaki, 1933
A beautiful description of Tanazaki's book by lewism.org:

"He writes with the touch of the great writer he was and with the air of a mourner.
Even when he wrote this book back in 1933 his delicate world was being hidden by the electric light bulb."

ON LACQUERWARE

In this excerpt, Tanazaki is writing of a famous restaurant in Kyoto,
where the rooms had previously been lit by candlelight.
Upon his most recent visit electric lamps had replaced the candles.
He requested his lamp to be removed and a candle placed in its stead:

"The rooms at the Waranjiya are about nine feet square, the size of a comfortable little tearoom, and the alcove pillars and ceiling glow with a faint smoky lustre, dark even in the light of the lamp. But in the still dimmer light of the candlestand, as I gazed at the trays and bowls standing in the shadows cast by that flickering point of flame, I discovered in the gloss of the lacquerware a depth and richness like that of a still, dark pond, a beauty I had not before seen. It had not been mere chance, I realized, that our ancestors, having discovered lacquer, had conceived such a fondness for objects finished in it...Lacquerware decorated in gold is not something to be seen in a brilliant light, to be taken in at a single glance, is should be left in the dark, a part here and a part there picked up by a faint light. Its florid patterns recede into the darkness, conjuring in their stead an inexpressible aura of depth and mystery, of overtones but partly suggested. The sheen of the lacquer, set out in the night, reflects the wavering candlelight, announcing the drafts that find their way from time to time into the quiet room, luring one into a state of reverie."

eileen gray

eileen gray is superb.
above and below is her e-1027 house.
and there are also some images of her interior and furniture designs.
ouno design has the most comprehensive posts on this house.
and this golden smith post on the Le Corbusier obsession with it is really great.
edit: and mary's post on Le Corbusier's cabanon (situated just above e-1027) is really interesting.

i first started this post a while ago after seeing a really wonderful documentary on her.
i was really interested to see her lacquer work, using japanese techniques
and working with a japanese artist called sugiwara:

"Allured by the antique Chinese and Japanese lacquer screens in the shop, Eileen asked if she could learn the rudiments of lacquer working. By the time she returned to Paris in 1906, she was obsessed by the art of lacquer and, thanks to Mr Charles’ contacts, had an introduction to a young lacquer craftsman, Sugawara. He came from Jahoji, a village in northern Japan famous for its lacquer work and agreed to teach her. In 1907, Gray found a spacious first floor apartment at 21 rue Bonaparte where she could live and work and persuaded her mother to increase her allowance so that she could afford the rent. Three years later, Gray bought the apartment outright and thereafter it became her main home. Gray studied with Sugiwara for four years. Lacquer work was not only painstaking, but perilous. Like many people who come into close contact with it, she contracted a painful ‘lacquer disease’ on her hands. Slowly she refined her technique to create stark forms with simple geometric decorations. This simplicity was, however, as much a product of the complexity of the process as of Gray's aesthetic preferences. "

text source: design museum

sugiwara desu.

eileen gray's lacquered screens

photos by yasuhiro ishimoto. japanese american post-war photographer.

i first saw his work in a book i recently got, 

a book of essays by japanese architect arata isozaki, called japan-ness in architecture. 

ishimoto's book of photographs of tokyo and chicago, a tale of two cities.

his black and white photographs of the katsura rikyu in kyoto are featured 

in an upcoming reissue by yale university press of the book below . 

katsura: tradition and creation in japanese architecture, 

with photographs by ishimoto and essays by walter gropius and kenzo tange.

laurence miller gallery represents ishimoto.

this image via this blog post on ishimuro

the best thing i have seen for quite some time

ok, so this is something so great, i can barely contain myself.
the earth bag. how i wish i had a mind with room to dream these things up.

i would dearly, dearly love to own this piece of joy. which joins previous items such as:

the cloud umbrella here.
the balloon chandelier here.
and the sweet onigiri purse here.

edit: they are made of leather though, and very expensive, these bags.

all of the products in this post's pictures are via online store mistubai.
a really wonderful space. it is all adding up to bringing me ever closer to my heart's desire.
one day, i will.

"At Mitsubai Tokyo we are selling items and made-to-order pieces which we consider "hot!"...
We search and introduce items which have moved us personally in the hope one of them will connect with your heart like a Cupid's arrow. We are starting at a slow pace, and ask you to kindly watch over us."

dear claire from nine on seven led the way to this one.
via this blog. which is really great, and makes me think the young ones do it so well!
this post in particular is really wonderful, i think.

edit #2: seven news, this is not news. rather, it is a gallery of 18-year olds having a party.

is anyone else sick of online news sources (for overseas readers, seven news is one of the mainstream commercial channels here, with a nightly news service) and their shoddy pandering to the lowest common denominator of public interest? i have had it up to here. sorry to be all grumbly, but you know, at the same time this is the 'top read story' on this news site, the Liberal party (in opposition in australia) is brewing an afternoon leadership coup, based on the fact that half of them are climate change sceptics and they can't face their leader voting for an ETS. i would call that news. sad, and a gross rabble of out-of-touch politicians, but news.

the earth bag

summer yukata

the perfect use for troll dolls. it looks mildly flammable, however.

cochae origami i have also mentioned previously here.

nendo

some nendo designs.