From Tapes To Texts

A co-worker of mine sent 'round an e-mail today -- tipping a bunch of us off on an artist's work she thinks is awesome. And, indeed, it is.

Supposedly the internet is abuzz with excited reviews of Iri5's series Ghost In the Machine. Portraits of famous artists (musicians mostly, by the looks of what's out there) done with manipulated cassette tape tape (old film reels as well). I quite enjoyed this Robert Smith number.

But it got me to thinking about another artist whose art is molded out of cassette tapes. His name is Brian Dettmer. And if I'd never stumbled across a tiny little blurb about him once in a magazine, I would have surely missed out on this insanity.

What's that burning plastic smell? Ha ha ha! Okay, Brian -- you have creatively molded a human skull out of old rock tapes from K-Tel or whatever label "X". Fair enough. But then you up the ante by moving on to another medium: the hard cover book...

There are sites that you can visit where you can peek behind the velvet curtain & see the smoke and mirrors of his craft exposed. But I'll leave it as a mystery here.

If you live in Chicago though, and you've got nothing to do tomorrow -- you should try & make it out to the last day of his show 'Adaptations' at the Packer Schopf Gallery.

NYC Souvenir

And to continue with my theme on pigeons today, get the person you love who has everything the ultimate NYC memory. A certified NYC pigeon feather.

The talented people over at BROOKLYNrehab have lots of other fun stuff over at their etsy site.

Check them out!

Pigeon Feather Art

The talented Kate MccGwire, a London-based artist, uses thousands of discarded pigeon feathers to create amazing works of art.

Simply stunning!

TCAF 2009

(Bryan Lee O'Malley)

If you dig small press, graphic novels and/or comics, you should definitely check out the Toronto Comic Arts Festival next weekend (May 9th & 10th)! Even if you don't think it's your bag, you should drop by because you might see something there that changes your mind.

And it's FREE!!

(Yoshihiro Tatsumi)

This year, I have volunteered myself for the event. So, if you do show, you'll be able (at the very least) to heckle me while I run about in my bright red TCAF shirt -- ushering co-dorks to and fro.

For those of you with ankle-biters -- there's gonna be a whole kids section w/Owl Magazine on site & a presentations/activities room on the Sunday.

(Gabrielle Bell)

TCAF is @:

Toronto Reference Library
(click here)
Sat - 10am-5pm
Sun - 11am-5pm

I'm not even going to bother listing some of the guests (there are craploads). Just go here: TCAF '09

TCAF '09 is going to be the biggest TCAF to date. So please, please, please try not to miss out!

OTAKU - Who Knew?

I risked being called out as a total dork earlier this month -- making the humble, solo trek to an evening lecture at Ryerson University, entitled Anime and Contemporary Japanese Society. The lecture was put on in co-effort by the Toronto chapter of the Japan Foundation (which has worldwide cred), Consulate General of Japan in Toronto & the Digital Value Lab of Ry-U. The two parts of the lecture were Postcritical Anime: Observations on Its 'Identity' Within Contemporary Japan (Jaqueline Berndt, Assoc. Prof., Yokohama National University) & Otaku Culture: Personality, Space & City of Anime Fans in Japan (Kaichiro Morikawa, Assoc. Prof., Meiji University).

I wasn't that gripped by the 1st part of the lecture. Prof. Berndt seemed to be walking us through verbal recount of an essay she wrote. Her criticism of anime being/not being the true key to Japanese understanding identity was a little wandering. I may have been distracted by her strange accent (German affected by years of teaching in Japan... in what I am assuming would be fluent Japanese). Or maybe I wandered off with her funny quips & selections of clips from classic anime shows/films. But I felt comfortable amongst the full-house of anime fans in the room -- sharing giggles & guffaws at her 'inside' jokes about certain anime styles or characters. At once feeling part of a special club of people, but also laughing at my own dorkiness (thinking of how my love of anime/comics sets me apart from most of my friends & how most of them just wouldn't 'get it').

The 2nd part of the lecture was what perked my attention & has had a lasting impact on me. It blew my mind! Prof. Morikawa is a freaking awesome & awe inspiring lecturer. He's an expert in the culture of Otaku. And it's apparent from his breadth of knowledge & the way he divulges this information -- just how personal and intimate this subject is to him.

