oneELOHA ART SHOW "1st Exhibition"

ELOHA's where artisits Mie ishii, fish, Kads MIIDA, Rockin' Jellybean and KEN THE FLATTOP express themselves through their individual characters, and where we get to meet another side of each individual. They got together in '99 and publisheded the free paper ELOHA REDBOOK in '00. Already a legend in their own right, ELOHA is back along with their first exhibition. Featured are works straight out of the free paper "ELOHA2", and some pieces that self-explain where each one of them come from. Original ELOHA tees, goods, and original drafts and copies are on sale. 5 characters mingling and twining in one room... don't miss out on this one, a great way to wrap up the year.

> Date : 2004.12.7 (Tue)~ 2004.12.26 (Sun) 17:00~22:00 (Tue~Sat), 15:00~22:00 (Sun), closed on MondaysLocation : Depot Gallery, Nakameguro (2-43-6 Kamimeguro)Info : 03-5773-5502URL : Depot (http://www.depotcrew.com), Eloha (http://www.eloha-web.com)

twoGary Panter "Landscaping"

Gary Panter has been successful. He directs art, as though he himself were directed by a child. Since the 80's, his works have appeared in comics as "JIMBO" and "DAL TOKYO" and Pee Wee Herman's "Pee Wee's Playhouse". For some more modern examples, he did the Red Hot Chili Pepper's first album cover, and a lightshow collaboration with the legend of the sixties, Joshua White. He's also handled a web animation called "PINK DONKEY," and believe it, his steelo has not changed. <http://www.funnygarbage.com/pinkdonkey/interface.html> A big fan of Panter himself, SKATETHING perusaded the administrators of BAPE GALLERY to set foot on a Gary Panter exhibition "LANDSCAPING." going down at the gallery which is in Minami Aoyama. Gary Panter's also worked on a lot of BAPE items ranging from t-shirts, pajamas and textiles, and that's all going to be up there too. With his new book "PURGATORY" just released, this exhibition centers around new paintings and silkscreens, all available to be purchased.

> Date : 2004.11.6(Sat)~1.10 (Mon) 11:00~18:00, Open everyday during the spanLocation : BAPE Gallery (2F of B-house, Manivia Building, 5-5-8 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo)Info : 03-5485-1560URL : Gary Panter (http://www.garypanter.com/)

threeEYE exhibition "GATAX"

A new face to the Daikanyama scene, Treesaresospecial is featuring Yamataka EYE as their first renewal exhibition. As the leader of Boredoms, who've just dropped their new album (5 years from the last one), "Seadrum / House of Sun," EYE also gets a lot of love and feedback as an individual artist. With such credits for books as "NANOO", "DONDEKEDERICO", cover artwork for related album releases and a collaboration piece with Noburo Ootake up his sleeves, EYE has always maintained a steady connection between his music and artwork. This exhibition will feature his previous drawings and collages along with pieces done using new methods, you would've never have come up with. Chaotic yet minimal, mythological yet modern.

> Date : 2004.12.12 (Sun)~1.16 (Sun), 12:00~20:00, closed MondaysLocation Treesaresospecial (16-4, Daikanyamachou, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)Info : 03-3462-0952URL : http://www.treesaresospecial.org

fourTakuma Nakahira "Why is it a Human=Animal Encyclopedia??"

Photographer, Takuma Nakahira is blessing the nation with an exhibition of his new works at Shougoarts. Under the influences of those such as Shoumei Toumatsu and Daidou Moriyama, he turned to the camera after a career as an editor for the new-wave leftist magazine "GENNDAI NO ME (Modern Eyes)". He started the coterie magazine "PROVOKE" in '68, presenting monochrome photographs using blurring techniques, capturing the drastic changes in society during the late 60?'s to the 70?'s as a photographer and a critic. Later in '77, he falls into a state of memory loss, then next year resumes photography in Okinawa where he traveled for a medical treatment program. Along with his gradual recovery, he vigorously continues to take photos. In '03, he opens a large-scale retrospective exhibition "Genten Fukki - Yokohama [Return to the basics - Yokohama]" which receives a lot of attention.

21 carefully selected photos by the photographer, from an archive of flicks taken just for the show. Photos taken in Kanagawa and Tokyo, along with Yokohama, where Nakahira currently lives, will be exhibited. <nakahira_doubutuzukan.jpg>

>Date : 2004.11.26 (FRI)~12.25 (SAT) 11:00~19:00 Closed SUN, MON, HolidaysPlace : SHUGOARTS (1-31-6 Shingawa, Chuou-ku Tokyo)Info : 03-5542-3468URL : (http://www.shugoarts.com/)

photo : (c) Takuma Nakahira

fiveYurie Nagashima " not six"

Yurie Nagashima was bearly 20 years old when she marked a sensational debut, taking a series of photographs of her family, nude. With an eye that captures everyday life at its true size, her horizons extend to the American skate culture and the nature of wilderness.

With this exhibition, she captures the object (lover, husband) through the eyes of one deeply involved, the photographer ( I ) <nagashima_notsix1.jpg> <nagashima_notsix2.jpg>. 7 years in the making, a dim layer of akwardness and an itch of desire swallow the viewer. She takes a solid approach to the essence of this classic method of media we call photography. Shots taken from her new book, plus new prints, installations with graphic art and a talk show scheduled during the period.

Date : 2004.12.3 (FRI)~ 2005.1.16 (SUN) 11:00~20:00Place : nadiff (Shibuya-Ku Jingumae 4-9-8 Cassorale Harajuku B1 Tokyo)Info : 03-3403-8814 FAX. 03-3403-8819URL : http://www.nadiff.com/

>Gallery Talk :
2004.12.4 (SAT) 16:00-18:00 Yurie Nagashima + Meisa Fujishiro
2004.12.23 (THUR., HOLIDAY) 14:00-16:00 Yurie Nagashima + Erika Kobayashi, Others
Photo : (c) Yurie Nagashima

sixGA Gallery "The 13th 'Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Architects' GA JAPAN 2004"

From November 3rd, GA Gallery will be hosting "The 13th 'Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Architects' GA JAPAN 2004". This year, this annual exhibition which explores the realms of modern Japanese Architecture, will be 13 years deep. 14 architects representing Japan will introduce their current projects both in and out of the country through models, plans, and visual images.

Exhibiting architects will include Jun Aoki, Tadao Ando, Arata Isozaki, Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma, Kazuyo Sejima, and more. Tadao Ando will be introducing "hhstyle.com annex".

> Date : 2004.11.23 (SAT) ~ 12.26 (SUN)Place : GA Gallery ( 3-12-14 Senndagaya, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo)Admission : 500 YenOpen: 12:00~18:30, Mondays Closed (unless Monday is an holiday)Info : 03-3403-1581 URL : http://www.ga-ada.co.jp/japanese/ga_gallery/

sevenTaka Ishii Gallery: Christopher Wool Exhibition

Taka Ishii Gallery will be featuring New York based artist Christopher Wool's solo exhibition starting November 26th (FRI), running until December 25th (SAT). It will highlight new works from Christopher Wool, who handles two different mediums, photography and painting, as tools for his means of expression<wool_painting.jpg>. A conventional view is that paintings have a certain value that comes from the uncapability of reproduction, photographs on the other hand, lack this value. Wool collapses this equation by taking photographs of his paintings, and using those photos in other paintings.

As Wool's second exhibition at Taka Ishii Gallery since 1997, new paintings will be featured along with 160 pieces, which make a monochrome, ink jet printed series called "East Broadway Breakdown (1994-95/2002)". This series captures images of the Lower East Side which is right by Wool's studio, down to Chinatown.

> Date : 2004.11.26 (FRI) ~ 2004.12.25 (SAT) 11:00~19:00, Closed SUN, MON, HolidaysPlace : Taka Ishii Gallery (1-31-6, Shingawa, Chuou-Ku Tokyo)Info : 03-5542-3615Fax : 03-3552-3363
E-mail : tig@takaishiigallery.com URL : http://www.takaishiigallery.com
Painting : (c) Courtesy of Taka Ishii Gallery

eight"Waist Down (All about Skirts)"

Countless skirts have been created since the dawn of the PRADA's Ladies Collection. "Waist Down (All about Skirts)" is an exhibition currently being held at the PRADA store in Aoyama. It displays gorgeous works selected from the immense collection of skirts that PRADA has created over the years. Many exciting surprise can be found at thesites of the exhibition, which are "Prada Boutique Aoyama", the largest Prada store in Japan, and "Epicenter Store". The shop area, which goes from the basement to the fifth floor, has gone through a style transition just for this show, which is held on the top floor. The whole Aoyama store is going to turn into a space modeled after a skirt. Beginning with Aoyama, this exhibition is scheduled to be held in PRADA stores all over the world. Visitors can enjoy the beauty of the color and form of skirts, which they explain, are "mediums expressing motion."

