cibi wonder

oh me oh my.

cibi brings a little bit of the best parts of japan to the backstreets of collingwood, and for that i am so very thankful. tasty, homestyle set menu breakfast and lunch plates with grilled salmon for those inclined toward meat, or kabocha nibitashi (pumpkin cooked in a broth seasoned with soy and sugar) and tamogoyaki (rolled omlette) for the herbivores. a beautiful daikon, wakame and cucumber tsukemono flavoured with shiso (see the glossary there on the side bar for the english versions of these) was a taste sensation and the miso soup so hearty.

and then there is the sun pouring through the massive warehouse windows in the semi-industrial space. and to top it all off, the artisan japanese items for sale in the rear. one discovery amongst the carefully edited items on sale was cochae. cochae are an 'origami graphic trio' whose collage origami i really like. they also have wonderful works in printed design and their flyer designs are great. in a serendipitous spotting when looking through their graphic works, i saw they did a flyer for a tenniscoats gig in japan; tenniscoats are a japanese duo who recently played in melbourne at the toff, and they were wonderful.

happy days.

huukeinoato

eriko tsubakino is a photo essayist, and her beautiful images can be seen via her website, huukeinoato. eriko has also worked on calendars, and has recently released a book of her photographs, available via the keibunsha bookshop. (it may be a bit of a struggle to negotiate through the keibunsha website without reading japanese, and they don't post overseas at this stage, so you can also see the book via amazon japan.)

ah-yi and grand salvo

1st night, Rabbit and Moon

ah-yi makes beautiful prints and publishes one of the most endearing blogs. these are some of her most recent prints, you can see these and her words in accompaniment at ah-yi's blog.

these pictures reminds me of the narrative album called death by melbourne musician grand salvo.

at  the grand salvo website and you will see the lyrics to the album that features birds, bears and rabbits in a story-telling narrative. you can also see pictures from the album booklet. i quote the opening lyrics:

In the dead of night
Running side by side
Keeping up with bear
A rat and a rabbit

In the light of dawn
Parents find them gone
Running quick and quiet
To the river side

In the sky above
Wind is growing rough
Wings are very tired
Far below a fire by the river side

grand salvo plays with oliver mann at the thornbury theatre in melbourne on friday march 20.

3rd night, Mushrooms

5th night, Roots

2nd night, Orchid Yard

banana yoshimoto

i have been kind of devouring short stories recently. it started with re-reading miranda july's no one belongs here more than you. miranda july has a very unique voice, and for anyone who has not come across her books, films or art, her website is a great place to begin to discover her view of the world. i found there that she had a recent connection to japan with an installation at the international triennale of art at yokohama 2008.

so, that's what got me started. i then moved on to graze the wonderful works of banana yoshimoto. lizard is a collection of short stories that explore time, healing and fate. and kitchen, i just finished. the main character in kitchen finds rest and sleep after her grandmother's death only when she lays down near the hum of the refrigerator. the concept that a kitchen can provide solace in a world that delivers grief after grief is a lovely one. kitchen is a story by an unusual storyteller, a story of losing yourself in bereavement and finding love in loss. and i do like the blurb from the New Yorker on the back cover of kitchen: '...Yoshimoto transforms the trite into the essential. This is her odd and charming art.'

the book cover designs featured here are from the faber and faber english language editions. the official banana yoshimoto website features excellent web design itself, in addition to cover shots of world wide editions - the covers of the french and czech editions of kitchen are great.

yayoi kusama

dots obsession 2000, rosyln okley9 gallery

this month's vogue living notes the upcoming retrospective of famous japanese pop artist yayoi kusama at Sydney's MCA. 

a late 1990s artnet review describes kusama's art as the 'visual music she has wrought from her inner life', an eloquent reference to kusama's lifelong struggles with mental illness. since a young girl she has experienced hallucinations of dots and patterns, covering her entire reality.

self obliteration by dots . image courtesy of punkt.wordpress.com. excellent visual blog.

above two images via this site.

infinity mirror room - phalli's field, 1965

installation at art island naoshima

mina perhonen textiles

i am on the search for beautiful textiles for doorway coverings and wall drapes. 

if you find mina perhonen creations very pleasing, mina perhonen's akira minagawa has another clothing design line called sally scott, and is also a designer for kvadrat, a modern textile design house from denmark.

mabona origami

mabona origami make wonderful folded creations and installations. the picture below is a still from their dreaming of your love stop start animation in origami, which won the King Or The Fool contest. you can see the full video via their website.

sou fujimoto

final wooden house

i know i am a bit behind the pace with pictures of this award-winning house by japanese architects sou fujimoto. but it is wonderful. his designboom interview here.

T-house. maebashi, gunma, japan

'since each spaces of the house are separated but connected, they have profound influences on one another. the morning sun glitters the space on the east, and at the same time the shimmer pours into other spaces. and the evening glow shines the bathroom on the west, reaching as far as the study on the opposite side of the house.'
tokyo apartment, tokyo, japan

'when you go up outside stairs, you will have experience that is a wonder climbing a big mountain such as a city'.

diagonal walls group house, noboribetsu, hokkaido, japan

' a certain part serves as a place of a spread of living and a dining room, and in somewhere else, the place of the end which was surrounded by the wall and settled down is produced'.

diagonal wall group home, nobiribetsu, hokkaido, japan

'the intonation of a place is produced by being connected and separated.'

all quotes and images sou fujimoto.

moaan

moaan is a star of the flickr photography world, particularly in the realm of leica m7 and bokeh. these are some of his photos. lovely colour, and for me capture the ever-amazing ever-yday japan that can be so elusive if you are looking looking looking and can't see the wood for the trees.