the good & the horrible

rules for a good (decent) logo

1) represents an organization's best elements through the creative use of graphics and type

2) made up of elements which can be reproduced easily and be legible when reduced in size

3) is simple, thoughtful & visually elegant

which logo fails in all 3) categories?

flying solo

Mika Ninagawa

Nadiff a/p/a/r/t/

Ebisu, very close to Octopus park

JR & Hibiya Lines

Christmas in Tokyo-a strange phenomenon when the only thing that reminds you it's Christmas are the Christmas lights /the cute couples/the hundreds of girls/obasans in reindeer gear selling christmas cakes on the street...You'll also hear John & Yoko (and Mariah) at least 20 times. Apologies if I sound harsh-no wooly socks, no crisp smell of a wintery morning, no humprey, no drowning yourself in sleep...Either way, I'm on my own in Tokyo this year so taking time out. 3 days for art clubbing!! (with no hang over)

From what i can see, although spaces are smaller (Nadiff), Tokyo's art scene seems to be thrivig. With slick new facilities and art spaces in  Midtown, 21_21, /Roppongi Hills, there is also a lot of money going into it. Ginza and Omotesando are the obvious art spots with Ebisu, Nakameguro and Nihonbashi being the places to watch.

Tokyo Art Site is a great art guide & maps out art spaces in different areas in central Tokyo. It's been my trusty art club companion but I am definitely missing my girls! Available at most book stores here and on Amazon. Better get dressed and on my way. MOT and the Scala Bath house today and Koyanagi Gallery if I have time. xxx

beaming arts

Christmas arrived early this year. Walked into Beams Shinjuku Lumine/Est yesterday and hanging from wall was Pixel Deer! Yes! That very piece which was on the top of our Rich Bitch Collector's List from Art Basel.

Turns out Beams has asked our fabulous Kohei Nawa to design their holiday visuals this year and what could be more suitable than a reindeer head made out of wintery crystals? Gorgeous & simple. I'm sure Tyler Brule would agree. oh, i also found a used Porter bag in Koenji that day. Definitely feeling lucky. 

check out: monocle shop, george st.

expo nippon

Spotted some amazing images along the walkway in Shinjuku station today...scantly clothed models submerged in murky blue water titled "Converse Expo Nippon".

...lets see what we can find here....

Japanese culture was officially introduced to the West by collectors of Japanese art at the Paris Wold Fair in 1867. The art which resulted from this influence is described as japonesque. Hokusai and Hiroshige prints becomes a new source of inspiration for the European impressionist painters and cubists such as  Van Gough & Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec etc. Convere's Japan-exclusive 2009 collection celebrates the introduction of Japanese culture to the western art public.

And,  it all might have happened by accident. One of the first most valuable commodities exported from Japan to Europe were fragile Japanese porcelains. These had to be packed very carefully to survive the sea journey. The precious art objects were wrapped in another form of artwork, discared Japanese prints. As they say....one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Japanese collections enter the Louvre in 1892 and it is said that the Meiji Emperor even donated some pieces of his private collection to further encourage the Japonesque movement in Europe. 

The 2009 Spring & Summer collection from Converse revisits the original motifs and materials seen in these early Japanese works. Bekko(turtoise shell, the Wajima one star, bright crimson red paint....

also...

Meiji Jingu is a Shino shrine. Shinto values harmony with nature and virtures "magokoro(sincere heart) and believes in an unlimited number of kami (gods).  Meiji Jingu shrines the divine souls of Emperor Meiji and his consort Empress Shoken. They passed away in 1914 but to commemorate their virtues and venerate them forever the people donated 100,000 trees from all over Japan and worked voluntarily to create a forest in the middle of Tokyo. if you have been there you will agree that there is a special, clean & overwhelmingly peaceful feeling about the place despite it being in the middle of chaos. must be all the "magokoro". 

my white leather low-tops are looking rather ratty and i really like the look of the bekko tortoise shell design. i think i will be taking a bit of japonesque back to london....

tim walker

"Fashion allows fantasy, and i am a fantasist. I love beautiful clothes-but I couldn't give a monkeys whats on the catwalks."

revival of the still life

The still-life is back. 8,600 diamonds, a few kilos of high-grade platinum and a set of real human teeth. Damien Hirst's "For the Love of God" cost 14 million pounds to produce and had an asking price of 50 million. Claimed to be a tribute to Dutch still-lifes and the reoccurring theme of death, the piece is showing at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam along side Hirst's personal selection of 17th century Dutch art.

I much prefer Laura Letinsky's (born Canada) interpretation-beautiful photographs of ugly things, a decadent meal shared, unfinished & messy, all alluding to domestic human presence. I love her work as I'm a big fan of the school of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Carefully composed with soft colors and eloquent lighting, Letinsky revisits the classic still-life in the chaotic setting of contemporary consumer culture and creates a series of stunning visuals. Scope 2008. Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York.

striking oil

saatchi gallery 2003-2005

county hall, south bank

Tim Noble & Sue Webster

Lets reflect back on the years past & get into the christmas spirit with "Sacrificial Heart", a giant bleeding heart studded with flashing colored lights and a dagger that goes through it. The ultimate Christian icon adapted by rockers and bikers worldwide in the form of a tattoo....one of my favorites from the old county hall Saatchi Gallery. Love, pain, romance and hate-the piece fuses high art with kitch and reminds us that we are all playful yet tremendously fragile. It's pulsating lights a delightful preview of what's to come, the perfect piece for the entrance of the gallery.

Richard Wilson-Saatchi Gallery Southbank

The other piece that I took with me was 20:50. The experience starts in the old victorian hallway, while you anxiously wait for your turn for the mysterious room. what is that toxic smell in the air? is it safe? Richard Wilson fills the an entire room waist-high in recycled engine oil (from which the piece takes its name). A walkway leads viewer into the space as they find themselves surrounded by oil on all sides. Amazing...a disturbing but fascinating optical illusion created by the dark reflective surface. The viewer cannot distinguish what is the ceiling & what is the floor, what is up & what is down.