> Date : 2004.11.13 (SAT)~ 2005.1.16 (SUN) 2005, open 11:00~20:00Location: Prada Boutique Aoyama, 6th floor (5-2-6 Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo)Info : 0120-559-914

nine"AVENTURES AU PAYS DES KiKi"

A brand new album has been released from Naohiro Ukawa's label "MOM/N/DAD PRODUCTIONS." This label succeeds in suprising us with every new release, for its eccentric concepts and Ukawa's unique artwork. "AVENTURES AU PAYS DES KiKi (english title: ADVENTURES OF Monchhichi)" is their first release in a while, and its actually a CD of the well-known Monchhichi. KiKi is what they call Monchhichi in France. It was first released in 1974 by the doll comapny Sekiguchi, and gained instant popularity. It even became popular in foreign countires like Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and America. Soon, many relating characters and items were being released. Monchhichi's has a deep history, as records and cartoons of it have been released over the years. This CD recently dropped by MOM/N/DAD PRODUCTIONS is actually a reimport, as it was originally an album that was released in France in 1978. The content is bouncy techno-pop, with children singing cute songs. The third track on the album, "LA CHANSON DE KiKi" was released as a single back then, and it became a best-seller in France. The single version of "LA CHANSON DE KiKi," and a version of this song that was later released in Belgium, called "LA CHANSON DE Monchhichi," are included as bonus tracks. You can listen to this CD while chilling out and drinking coffee, or with your kids, and of course, as a sample to use later in your own tracks.

> "AVENTURES AU PAYS DES KiKi"Release : 2004.11.10 (December for record stores) Price : 2,625 yen (including tax)Info/URL : http://www.momndadproductions.com/nakanaori/Δ

>INTERVIEW WITH Elements

Within the various realms of design, furniture design stands in a position that is unique. The same goes for other branches of product design as well, but designers have to bring their ideas into the material world as manufactured items. Besides the actual design, aspects like materiality, function, the manufacturing process, and the atmosphere created by the product all have to be thought out. Elements is a furniture design unit that aims to discover new values of everyday life. They presented their work at Milano Salone, an international furniture fair in Italy, and received much acclaim and attention. The work of Elements was introduced for the first time in Japan through SAL magazine vol. 13, and we conducted an e-mail interview with them.

Q: Please tell us about the members of Elements. Who are they, what kind of backgrounds do they have, and what do they respectively do in Elements?
A: The members are:
Masakatsu Tsumura: Born in 1957. An art manipulator.
(Shop designs, brand image direction, and product planning for Adam et Rope', Bis, Rope, Picnic, and Martinique. Shop designs for Justin Davis and Samantha Thavasa)
Yasushi Matsumoto: Born in 1973. A product designer for Canon Inc..
Kazumasa Aihara: Born in 1968. Manager of Organic Design and Organic Cafe.
This is a group of colleagues who each recognize a truth in their respective fields. We aim to discover new values of everyday life. The works of furniture we exhibited at Milano Salone 2004 are one proposal of this.

Q: Why did these members with various backgrounds come together and start Elements?
A: Designs for furniture and decorations have been architecturally and mathematically controlled in design processes of the past. They have been divided into designs that are based on historical contexts, and designs that are based on self-expression and sensibility. Of course, both of these orientations of design have both elements concerning logical thinking and elements concerning sensibility, but we think that any style can be described as either being slanted towards the realm of the right brain or the left brain. The genealogy of twentieth century interior design has been organized only through historical and chronological divisions, just like the chair catalog of the Vitra Design Museum.

Q: In the images printed in SAL magazine vol. 13 <vol13_elements01.jpg> <vol13_elements02.jpg>, the photos of the products were accompanied by a periodic table of elements. What meaning does this have? Furniture such as chairs and tables could be seen in the magazine; please explain about these, and about things like the materials, concepts, and characteristics of the individual products (i.e. Aurum, Argon, Krypton, Actium).
A: We used the periodic table as a base, because we thought that we could recompose works that have appeared up to twentieth century from an alternative angle. We compose the horizontal and vertical axes of the chart using factors like the heaviness / lightness of the design, the right brain-ness / left brain-ness, whether it is universal, whether it is likely to change, etc.. We apply this chart to the products of Elements; Lanthanum, Cerium, and Praseodymium are sculpture-like works created from one-piece slabs of Myanmar Teak, placed on a certain level (Lanthanoid) similar to that of the works of Alexander Nole and Wendell Castel, both sculptors from the 1930s. Actinium and Iridium (patchwork pieces of blocks of teak and oak) have been created with a post-modern mentality behind them.
For ArgonParchement, Argon-Stingray, Krypton, and Krypton-Stingray, we used various materials like teak, parchment, and the hide of rays. We threw in architectural elements, and developed a historical continuity by applying materials that were used by J.M. Frank, a French interior designer from the 1930s.

Q: Your products can be described as being weighty and emitting a thick aura. Some of the pieces look more like sculptures than furniture. Why do you give your products these kinds of qualities? For Elements, what is furniture?
A: Elements works towards a symbiosis between two levels of design. We want our works to blend into their environments, and reach aesthetic completion when people use them. At the same time, we want to emphasize the existence of the object itself, in order to energize the environment, and leave a strong mark in people's memories. Both of these are our motivations for designing. The mass-produced objects of today have extremely well-done designs, but in most cases, one cannot feel the designer's soul in the work. We hope that in our works, the soul we put in manifests itself as the aura of the object.

Q: You exhibited your work at Milano Salone this year. How was the reaction in Italy?
A: We received lots of positive feedback and praise. People from galleries, architecture, design, and the media expressed sympathy for our work, telling us that it is a new and proper endeavor in an age that is a turning point in history.

Q: Furniture is something that is used in everyday life for long spans of time. Besides the actual production, I imagine that things like distribution and the establishment of a brand image are important issues for a furniture brand. What are your thoughts on these things?
A: We're still busy with setting up a distribution system, so we haven't been doing anything to establish a brand image so far. We've already debuted in Europe, and magazines over there have covered our work, but our first appearance in Japan was in SAL Magazine. We don't want to be too hasty; we're going to be calmly working on things like production and distribution, one by one.

Q: Furniture is used in a wide variety of situations, like homes, offices, stores, and hotels. Is there any particular category of users that you suppose may use your products more than others? Are there any typical situations of use that you can imagine?
A: We want our products to be used by many people, but since we use precious materials and a laborious manufacturing process, we can only produce a limited quantity of items. They can be seen as being specially-made. The products are probably going to often find themselves in places that large numbers of people use, like stores and hotels.

Q: What are your plans for the near future?
A: We're going to be exhibiting some new works at Milano Salone in April next year. The painter Takayasu Inoue is going to be joining us, and we'll be pursuing specially-made products even more. Some samples of our work can be found at Depot (Nakameguro, Tokyo).

>INTERVIEW WITH JAMES CLAR

James Clar is a lighting designer / installation artist working in New York City, who produces electronic objects such as "3D Display Cube" and "Line." For his innovative yet simple ideas, and the technical refinement of his works, he is drawing much attention from a variety of fields. He was recently invited to DOTMOV 2004, a digital film festival in Sapporo, Japan. As part of its opening event, SAL Magazine Night 5.0 was held there on October 31. There, James Clar did a lecture on his work, and performed a DJ set with "Dynomite" connected to the audio system. We interviewed this young artist while he was in Japan, at a cafe in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Q: What brought you to the field of lighting design?
A: I got into lighting design kind of accidentally. I thought it would be really interesting to be able to control light sources, and use them to create anything, just like a painter uses paint. With painting, you're controlling the light that bounces off the painting. The paint itself absorbs every color except for the color that we actually see. With lighting, you're creating that color, so it?fs a really interesting medium to work with. Using light is just so basic, and so foundational to visual communication.

Q: Where do you get the inspiration for all these innovative ideas on how to use light in your works?
A: A lot of the concepts for my work derive from my undergraduate training in animation. In animation, you have to always think of things in terms of time and frames: how fast someone walks, how long for a foot to get here, how long it takes for an object to get up to a certain location. It's about time vs. space. You have to think about the relationship between the two. That's why a lot of the programs in my work are based on the length of time it takes to get from one animation to another.
Then I started getting more into having outside variables trigger off the timing of the animations. A lot of times, this variable is music. I'm just really into music. I guess a lot of it kind of relates to electronic music. It's all time based, and built with repetitive structures, and when you?fre mixing you have to think about that.

Q: Your work is often categorized as New Media, or Media Art. What do you think about these words?
A: New Media is kind of an old term now. It came out when the field of web design was rapidly expanding. Everybody was calling web design Interactive Art. It is interactive, but its all screen based. I think interactivity is about much more than just what's on the screen.
Back in the late 90s, everyone was making all this crazy Flash Art. A lot of these works were just technical show-offs of the new things they could do with Flash. A lot of them were well-designed, but it didn't seem like the ideas or concepts were well thought out. I don't know how you could call that "Interactive Art" if it only encompasses screen-based work.
I think that things have been changing, and now New Media is becoming more physical. The field has matured to the point where artists aren't just sticking to the screen. You have to think about the medium and output of what you are trying to express. I've been seeing a lot of physicality in works lately. My work is like that, and a lot of artists in Europe are doing it. Also, here in Japan too, I think. Some of my friends from grad school teach here, and they really want their students to push physical computing more. It links to using electronics for more artistic purposes.

Q: In the near future, how do you think the relationship between technology and our living environment is going to change?
A: I'm interested in how different fields are blending together. I think architecture is going to start integrating more technology. Besides housing people, why can't a building display some sort of information? It would make sense to integrate interactive installations, or dynamic information systems into architecture. I think that things like smart buildings will become more common, especially when the technology for wireless communication develops further, because it'll be easier to set up the systems.