Otaku is a term that was coined in the mid-80s to signify a new personality which emerged as a reaction to the 'loss of future'. The term has attached itself to the stereotype of a computer nerd or social outcast who is obsessed with gaming, fantasy and anime -- even long after adolescence. Early Otakus were generally men who had given up on the promise, progress and futuristic appeal of technology. Technology lay by the wayside during times of war & economic downturn. And as technology became more accessible to consumers, the shops specializing in techno-gadgetry, located in specific city districts, became less centralized -- spreading to the burbs.

Left behind were the very people who dreamed and built and believed in the future city. In technology. With the advent of the personal computer, these refugees of the lost era of future-progress (sci-fi dreamers) became the labourers & experts in building, programming, selling & repairing the machines. Soon, the district of Tokyo called Akihabara, became a place where computer geeks congregated. And so adopted the name 'The Electric Town'. A bizarre transformation of the district occurred which was not the result of strategic planning but of the geographical concentration of a certain type of personality (the Otaku).

What struck me most was just how much the personality & concentration of the population of Otakus has affected the architecture of the place/space they congregate in. Known to be mainstream-society outcasts -- the Otakus' tastes and lifestyles seem to carry a weight of shame. So the Otakus tend to carry out their lifestyle in private or covertly. For this reason, the buildings and complexes which house markets vending anime, electronics and other fantasy wares, are usually windowless or plastered with concealing billboards & signs. Which isn't to say that it's not openly evident what you are there for, when you're in the notorious Electric Town -- 12-storey neon billboards of doe-eyed anime characters smiling down at you all coquettish... But the cityscape is different here. Especially as Prof. Morikawa juxtaposed for us photos of busy, trendy consumer Tokyo districts (more mainstream) against shots of Otakus in Akihabara. Mainstream society districts have open, airy spaces with transparent buildings (lots of windows). It's as though these people want to make a show of their social status -- flaunting their consumerism, their happiness & their outgoing personalities.

I can do no justice to the insane amount of information that was bestowed upon us in the lecture. I'm hoping that the Japan Foundation releases an audio-cast, video or transcript of the Otaku lecture sometime soon. I encourage you to read up on this phenomenon -- even if you aren't a fan of anime or know very little about any of those offshoots/subcultures. Otaku is such an interesting & perplexing facet of sociological and urban planning study.

Some things I was especially wowed by that you might want to check out include...

• Ikeburo Otome (Maiden) Road -- the female Otaku district of Tokyo (female Otakus congregating in their own gendercentric spot because interaction with male Otakus is awkward & the interests these two groups consume is very different)
• Rental Showcases -- there are whole floors of shopping centres in Akihabara that are lined with glass cubbies (display cases, stacked in rows upon eachother), that are rented out to fans/consumers for the purpose of showcasing & selling their anime wares (figurines, books & other paraphernalia)
  
• Garage Kits -- there are stores that specialize in these models & model kits for hobbyists who like to build and collect anime characters/figurines -- amazing obsession! Holy crap!
• The 'Otaku!' Exhibit at the Japanese Pavilion of the 2004 Venice Biennial International Architecture Exhibition (some pictures included here) -- the exhibit was insane enough to house a re-creation of 100s of Rental Showcases that contained miniature scale models of Otaku bedrooms/apartments, housed inside of a larger scale model Otaku apartment
• Yaoi -- 'Boys' Love' media which baffled me... homoerotic or homoromantic fiction that is created mainly by & for females
• Violence associated with Otaku culture -- see Akihabara Massacre, Osaka School Massacre, murderer Tsutomu Miyazaki
  

Photo: Akihabara district, Tokyo

Photo: just your average Otaku bedroom is all :)

Photo: example of a Rental Showcase - taken from Otaku! exhibit at 2004 Venice Biennial

Photo: really small pic -- but miniature scale models of Otaku rooms from exhibit at
2004 Venice Biennial

More Links...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/06/AR2005060601767.html
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/featuredarticles/kie/akihabara/kie_akihabara_06.html
http://secure.giantrobot.com/products.php?code=GR52 (if you can find this issue someplace...)