Q: How's the lighting in Tokyo?
I hadn't been here since I was a kid, but I knew that there were going to be tons of lights. I thought it was going to be really wild, but actually, a lot of it is just kind of noise. Everything is trying to grab your attention, but most of it isn't well thought out. You walk around and see bright lights, but everything around it is bright too. There isn't much contrast between light and dark, especially in the major areas of the city. Everything is just bright. I thought this was really interesting.

Q: Are there any particular lighting artists that you admire?
A: I think Toshio Iwai is a great new media artist. I also admire James Turrell and Dan Flavin. These guys are lighting artists that have been around for a long time, and they're so established. They are at the level I want to be some day. In the field of product design, I like Ingo Maurer. His works are static, but they're really well designed. He's created a glass table with LEDs embedded into the glass, so it looks like a field of stars.
I kind of see my work somewhere in-between product designers like Ingo Maurer, and more conceptual artists like Dan Flavin and James Turrell.

Q: What are your plans for the near future?
At the Milan Triennial in January, "Flexgrid" is going to be embedded into a dress and shown as part of the architecture firm Hariri and Hariri's display. The concept of this whole exhibition is to gather fifty groups from non-fashion fields, and give each of them two statues that they have to dress in their own company's style. Music groups like Aluminum Group and a bunch of architecture firms and are going to be participating. Each company has its own style, so it'll be interesting to see how the other participants dress up the statues.
From the end of February to early March, "Line" will be displayed at the 8th Japan Media Arts Festival, which will take place in Ebisu (Tokyo) at the Metropolitan Museum of Photography. In April, I'm going to be doing a show at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York.
>URL : http://www.jamesclar.com
Questioner : Ryutaro UchiyamaΔ

The Underground History of Thought (2):
"At the Far East of the Izumo Mythology"
by Takashi Nakamura (Collider / Massage)

Shicchin is what they call a dish of seasoned fish and shrimp that are caught in Nakaumi / Shinjiko Lake, a lake where salt water from the Sea of Japan collides with fresh water from upstream. It's called Shicchin because this dish is a combination of seven rare foods (shichi = seven, chin = rare). Fumai Matsudaira was the master of Matsue Castle, and he was a man who developed a very sophisticated style of performing a tea ceremony. He was the charisma who spread the Shicchin culture. Shicchin even makes a nice vacation gift.

You can reach the shrine Izumo Taisha either by riding the Ichibata Train from Matsue, or you can go by car and see a great view of Shinjiko Lake. I recommend going by taxi and returning by train. You can view Shinjiko Lake on your right-hand side as you go by taxi, and view it on your right-hand side again as you head back by train. Izumo means "the land where clouds emerge," but the Izumo landscape is an environment surrounded by water, and there are many myths in the area that have to do with rivers and the Sea of Japan. To live in Shimane prefecture (where Izumo is located), is to live in a land that has mythical meanings attached to it. The people there say things like "that mythological character's head is buried under that hill," and "that mythological tool drifted down this river a long time ago." These people hold a belief towards these myths in a limiting yet recreational way. I recently studied a bit about the significance of Izumo's water environment.

The main attraction of this region is the Izumo Taisha Shrine, but many people talk about that, so I'll explain about the annual Tsukinowa Festival and Himezuka Festival, which are held in Yasugi, a town in the eastern most part of Shimane-prefecture. The name Yasugi derives from the word yasuragi, which means "contentment." It's the same Yasugi as the one in the Yasugi-bushi Dance.These are both festivals based on mythology, and they involve a story that has to do with Nakaumi Lake. At these festivals, the participants honor a queen who used to govern the land. When you depart from where the hill-tomb of the queen is located, and follow the Nishinokawa River, which is now brimming with industrial waste and sewage, you reach the Nakaumi Bay. This is a serene bay in which Tokamiyama Mountain reflects on the water to compose a diamond-shape form. One day, the queen went to this bay with the king to go fishing on a small boat. The king always aims to catch a big fish (that's what makes him king). That day, he attempted to catch a particular shark that was the object of rumor in the town (much of the story is identical to Herman Melville's Moby Dick). He puts on a huge bait, and waits for the bite. Suddenly, a dumb alligator came out of nowhere and attacked the queen. The king tried to pull his loved one back, but the alligator had the queen's leg between its jaws. The king and the gator engaged in a tug-of-war with the queen as the rope, and after this went on for a while, she ended up losing her leg. When they got back onto land, it was already dark and there was nobody around, so the king dragged the unconscious queen back home like a fishing net. The queen's condition returned later, but of course, her leg didn't. The corpse of the queen in the tomb is missing a leg just like in the myth.

Currently, the Himezuka Festival, which can be translated as Queen's Tomb Festival, is held first, and the Tsukinowa Festival, which means Moon Ring Festival, is held right after. The Himezuka Festival honors the queen who lost a leg to an alligator, and the Tsukinowa Festival honors the moonlight that shines upon the beach. On this day of celebration, fireworks are fired from Tokamiyama Mountain into the skies above Nakaumi-bay around dusk. They are unbelievably beautiful and intense. These powerful sounds must be symbolizing the intensity of the spirits of the king and queen, and their will to carry through with unfinished projects.

Unlike fairy tales and folk tales, the myths of Izumo don't try to convey moral messages. They only explain geographical characteristics, just like in Izumo Fudoki, but this is precisely the philosophy of this mythology. In the 21st century, we're still able to concretely understand the meanings and mentalities put into these myths; understand them as landscapes. This is because these myths were created to characterize the geography of the region, and not to be based on an amorphous concept like morals, which always shift according to the context of the age. Shimane prefecture, which is often referred to as a conservative's paradise, has spawned many politicians. These politicians are trying to bring in building contractors to construct huge, unneeded highways across the whole region. Just about any kind of change is welcomed by the people of Izumo, especially if it's going to have an economic influence, like this particular one. Construction has already begun, because there aren't many people opposing this project, and the ones that are can't really do anything about it. Many of the geographical characteristics and mythological landscapes are going to be destroyed. This means that the legendary entities in the myths are going to be eliminated as well; it's dreadful yet evident.

THE POTATO
"To be Continued in Bed"
by Hiroshi Iguchi

It was Sunday, the sky was beautiful, and I had a deadline to meet the next day. I started working at my desk a little past noon. These days, it's often sunny out, and I find that I'm enjoying listening to records a lot. This combination allows me to work very efficiently. Some of the are records I've been listening to recently are really cheerful ones, which are nothing like the "Rebel" style of musicians like Byron Lee & The Dragonaires. I'm also enjoying oldies dancehall albums, like Prince Mohammed and Eek-A-Mouse. On that particular day, I was listening to Boris Gardiner's "Reggae Happening." For some reason, I wasn't feeling so energetic, even though it was daytime on a sunny day, just like the other days when I was able work efficiently. I explained to myself that weekdays and Sunday are a different story; even the sounds that come in through the window are different on a Sunday. I wanted to play a record that would change the mood, so I chose a different Reggae record, Max Romeo's "Collision." It's a killer album, produced by Jah Shaka. I switched through about ten records after that, and the next thing I knew, I was chilling out and concentrating on listening to Proof of Existence's dual vocals. After becoming absorbed in dark Roots music, I always find myself putting on records of Crust. This was a kind of familiar sequence for me, but it doesn't allow me to get my work done, because I end up doing some deep listening with headphones. I walked towards my calendar to look at it, and discovered that Disclose, the internationally acclaimed D-beat master from Kouchi region, was playing at a venue in Nishi-Shinjuku called D.O.M. that day. Actually, I didn't really "discover" it. I knew about it for a long time, and it was really all I could think about, but I was trying to employ self-control, since I had a deadline the next day. But, I just got too excited, and started persuading myself to go. I went by myself, and experienced Disclose for the first time in my life. It would be boring to write something like a review about it here, so I'll just skip talking about the performance. When I got back to my house, I was in a totally different state from the one I had been in before I left. I was able to exert an extraordinary level of concentration, and got my work done in no time. The important part of the story starts from here.

Getting into bed after completing work is the best feeling. I spent that precious weekend laboring, but there's no problem as long as I end up comfortably in my bed. Usually, I go to sleep listening to some soft music at a low volume, but on that day, I just wanted to fall asleep quickly and deeply, so I didn't play anything. It was a tranquil Sunday night. I closed my eyes, and eased my breathing. That's when I discovered something strange: my ear was ringing. It was a type of "ring" that I experienced for the first time, and it was a really cool sound. Since it was such a rare noise, I contemplated how I could express it in letters, but it was impossible. I concentrated as much as I could on the sound, and I thought that I was like a sommelier tasting wine. I concentrated even more, employing my whole nervous system. Suddenly, the refrigerator started emitting noise, and the two sounds overlapped. I immediately comprehended that the two sounds had slightly different qualities, and weren't mixing together into one. The sound of the refrigerator was a low-frequency drone with a bit of reverb, whereas the ringing in my ear was wildly revolving in the mid and high frequency ranges, while panning left and right an incredible speed...... well maybe not. It was like the world of Ultraman in hi-fi. Pretty intense. The harmony created by the two sounds was beautiful. I felt kind of lucky, because that night, I was probably the only person on the planet listening to that sound. I decided later that I would treat that audio experience as something like a bonus track of Disclose's live performance.

NEW HYPE RESEARCH
Against OLD HYPE BOMB FILE #007
"Is or Is Not The Papalagi Hype"
by Keita Fukazawa

This research facility you're visiting right now is a hyper-private institution that aims to find, scrutinize, and fiddle with individual cases of the phenomena of "hype," which emerge from the media and disperse into society. However, my assertions concerning hype become a type of hype themselves, for they naturally bear the qualities of media. What a distressing fate. Therefore, whenever I point to something and say "this is hype," I'm deliberately omitting the fact that my words hypocritically bear the phenomenon themselves. I have to do what I do while recognizing that I myself am inevitably an instrument of hype. Expressing your thoughts has become a difficult activity ever since "reality" became multi-layered, giving way to the diffusion and particle-level penetration of things like falsehood and authoritative influence. This is why we must recognize that all media are composed artificially, and become integrated into "reality" themselves, as components of it. Its what media theory has been claiming all the time.

Lets move on to The Papalagi. It's a book in which the Swedish man Erich Scheurmann recorded the words of the Samoan chieftain Tuiavii, who travelled to Europe and experienced an industrialized civilization for the first time in his life. In this book, Tuiavii questions the strange things that go on in "civilization," in the land of the Papalagi (i.e. people of Western culture). He questions things like currency, ownership, the selling of labor, mass media, and knowledge. In our age in which values deriving from Western rationalism have become globalized, its kind of scary to imagine the labyrinthine process of a person being conditioned to be a pawn of a social structure composed of numerous imperious authorities. Nonconformists and the psychologically abnormal are groups of people that have originated through the establishment of the system of modern society.

We cannot afford to forget that any medium of communication, whether it be a book, the news, or a blog, embodies an intent to act upon the subject's emotions or actions, since particular implications are inevitably involved in its composition and transmission. Even in the case of The Papalagi: Tuiavii's views contain important suggestions, and are accurate in a way, but just like anybody else, he can only perceive his environment through a worldview that was constructed within his society. We also have to take in account the intentions that the publishing company had as they "translated" his words. So, we shouldn't be naively accepting the publication's reputation as "a book in which a man with a pure heart looks at the distortions of modern society." We have to think: why was this book published in this particular fashion? Why do I, and the people around me feel what we feel when we read this book?

I'm not trying to criticize this book or anything. It was an inspiring book, and I got kind of emotional while reading it. However, I can't be floating around in my emotions all day, because we live in a world where people start talking about politics just because they saw "Fahrenheit 911" the day before. It's a world where people become unconditional believers of any media that is involved in issues like ecology and peace, which are very often depicted as absolute righteousness. To those people I just described: As long as you're attacking the kind of media that's superficially depicted as being foul, and on the other hand being influenced by the kind of media that's depicted as being just, you're no different from the Japanese citizens who were being brainwashed by the propaganda of the imperial regime during World War II. It doesn't matter how much (you think that) you're committing to society by writing articles, starting blogs, and expressing your views. It's a question of how you take in information; even if you succeed in fooling yourself into thinking that you're on the transmitting side, you're still a blind sheep in a herd that's being manipulated by the media. Those people that call themselves creators or artists without thinking what the words really mean are in an especially awful situation. Just because you can quench your ego with the belief that you're doing something good, don't go around declaring your superficial views! Think a bit before you say something!!! Study more!!!!! I'm sick and tired!!! I'm just sick and tired!! I'm sick, I'm tired, I feel tired, come on, leave me alone...... The sad thing is, in this research facility of mine, there are no other members besides me. Damn, I wish somebody were here to scold me sometimes.

News-29 "End of the Year Notices"

Nik, the writer of "News-29," is unfortunately occupied with too much work. For this month, we're going to deliver information relating to the writer's work and about events relating to PROGRESSIVE FOrM. 2004 wouldn't be complete without this information!

oneTOWA TEI / "Different Nu Nu" Picture Record: 1000 Limited Copies

"Different Nu Nu" is a track that gained attention while it was being played on TV for the commercial of Daikin's air-conditioning system, "Pichon-Kun," which was on air all around Japan for three months, from May to July of 2004. "Part 2" of this track was released as a picture record, limited to only 1000 copies. The B-side is a great acid remix using TR-808, done by Atom™, who uses many aliases (like Senor Coconuts) to produce a variety of quality work. He just recently did his first performance in Japan. This is a dazzling, limited, picture record that's worthy of commemorating the closing of 2004. It even comes with a sticker. Even people who are not fans will want to buy it! On April 6, 2005, Towa Tei's new album "Flash" is going to be released from V2. It's going to be his fourth solo album: six years from his last one "Last Century Modern," and it'll include the full version of "Different Nu Nu."

> Release Date: 2004.12.25 (Sat)
Side A : Towa Tei / "Different Nu Nu (Pt.2)"
Side B : Towa Tei / "Different Nu Nu (atom™ remix)"
Format : 7 inch picture recordSerial : FDEP-04001Price : 1,575 yen (tax included)URL : Towa Tei (http://www.towatei.com), Atom™ (http://www.atom-heart.com)

twoParade Electel

In 2002, twenty years after YMO disbanded, Yukihiro Takahashi and Haruomi Hosono formed Sketch Show. The fresh sounds that this duo produce are receiving much attention from the domestic and international music scenes. For their live performance in this event, Keigo Oyamada a.k.a. Cornelius is going to be participating as a supporting member. The visuals are going to be done by the innovative artist Ryoichi Kurokawa. Yoshihiro Hanno is also going to be performing with a sizable group of musicians, including Ikuko Harada of Clammbon as guest. Hanno resides in Paris, and has recently released "Graffiti & Rude Boy '67." Aoki Takamasa, who is also based in Paris, is going to be doing a solo performance. He is active all over Europe, and his name has recently been heard by many for the release of his album "Simply Funk," and his remixes for Sketch Show. This is going to be a remarkable electronic music event, featuring artists who are navigating the scene into the next generation of sound. You can't miss it!

> Date : 2004.12.18(Sat.) opens 18:00, starts 19:00Location : Yebisu Garden HallTickets : 7,350 yen (advance sales, including tax, seats not designated)URL : Yebisu Garden Hall (http://www.gardenplace.co.jp/hall) Performers : Sketch Show (Yukihiro Takahashi, Haruomi Hosono), Keigo Oyamada, Yoshihiro Hanno, Aoki Takamasa, Ryoichi Kurokawa, and more.

Isn't it
"Anarchic Plant Bulbs"
by SHiURA

One sunny day, I went into a gardening shop and started looking around, when a strange object rubbed against the rim of my vision. Compared to the other gardening items, it's form and glow were...... anarchic. The damn thing <shiura_01.jpg> sent my mind into the four-stage process of "What is it?... It's pretty cool...... I think I like it............ I want it." <shiura_02.jpg> I recalled that there was something exactly like it a really long time ago. I read the words on the package, and it said something like: just open the package, pour the water, and leave it for three days! Easier than your grandmother! It said that "I could do any hairstyle I please", but since it can only grow straight hair pointing upwards, my only choice was a stupid mohawk...... stupid. I whispered to the bulb, "I like your deviant style," and bought him <shiura_03.jpg>.

Some time has passed since I first met the fellow. He's grown very old, and he's quit his sinister ways. He's probably lying around somewhere on my balcony. These days, I'm more interested in other activities, like pronouncing the word "bulb". BBbbuuuwahhlllllllhbbBbbbbhh......

txt.Archives
"Tales About Mobile Phones"
by Jiro Ohashi

About a decade ago, the mobile phone metamorphosed into something much more than a mere communication device. What was born was the mobile phone as an abstract existence, parted from its material base. When did people start giving that look to anybody that uses their cell phone in the train? The rate of mobile phone ownership has risen dramatically these past few years, and right now, almost 100% of Japanese in their 20s own one. This insane rate of ownership surpasses that of the compact disc when it first came out to evidently replace the analog record. The virtual death of the pay-phone, which has already come, isn't really the death of the public phone as an instrument of communication; its more the death of "public-ness." The number of phones itself has increased.

The borderline between public and private seems to be strict. Private actions taking place in a public space are met with displeasure. Eating boxed lunches in a long-distance train is okay, since it's tacitly approved by society, but you will find yourself in a downpour of disapproving stares if you start eating your lunch on the bench seat of a local train. This is not about how crowded the space is, or the inconvenience that the action causes to others. This is actually about the dread that people have towards privacy becoming public. Well if you think about it, someone sticking an object into the large orifice on their face is kind of a lewd and erotic thing to watch. It becomes a sort of taboo to do this in a location where there's no mutual consent for it.

If you call your friends and throw a party in the middle of some street, the citizens of the neighborhood will no doubt complain to the police about it. However, this behavior is allowed in late March, because it's hanami [a traditional type of picnic held under cherry blossom trees] season, making it culturally permitted that time of year. These special occasions are the only exceptions. In the public spaces of everyday life, people give that look to individuals who use their mobile phones. This situation goes back to the time when the walkman first came out.

In the case of the walkman, it is true that the noise that leaks out of the headphones is a factor that causes annoyance, but this wasn't the real reason that people were freaking out. The leaking sounds may be at a frequency that is sensitive to the ear, but when you take into account the numerous other noises in any given public setting, it's obvious that the actual sound itself cannot be pinned down as the principle cause of the irritation. The human ear is a selfish instrument which amplifies particular noises, so it cannot be relyed upon to make a sound judgement. The reason why folks were so annoyed was because they didn't like the way the listeners immersed themselves in their private audio worlds, which could not be shared by others. Back then, humming along to the melody and bobbing to the rhythm were a clear and present threat (annoyance) for many people. But in today's society, these kinds of actions are accepted because the listener is wearing headphones. This is because anyone who hums and bobs without headphones over their ears looks mentally ill. The acknowledgement that the bobber has headphones on is an assurance that the he isn't responding to metaphysical radio waves from the underworld.