Takashi Murakami on his art & Otaku culture...
http://www.jca-online.com/murakami.html
With Murakami gaining recognition in pop culture & art circles abroad in Western civilization (Europe, UK, North America), the art of Superflat and the media of the Otaku culture may quickly become more popular or mainstream.
More Murakami...

http://www.takashimurakami.net/

And the 411 on Dojinshi or fan-created anime stealing from or parodying Manga...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Djinshi

Remembering Andrew Wyeth

American Painter Andrew Wyeth died last week at the age of 91. The art world has lost a great pioneer. He will be missed.

via The New York Times

Housepaint - Phase 2: Shelter

My friend Jeff pointed me towards this exhibition. Check it out. It's your duty!

From the ROM website "The Institute for Contemporary Culture presents Housepaint, the first exhibition on the subject of street art in a major Canadian museum. Drawing attention to issues of poverty and homelessness, this ground-breaking exhibition is a collaboration between ten street artists in memory of the former residents of Tent City. Each artist has painted a colourful canvas house in their personal, exuberant style. In addition, five artists will respond to the previous installations by creating an original new work in the gallery over the course of the exhibition.

Tent City, a shanty town that stood on five acres of undeveloped land on the shores of Lake Ontario, spontaneously arose in the late 1990s. Its residents were evicted without warning in 2002.

Curated by Devon Ostrom of them.ca, Housepaint will be on display until July 2009, at which point the canvas houses will be auctioned, with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity.

For more information, updates on the exhibition, to register for the auction, or to add your own comments, please visit www.housepaint.ca"

Now open at the ROM until July 5, 2009 at the Institute for Contemporary Culture
Roloff Beny Gallery, Level 4 of the ROM in Toronto.

Why I am a Designer

sigh... the fine-art ambition still burns dimly.

Learning to Love You More... November

Honestly -- Boxcar & I do have other resources -- other than wacky kid Miranda July's various and sundry projects, websites, books, etc. etc.! I just couldn't resist here...

It's November. For those of us who live anywhere that is not a perpetually sunny, shiny and toasty clime, November just sucks. It's dreary and cold and damp.

What better way to get you through those reclusive months ahead than to participate in Learning to Love You More 'Assignments'?!

Now I know that there are some of you who will eyeroll at this concept. "Oh, how arty" you might snicker. But do yourself a favour. If you don't feel inclined to participate. If you choose to poo-poo the whole thing outright -- at least check out the site and peruse the assignment submissions posted there.

That is your assignment.

If you don't crack a smile at least once... well... What's WRONG with you?!!

(The photo above was taken from Assignment #30: Take a Picture of Strangers Holding Hands. Some of my other favourite assignments include: Draw the News, Draw a Picture of Your Friend's Friend, Draw a Scene From A Movie That Made You Cry, Repair Something).

Toronto's own cutest-ever writer & artist Emily Holton has even contributed to LTLYM -- with her 'For Immediate Release: Emily Holton Eats Too Much Pineapple And Lies Awake, Imagining Heartbreak' response to Assignment #60: Write A Press Release About An Everyday Event. And as I plug Emily here, I realize that I have completely missed the Toronto launch event of her latest work: Dear Canada Council/Our Starland -- which took place tonight at the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom! I'm guessing that almost midnight is pretty much too late to catch a literary event (collar pull).

“The Drawing Room” Curated by Audrey Kawasaki

If you find yourself on the West Coast this month, head over to ThinkSpace Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. Renowned artist Audrey Kawasaki has gathered together some of her friends to curate her first exhibition. “The Drawing Room,” and consists of Stella Im Hultberg, Amy Sol, Kukula, Brandi Milne, Brian Viveros, Catherine Brooks, Mari Inukai, Nomi Chi, Lauren Albert, Jessica McCourt, Julia Sonmi Heglund, Eveline Tarunadjaja, Meg Hunt, Irana Douer, Catherine Campbell, Lilly Piri, Amy Earles, Eric Thomas Bostrom, Joao Ruas, Laura Laine, Jason Levesque aka Stuntkid, Fumi Nakamura, Travis Louie, and Liza Corbett.

The show is up til November 29.

So many of my favorite artists in one room, I'm wishing I was in the position to jet over there this week! But alas I am not, so I've highlighted a few of the artists I wish I was able to see (why does it seem the most interesting art shows are not happening in Toronto)

Amy Sol

Catherine Campbell

Stella Im Hultberg

Evaline Tarunadjaja

and of course who could forget Audrey Kawasaki herself. One day I'd love to be able to afford one of her pieces for my walls.