The first generation of mobile audio devices must have been the transistor radios. These machines often have a nostalgic image attached to them, but when you think about it, they seem rather modern; with their compact forms and systems of acquiring software through wireless means.

For future mobile-audio devices to become widely used as actual products, further technological developments in the downsizing of software is a must. This downsizing doesn't necessarily have to be accompanied by advances in sound quality. The format of audio data used in the recording studio has developed over the years; from cassette MTRs to HD recorders, onto 16 bit, 20 bit, and 24 bit. However, this wasn't an urgent desire that the users had or anything like that. Sound quality isn't as important as it seems, when it comes to the popularization of audio media.

I can still remember the dazzling intensity I felt when I heard a cassette tape being played in a walkman when I was a child. Who says that the sound quality of cassette tapes is poor? It isn't the augmentation of our sense capacities that's important; the quality and form of the medium are the decisive factors.

In the early 90s, when the cell phone was first starting to appear, it was difficult to imagine people using it naturally, just because of the sheer weight and bulkiness of the object at the time. The batteries would run out very quickly, and it was hard to clearly hear what the person on the other side of the line was saying. A timelag between the emission and reception of words prevented conversations from becoming entertaining, and on top of all this, the prices were unbelievably high. In these early stages, the mobile phone didn't look like a device that would become so popular. It was more a piece of equipment than a mobile device, and businessmen with money to spend on that kind of thing would own them as a sort of status symbol.

After that stage, the size of cell phones shrunk at an incredible rate, and the batteries were becoming able to last longer. The phones were starting to become what they are today, but the owners of mobile phones were still predominantly adult males. The designs of the phones were completely directed towards this target user group: the phones basically had black and unimaginative appearances. The mobile phone didn't last as a status symbol for very long. The incorporation of women and children into the market is what began the avalanche of popularization.

The mid-90s was the age of analog cellulars. At this point in time, many women and children were using beepers and PHSs instead of cell phones. The prices of these devices were inexpensive, as were the costs for usage. Around the time they started becoming compact and lightweight, the cellular phones were entering the stage of digital networks.

Cell phones were still seen as tools for business at the time, and the image of "owning a cell phone = vigorous worker" was still accepted generally, but just barely. On the contrary, the type of communication that took place over beepers and PHSs were on topics like relationships, good restaurants, and school exams. The former was being used for communication belonging to the public realm, and the latter was being used for communication in the private realm. If a grown man owned a PHS instead of a cell phone, he was viewed as being either homosexual or in poverty (the price of cell phones were still high). The consensus was that real men should own cellular phones. This kind of heiarchy in telecommunication devices existed because the mobile phone hadn't yet reached the point of becoming pure media. It wasn't liberated as an existence just yet: it was still dependent on the actual material base, including its aspects as a product, like price and functions. There was a material imbalance in ownership, so the nature of the mobile phone as a media differed from that of the walkman when it was in its stage of popularization.

The regions of the world that are most deeply involved with the mobile phone are Scandinavia and particular countries in Asia, especially Japan. This is pretty interesting, because the country that has predominantly led movements involving technology and business, like this one, is America. This goes for cases like the computer and the internet. But when it comes to mobile phones, America is virtually not even a contestant. Scandinavia is a region that's known for things like its prestegious history of product design, the type of electronic music that goes "beeeep gggg bzzzzzzz," like the unit Pan Sonic, innovative software like Linux (Linus Torvaolds, the author, was a student in Helsinki when it was developed), and its massive telecommunications industry, with giants like Nokia and Ericsson. Japan is a country that's known for things like its graphic design, which started flourishing in the 90s, electronic music equipment that served as the infrastructure for the development of techno music, of course video games, and high-tech gadgets. It's also a country that comes close to 100% in mobile phone ownership rates. Both Scandinavia and Japan lack natural resources, so maybe they're both trying to find areas in which they can root themselves comfortably.

The ALBM of Musical Masterpieces (5 Installments Total)
"Noise / Entertainment"
by Kurando Furuya (SIM)

First, please raise the volume and listen to this sound file.

<dj_manji.mp3>

This is a recording of Tomoo Gokita a.k.a. DJ Manji's set for "Return of Gold Damage," a party organized by the record shop Los Apson. It was held at "Tsuru no Ma," a crazy club in Osaka. This recording was taken at six in the morning, and Gokita himself doesn't remember any of it, because he had been heavily drinking from the night before. The guy that's shouting "woooo! Manjiiiiii! Manjiiiii!" is Shouya Nakahara (better known as Violent Onsen Geisha). On the dancefloor, EYE Yamatsuka of Boredoms and Naohiro Ukawa, who was half naked, were dancing like madmen during this DJ set. This sound file is a record of memorable people spending memorable time.

I have no idea how Tomoo Gokita produced this kind of sound with nothing but two records and a mixer, at six in the morning, drunk to the point of memory loss. It sounds exactly like the battle cry of a terrible eighty-ton god-mutant spewing green smoke from its eyes. It was probably an intended result of DJ Manji's miraculous performance, while he was hanging on to his last drop of consciousness. It isn't exactly a chill-out track that you want to listen to while relaxing on the couch, but it really defines Tomoo Gokita's style: marvelous, psychotic, noisy, and piercing. Doesn't everybody seem to be having so much fun in the midst of this staggering music?

As I'm a guy who likes to stay in my house all alone, I usually don't feel very comfortable at places like parties. But, watching performances by unbelievably intense people, like this one, is lots of fun. I haven't organized a SIM Magazine event even once (it's a magazine that I edit). It's because I can't imagine how I could possibly make people who pay money to come feel truly entertained. Some of my friends from college have been organizing and holding parties every other month for a couple of years now. I admire their persistence, but at the same time, I'm thinking: "I can't believe they keep inviting their friends to this event that isn't so interesting." GOLD DAMAGE's entry fee is only 1,000 yen, and even RAW LIFE, with its extraordinary line-up of artists, is only a little over 2,000 yen. I just don't see why students who don't have so much money always have to pay expensive fees for entry and drinks, just to go hear some crappy amateur DJs. Anyway, I think that the parties held by the people around Tomoo Gokita and Los Apson are organized impressively, with its trademark griminess expressed throughout all its elements: from the flyers and T-shirts to the music.

Around mid-November, I borrowed the CD-R containing this sound file from Tomoo Gokita himself. It was when I went to his studio in Kokuryou, which is along the Keio Line, to ask him if he would make some music for a CD that's going to be appended to this artbook I'm making right now, called "ALBM." He let me hear some of the tracks he records at home, and we engaged in lots of fun, meaningless conversations, even though it was supposed to be a serious meeting. The stuff I heard was great. Some of them were distressing tracks just like the one in the sound file, and some others were pieces in which he plays instruments like the guitar and drums, and layers them onto a cassette tape. He creates a wide range of styles of music, and they all had interesting ideas in them. All his tracks included that quiet "ssssssss" sound that gets into cassette tapes while recording, and I thought it really resembled the beauty of his graphics. He's a pure genius when it comes to refined griminess.

This book "ALBM" is scheduled to be released next spring, as part of a campaign by the clothing brand Beams T. It's a book of graphics, but I'm producing it as if it's a music magazine. I want it to be a modest publication that's there to compliment the audio content of the appended CD.

The title simply comes from the word "album." I gave it the name because "album" has two meanings: a compilation of musical works, and a book containing images. "ALBM" is both of these things and more. Its actually a whole project involving the book, the CD, an event, and clothing. Around the time this column reaches its fourth or fifth installment, this campaign is going to be starting up, so check back.

Reading "Rockin'on (a popular Japanese music magazine)" isn't going to make me want to buy a new CD, and I'm skeptical about almost all musicians that are being pushed by magazines and TV. A recommendation of a CD coming from a reliable friend is much more persuasive than an article in any of these dubious media. I suppose that the job of a music magazine is to help the reader enjoy music more deeply, but the content of these publications are mostly limited to articles and reviews, and they're just not entertaining. In this kind of situation, it's a bit pressuring to be producing a book with music as the theme. I'm not an expert of music or anything, but I just hope that I can entertain readers with the sounds and visuals. That's the basic concept of "ALBM."

Tomoo Gokita is going to be the sound producer of the appended CD album, and the art director of the book is going to be Hiroshi Iguchi, who writes a column for "salmagazine.org." I'll be informing you about the specific information of this book at a later time.Δ

oneSAL magazine Vol.13 released now !

The latest issue of SAL magazine has been released and the distributing stores are now stocked with it. The theme of this issue is "Living." More detailed information is up on the /RELEASE corner below.

Link : /RELEASE

twoRESFEST 2004 Japan Tour

The world touring digital film festival "RESFEST" will be held in Japan from 11.20, starting from Tokyo. The line-up of this year is occupied with the outstanding music video programs. Beginning with "WARP VISION" that is coordinated to commemorate WARP RECORDS' 15th anniversary, the annual programs such as "CINEMA ELECTRONICA" and "VIDEOS THAT ROCK" are integrated in the program with more than 80 entries that are all world standard. In the short film section, "BUSHWACKED!", which had been programmed in precedence to the Presidential election on 11.2, will be screened there. Also, during the period of the festival, Stefan Nadelman, the director of "Terminal Bar" that was awarded a number of prizes in 2002, and Steve Beckett, the owner of the WARP RECORDS, will be invited as guest talkers. The annual workshop will be included in this festival, too. Please check the website (http://www.resfest.jp) for more information on the screen timetable or available tickets.

>Date : [Tokyo] 2004.11.20 (Sat)~11.23 (Tue)Laforet Museum Harajuku[Osaka] 2004.11.26 (Fri)~11.28(Sun) Nanba Hatch[Fukuoka] 2004.12.3 (Fri)~12.5 (Sun) IMS HallCoordinator : NOWONMEDIA.Inc / RES Media Group (NY)Ticket : Pia (http://pia.jp/t)Info : http://www.resfest.jp

threeTOSHIKAZU NOZAKA TATTOO ART EXHIBITION "ASIAN WAVE"

<toshi.jpg>Toshikazu Nozaka is an outstanding tatoo artist, who at the age of 18 plunged himself into the world of tatoo and cleaved the way through all by himself. In his twenties, he made his name known through the international competitions in both domestic regions and America on one side, and on the other side he exerted his another skill at skateboarding. With sponsoring from Zorac, the famous skate brand, in 1990s, his versatility at various cultural fields has made his carreer quite special. As a tatoo artist and professional skater, Nozaka weaves his double identity into his works, which are an unique integration of the traditional skill with the new cultural sensitivity. In this exhibition, his first draft for the tatoo will be displayed, as well as the life-size tatoo work, the skateboard that he designed himself, and other drafts for the tatoos. It's one of those must-see showcases, reminding us of the core of Japanese traditional sensitivity.

>Date : 2004.11.9 (Tue)~11.28 (Sun) 17:00~22:00 (Tue~Sat) / 15:00~22:00 (Sun) Closed on MondaysPlace : Depot Gallery2-43-6 Kami-Meguro Naka-MeguroPermission : freeInfo : 03-5773-5502URL : http://www.depotcrew.com

fourThe Shimao Family Exhibition "Mahochan-chi"

The exhibition of the family composed of the artists of Nobuzo Shimao (Writer/Photographer), Tokuko Shiota (Photographer) and their daughter Maho Shimao(Comic writer) is now taking place in Mito Art museum. Nobuzo Shimao, whose father, Toshio Shimao, is well known for his novel called "Thorns of death," displays the photo works of his daughter's early childhood, "Mahochan," and "Ushinawareta-toki-wo-motomete" that consists of the snap shots he took in his travel to his home place Amami and the essays describing about the trip. His works are all sensitively focused on events that occur in everyday life. Tokuko Shiota offers the work called "Refrigerator," compiled from the photos of refrigerators used in various households, and the photo works that could give viewers the images of lives of anonymous people through the materials like used books or hand made knit caps. Maho Shimao prepares an installation work for this exhibition, as well as the goods she has collected in her travel with her family to China and the photo works she took there.

>Date : 2004.10.23~1.10 9:30~18:00 (Entrance allowed until 17:30) Closed on Mondays (except on 1.10), holidays and between 12.29 and 1.3.Place : Mito Modern Art Gallery1-6-8 Gokencho, Mito, Ibarakizip 310-0063Permission : Adults 800yen / Advance 600yenURL : http://www.arttowermito.or.jp/

fiveJean Prouve Exhibition

Jean Prouve (1901-1984) is known as one of the most innovative and the most versatile creators in 20th century in the fields of design, architecture, and engineering. Le Corbusier and other contemporary spirits acclaimed his works, which ranged vastly from paper knife to lightening instruments, furniture, façade of architectures, prefabs, architectural system using module and large halls. The first full-fledged exhibition of Prouve in Japan is happening in the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama from 10.30 as part of an international tour setting that goes around America and Europe. A collection of 130 works in total including furniture, prefabs, architectural models, plans and image data is displayed. During the exhibition period, various events such as film programs, talk shows, and a gallery tour that takes you to the exhibition "Museums for a New Millennium: Concepts Projects Buildings," which is also taking place in Hayama Museum, are held.

>Date : 2004.10.30(Sat)~2005.1.16(Sun) 9:30~17:00 (Entry allowed until 16:30) Closed on Mondays (except on 1.10), holidays and between 12.29 and 1.3.Place : Museum of Modern Art Kamakura & Hayama2-1-53 Yukinoshita, Kamakura, Kanagawazip 248-0005Permission : Adults 1000yen / Under 20 or Students 850yenURL : http://www.moma.pref.kanagawa.jp/museum/

sixOmotesando 2006

In January 2006, the symbolic building of Omotesando, Dojunkai Apartment will turn into a completely new landmark under the architectural direction by Tadao Ando. Mori Urban Institute for the Future is holding the exhibition "Omotesando 2006" to trace the time line of Omotesando's past, now and future, with its focus centered on the renovation project of Dojukan Apartment. In the display space divided into 6 chronological categories, one can experience in virtual settings of architectural models, images, and photos the transitional phases of Omotesando, a place that has preceded to every other area in its initiative in each period of the time. In categories of 1~3, the changing phases of Omotesando between 1920 and 1990 are introduced. How it shifted from the actual embodiment of "the state of divine" around Meiji-Jingu shrine in Meiji and Showa periods to the Mecca for the youth culture after Tokyo Olympics in the post war period, is accurately presented. It causes a sort of reminiscence mixed with a bit of curiosity to visit the inside of Dojunkai Apartment, which is now empty. It was constructed in 1927 as the first apartment built in Japan, having contributed for the past decades to establishment of a modern lifestyle of Japanese people. In the category of 4, the display shows its radical shift to the unprecedentedly consumptive area called "super fashion brand street" between 1990 and 2004, giving us a new incitement to recognize the mysterious harmony made by a herd of post-modern architectures such as Lui Vuitton by Jun Aoki, Dior by SANAA, and the building of Japan Nursing Association by Kisho Kurokawa. The category of 5 and 6 will take you into the virtual on-going renovation process of Dojunkai Apartment. The exclusive contents of this category include an idea sketch Ando jotted down on a table napkin, architectural models, image films, and CG plans. It's definitely recommended to see how the inspiration reflected on Dojunkai Apartment will take form in 2006.

>Date : 2004.9.18 (Sat)~2005.1.16 (Sun) 12:00~20:00 (Mon~Thu) / 12:00~22:00 (Fri) / 10:00~22:00 (Sat / Sun / Holidays)Place : Roppongi Hills Mori Tower 50FMori Urban Institute for the FuturePermission : Adults 600yen / Students 500yen / Children 300yenURL : http://www.muf.jp/

sevenDaisuke Nakayama "doze"

Daisuke Nakayama, the contemporary artist, is holding a one-man exhibition at Kodama Gallery (Kagurazaka, Tokyo). Since he made his debut in 1992, after he had accumulated experience of theater art and performance art, he has produced a number of exciting artworks. Having been Granted a fellowship from the Rockefellor foundation and awarded the grand prix of the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art Award, he has become a center of both domestic and international attention as a new leading character of modern art. In this exhibition, his new painting works and drawings, of which motifs he sensitively rendered, will be displayed.

>Date : 2004.10.30 (Sat)~2004.11.27 (Sat) 11:00~19:00Place : Kodama Gallery TokyoMinato Dai-san bldg. 4F 3-7 Nishi-Gokencho Shinjuku, Tokyozip 162-0812 (Tel : 03-5261-9022)URL : http://www.kodamagallery.com/start/index.htmlInfo : info@KodamaGallery.com

eight33 meets Delaware X'mas

From 12.1 (Wed) at Shop 33 in Kichijoji, Delaware, four-member super-sonic group who rocks design and designs rock, will have an exhibition. The theme of this exhibition being pretty straightforward, with its title "Delaware X'mas," they will show an exciting Christmas party in their own style. On 12.3 (Fri), the opening party will be thrown, in which some live shows are programmed. Check out what they've got on Christmas night, because it's quite sure that Delaware is making a difference.

>Date : 2004.12.1(Wed)~12.26(Sun) 12:00~21:00Place : Shop 33 2-22-5-1F Hon-machi, Kichijoji Musashino, TokyoURL : http://www.shop33.com

>Opening Party Date : 2004.12.3(Fri) 19:00~21:00Live : DELAWARE, AGES_5&UP, EXONEMOPermission : free

nineNaoto Fukasawa "Plus Minus Zero"

±0 (plus minus zero) is the design project primarily focusing on electrical appliances and interior goods, which is organized by Naoto Fukazawa, the product designer, and Takara Diamond, Inc. The place where you can see, touch and purchase all the products of ±0 and observe the displays of concept models and unreleased items is ±0 AOYAMA, which opened on 10.1. Fukazawa, as the design director of the whole brand, has made a simple and beautiful decoration in the shop, being particular in meticulous details in the displays. The powerful graphic rendered in the interior of white and grey color setting was done by Taku Sato, the graphic designer whose name must be familiar to you from collaboration with Fukazawa for the products of ±0. Also, in the backwards in the shop opened "cafe ±0." The original chocolate by Pascal Caffet, a French chocolatier, is sold at the cafe. Surely, so much useful information will be emitted from here, taking advantage of its direct management. From 11.11 (Thu), the exhibition "Naoto Fukazawa-Arisoudenaimono" is to be held at ON SUNDAYS

>Place : ±0 AOYAMAHORON-R 1F 3-1-12 Kita-Aoyama Minato-ku, TokyoOpen : 11:00~19:00Closed on WednesdaysInfo : 03-5778-5380URL : http://www.plusminuszero.jp/

>"Arisoudenaimono" Date : 2004.11.11 (Thu)~2005.1.23 (Sun) 11:00~20:00 (~21:00 on Wednesdays)Place : ON SUNDAYS 3-7-6 Jingumae Shibuya, TokyoURL : http://www.watarium.co.jp/onsundays/Δ

oneSAL magazine Vol.13 "LIVING" Issue Release

SAL magazine Vol.13 was released on November 1st.

In Japan, the word "Living" is usually interpreted as the shortened word for "Living Room". But we concentrated on the word "Living" as a way of life, hence the theme of this new edition of SAL magazine is "LIVING=LIFESTYLE".

The lifestyle catalog for Mori Building's proposition-type residential quarters, "HOLLAND HILLS MORI TOWER RoP" was designed by the likes of design units Tycoon Graphics, Enlightment, and Intentionallies. They are top quality graphics of lifestyle/living images out of all that can be seen in any design/art magazines. Also check the superior and perfected art direction done on the illustrations... Call the images a utopian way of life we've all grown to yearn for, but in reality feel great antipathy towards... a juxtaposition of admiration and hostility. Whatever it is, there is no doubt that there is something real about it. This is one of the significant works in this issue.

The "LIVING" font is TAKAFUMI MIYAJIMA's representative original font... font styles are not to be swayed by trends or vogue.

If you live in Japan, you've seen it before... Yoshinaga Sayuri, the big plasma TV, the buried glass house. This piece of architecture located in a peaceful meadow in Whales of England, was designed by the architects of FUTURE SYSTEMS. It was featured in a plasma television ad in Japan... a house of grass and glass.

After all the technological glamour and glitz we introduce you to this one shabby looking Japanese house. The floor is literally gone and replaced with a blue plastic sheet. This was formerly the solitary house of modern artist MAKOTO AIDA in Tsudanuma. Though this building no longer exists, it was the place where all the creation happened, and served as an atelier and home.

Chairs, for one thing, furniture serve as a significant factor in the concept of "LIVING." Featured are a series of furniture designed by a brand group called "ELEMENTS," composed of MASAKATSU TSUMURA, HISASHI MATSUMOTO, and KAZUMASA AIHARA. They received a whole lot of attention this year at the International Furniture Fair held in Italy. We may be looking at the actual product in the near future...

Since the impact made by the works of KYOUICHI TSUZUKI, it has been a "DO" thing to capture the younger generation's "nest," their apartments as an object. Since then, this frame of reference has been adopted by many interior magazines. From photographer YASUHIDE KUGE's new project "Yu-Hodou Yori", we introduce to you these images of everyday scenery, with somewhat of a mysterious artificial glow to the entire picture. We get an understanding of the way Mr. Kuge, who makes his way between the lines of commercialism and art, interprets the concept of living. Photographers face society with the eye which faces the object...

Next we have NAOHIRO UKAWA's former atelier. You may have seen it before, for it has been exposed to the public many times. Note: this state of chaos was not prepared for the shoot. He created, destroyed, made telephone calls, handled machinery, read magazines, smoked cigarettes, scratched his back and thought about his mother all in this very room. An artist's atelier is also an artist's living atmosphere.

We are surrounded by various products which compose our everyday life. So we end the issue with food. Food as a product. At first glance these two pages are just red. Just plain red. But with a closer look you will notice the subtle gradation in the red... this is an enlargement, of a photograph, of the surface, of a tomato. We said it, it's a tomato. Turn the page and you will find two bottles. Tomato juice! This is the first of many to come from the "E2O" project, which sets its course on creating completely new and original products out of Hokkaido Japan, by collaborations of many artists and creators. This product is a result of collaboration between SHIFT and INABA HIDEKI. The value and quality of this product goes way beyond the borders of a normal tomato juice on the market. Keep in mind the significance of living life surrounded by quality products... and so we end where we started.Δ

one"Kenchiku Suru Shintai (Architectural Body)"

Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins are a pair of artists who are well known for their extraordinary architectural works, such as "Site of Reversible Destiny - Yoro Park" <http://www.yoro-park.com/e/rev/index.html> and "Ubiquitous Site, Nagi's Ryoanji, Architectural Body" <http://www.town.nagi.okayama.jp/moca/to12.htm>. In 2002, the two published a book called Architectural Body from University of Alabama Press. The Japanese version of this book has been released late September of this year with the title Kenchiku Suru Shintai, from Shunjusha Publishing Company. Its fluorescent pink cover and magazine-equivalent size make it stand out among other books <kenchiku_omote.jpg> <kenchiku_ura.jpg>. The translation is done by the brilliant autopoiesis theorist, Hideo Kawamoto. He has also provided a commentary on the content of the book, and list of definitions for basic words. This book utilizes a variety of modes of linguistic expression, such as poetic expressions, dialogues, manifestos, coinages, exercises, and explanations. As the subtitle "Ningen Wo Koete Iku Tameni (To Surpass The Human Being)" suggests, the ultimate goal of this book is to prompt the reader to expand her physical consciousness and ways of connecting with the environment, in order to activate the suppressed potential of the organic body.

Also, a toilet paper version of Kenchiku Suru Shintai will be released soon. The outside packaging will have the exact same design as the cover of the book, and portions of the text will be printed onto the toilet paper. It is soon going to be possible to wipe your rear end with the puzzling words of Arakawa and Gins.

On October 27, a general debate concerning the content of Kenchiku Suru Shintai was held under the title "Kenchiku Suru Genshougaku - Shintai to Geijyutsu no Kadai (Architectural Phenomenology - The Issues Facing the Body and Art)" <kenchiku_speakers.jpg>. It took place in "Enryou Hall," an immense underground auditorium located on Hakuzan Campus of Toyo University. The panelists were Shusaku Arakawa, Hideo Kawamoto, and the ethics-philosophy researcher Yasukuni Sato. There was also phenomenology researcher Ichiro Yamagichi, who was the participant in charge of asking a number of specific questions that were decided beforehand. The host was Shin Nagai, another phenomenology researcher. The symposium started out with Sato speaking about the uniqueness and difficulty of Arakawa's works. Next, Kawamoto explained the core of the Arakawa philosophy in words that were understandable to everyone, and also spoke about its relationship to his own research. After this, Arakawa's spoken words became the axis of the flow of the discussion, with Yamaguchi occasionally inserting some questions in between. Arakawa explained about the extraordinary situations that take place between the body and the environment all the time, and about how modern civilization, including science, philosophy, and art, is suppressing life energy and the body. He spoke about many topics like these, using his poetic style of speech and unique gestures. Images of his works and models were projected onto the huge screen above the stage, and he explained about these while mixing in a few stories of interesting episodes concerning them.

During this assembly, many radical assertions that can't be heard in everyday life were stated aloud, and the hall was filled with a feel of comfortable tension. The one shortcoming was that the discussion never turned into an interactive debate, even though this meeting was supposed to be "a general debate." At the end, Arakawa answered questions from the audience, and the symposium came to a close later than the originally scheduled time.

Shusaku Arakawa is an unparalleled artist that attempts to guide human beings, through architecture, onto a new level of life energy,. Even though he is almost seventy years old, we cannot help but to anticipate further breakthroughs from this man.

>Kenchiku Suru Shintai >by Shusaku Arakawa & Madeline Gins >translated by Hideo Kawamoto >published by Shunjusha Publishing Company >179 pages long >first edition: September 20, 2004 >price: 1365 yen (sales tax included) >ISBN: 4-393-95503-X >URL: http://www.architectural-body.com/

Article by Ryutaro Uchiyama

two"SAL magazine Night 5.0"

DOTMOV 2004 <salnight_5.0_dotmov.jpg> is a digital film festival that was started with the aim to "discover talented creators and provide them with an opportunity to show their work." SAL magazine Night 5.0, an audio & visual event that wrapped its environment with light from five projectors, was held on October 31 at Soso Cafe in Sapporo, Japan.

The six hour program was composed of events such as a lecture by Jiro Ohashi (editor-in-chief of SAL magazine) and Kurando Furuya (editor-in-chief of SIM), who were both guest judges of DOTMOV, an installation by lighting designer James Clar, a live performance by Nipponia Electronica, a DJ set by DJ Mogra, and a DVJ set by Jiro Ohashi.

The lecture started out with an explanation of SAL Magazine vol.13, the "Living Issue." This new issue was handed out to everybody in the audience, and the two editors spoke about things that never would have been publicly known, like the behind-the-scenes story of the cover design, what was intended with this particular composition of pages, and the direction in which SAL Magazine will be heading in for the future <salnight_5.0_living.jpg>. They then spoke about the synergy between sound and visuals. With Ohashi mixing in some VJ images, the two spoke about motion imagery from the point of view of editors. They covered topics such as what kind of fascinating space could be realized by using sound and motion image, and about some of the most interesting works that were submitted to DOTMOV. This lecture raised our anticipation towards the evolution and the diversification of creative expression, especially since we are in an age in which motion image is becoming more intimate due to developments in the accessibility and inter-compatibility of hardware.

After this came an installation by James Clar <http://www.jamesclar.com>, a lighting designer from New York. The work he brought was, "his very own creation, a set of light bars which synchronizes sound and light," said the pretty translator <salnight_5.0_jc.jpg> Clar lectured about his past works, explained about these interactive bars of light that react to sound (called "Dynomite"), and introduced a work of wearable lighting, which is to be released at a fashion show in Milan. He then performed a DJ set using iPods and the light bars; an innovative, illuminative world was created <salnight_5.0_jc2.jpg>.

Next up was Kurando Furuya from SIM Magazine, who DJ'd using the software "Ableton Live." He regulated various effects and sequences to give well-known tracks a sonic face-lift <salnight_5.0_furuya.jpg>.

After this was a live performance by Nipponia Electronica <salnight_5.0_nipponia.jpg>. Utilizing a Pioneer DVJ (a recently released machine that lets you scratch both the sound and the visuals on a DVD <salnight_5.0_dvj.jpg>) and a Kaoss Pad, he performed high-tension dance tracks with sampled visuals like films from the NHK (public broadcasting channel) film archive, and excited the crowd. This performance was a clear example of how motion image and film have started entering the realm of consumer-users, and are no longer limited to professionals.

The last performance was Jiro Ohashi's DVJ (disc/visual jockey) set <salnight_5.0_ohashi.jpg>. He filled the site with both music and visuals, just as he was explaining in the lecture. Motion images such as a geometrical film of morphing national flags, and a sequence of record sleeves with the musician's faces printed on them, were projected onto the walls.

This was an event that was bubbling with sounds and visuals. Very fitting as the opening event of DOTMOV.

article / photos: Kana Satomi

threeSimayn gill "Power Station"

I made my way to the Sydney residing Malaysian artist, Simayn Gill's first solo exhibition in Tokyo, “Power Station” (@Ginza Shiseidou Gallery). He has been involved in such exhibitions as the Venice Biennale official supporting project, “Trans Culture” (Venice and Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum (1995)), “Cities on the Move” (1997), Berlin Biennale (2001) and the Sydney Biennale(2002). Photographs of the insides of both Gill’s home back in Port Dickson, Malaysia, and an old power plant nearby, set facing one another…and as Gill is also known for his “Object Works”, in which he creates using collected objects from street corners and beaches, an installation of objects created from material washed ashore on the beaches that face both buildings.

Two things recollected in my mind as a result of experiencing this exhibition. One was a memory of when I was in grade school…the house I lived in back then was surrounded by somewhat of an industrial area, so I would go out and stare at the machinery from the outside, or I would collect scattered scrap out on the streets…The other memory was of TSUYOSHI OZAWA one time in an interview saying,

“Back where I grew up, there was a disposal treatment center next to my house. If I were to go there today, people would probably say something like ‘it’s not good for your health’ and kick me out, but I’ll tell you, that pile of junk was a fascinating playground.”

The coexistence of a home and an industrial complex such as a power plant or disposal treatment center would usually be captured as a negative factor. But through the eyes of a child, such an environment should be of greater amusement and fascination than any amusement park. In “Power Station”, such an environment can be experienced through the eyes of Simayn Gill…the monochromatic interior photographs of Gill’s home provide a sense of leisure, contrasting with the Sci-Fi spaceship atmosphere of a distinct, colorful interior of the power plant. As if to symbolize the two contradicting environments coexisting with one another, a heap of shells, bones of small animals and trees branches, mashed with glass, metal and plastic washed ashore coexist as a single object created by the chaos of nature. With a combination of photographs and objects, created with scrap and junk, this exhibition beautifully portrayed the significance of a home and a power plant coexisting in an environment. Live and let live.

>Date: October 5 (Tue.) to November 28 (Sun.), 2004>Time: 11:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and Sat., 11:00 to 18:00 on Sun. and holidays, closed on Mondays> Location: Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building B1F, 8-9-3 Ginza, Chuou-ku, Tokyo, 104-0061> URL: http://www.shiseido.co.jp/gallery/html/index.htm

Article by Azusa Hitomi

fourLondon Report Zoo Art Fair

From 10.16 until 10.18, the art fair was held at London Zoo in Regent's park. Zoo Art Fair was intended to promote the young contemporary artists who are engaged in creative activities in London, sensing greater indifference of the art collectors to the galleries. 26 under 3-year-old arts organizations, galleries and publications participated. As I passed through the narrow entrance of London Zoo, I saw the first exhibition site on my left hand side. The first thing that came into my eyes was typical English style interior and decoration. Stunned, the animals in the cages were also staring at what was going on. As soon as I went up to the third floor, I was overwhelmed with the dense population and the enthusiasm with which it was filling the room. 18 galleries setting each booth, various kinds of artworks are displayed here and there. These displays have no consistency, ranging from paintings to sculptures, which makes them all the more stimulating. The thing that attracted me most here was the artwork called "Zgodlocator" by Herwig Weiser, displayed in The Ritter/Zamet gallery. With its outlook similar to two turntables without the table parts, it has oily black liquid contained on the right side and iron sand on the left. The oil and the liquid move eerily as you turn around the sound controller. The little unpleasant sound and the unfamiliar materials were mysteriously synchronized to hallucinate me. You have to walk through the zoo to reach the second site. There are 8 booths set in the second display site, and the most impressive thing here was the artwork "girlband" shown in the One in the Other. Created by Kevin Francis Gray, this is the work of the three red painted fiberglass girls playing the band. It was smaller than I expected it would be, which in turn fits with its comical character. The works of this artist are full of playful elements, and the one I saw made me want to visit the gallery, which seems to be exactly what the organizers intended. But who cares? I had so much fun as to expose myself to such a plesant trick. May the art fairs like this be supported by people around the world and art be more close to our life.

Article : Rika YamamotoΔ

INTERVIEW WITH YASUHIDE KUGE
2004.11.3 / Kyodo, Setagaya City / At the gallery cafe Appel

Q: Please tell us how you became interested in photography.
A : I was in a Judo team in my high school days, and the next room to the Judo club was a darkroom for the photo club. One day, people from the photo club asked to borrow my name for the registration so that they can sustain their activity, and I entered the room for the fist time and saw these instruments, with which they develop the photos, and I was like "wow!" That was intriguing to me. After that, I was attracted less with a collection of art photos than with small photos with captions in a foreign book, which were so small as to make me want to look more closely at it. I was getting into an imaginary world these small pictures conjured up. When I quit the college, I searched my way of expression, and I did not think literature or music would fit. I ended up taking photos after all. I studied technical stuff at Tokyo Visual Arts, and started to have a sort of professional attitude in doing an assistant work in the industry. Then, I became independent in my late twenties.

Q : Could you introduce us your portfolio a little bit?
A : "ALIENS" was my first collection of photography. My kids were into Ultraman then and I spoke to the editor that I would want to take Ultraman in the early series. I was dubious if it's going to be accepted, but it actually was. Finally, It was released as a photo album with the exclusive bonus CD. In addition to that, I have contributed my works to the magazines like Number, Cutie, Store, Dune, and Relax. My latest work is "LIFT."

Q : Please explain about the works you contributed to SAL magazine vol.13.
A : These are called "Yuhodo" series that are displayed here at the cafe Appel. To tell you the truth, I was taken away my driver's license because of speeding early this year, and I went to Samezu to take the lecture for violators, where these old guys, who were taking the same lecture, said to me, "you don't have to take the nasty lecture. It's waste of your money if you don't drive the car for a month while you are taking this." Surely, I was convinced by that, and turned back and went home! For a month after this, I spent my time not driving but walking. I came to think that I would rather want to walk on a promenade, and started to shoot there.

Q : Please tell us why you chose these particular photos for the theme of this issue "living."
A : These are the emotional landscapes of day and night. I always like to shoot the moment when things that we are familiar with look differently, sort of theatrically for example and I think it did work this time. One of my friends, who is a painter, said to me "I wouldn't be surprised if the monster appears here." My style hasn't changed at all since "ALIENS," you know? For the serial for AXIS, I am touring around Japan to shoot the gardens in Kyoto or Moerenuma Park in Hokkaido on the theme of "a gaze from the garden." While doing this, I realized that the peculiarity of Tokyo is very much reflected on the promenades, in which the professional gardeners hired by the city government coordinate the trees and the plants, which surely brings distinguishing characters in each section of the city because of the different skills each gardener has. There are some cases where people living in a house right beside a promenade plant the flowers for fun. Of course, it is much more pleasant to walk on a promenade than on a street. It's a public sphere shared by many people, which in a sense is rooted in everyday life. That'ss something that Tokyo has. In that sense of meaning, I think these works are concerned with "living" It's also a matte of timing, for I am doing this exhibition now.

Q : You made the works focused on TV actresses, as well as the personal works like Yuhodo series.
A : I like very much to shoot politicians, theater actors / actresses, or athletes, but I never liked to shoot TV actresses. "cover / girl" is a compilation of the photos of aidoru and TV actresses. When I embarked on this, I asked the make up artist to make no-make-up faces of the girls, which became a consistent theme for this collection. It gives an advantage of not being influenced by the trend of make up. As far as styling is concerned, I made them wear sports jerseys, adding no excessive effect on them. ItUfs like caressing these beautiful models and I wanted no more or no less than that. That's the concept. Also, I worked on the series of the childbirth photos, which is called"CLINIC," for AXIS and Idea. I asked ordinary husband and wife to cooperate with my project, and it's like I get the call from the hospital nurse saying "it's coming out!," and I rush for the hospital and wait for the child to be born with the husband. In one case, it took 18 hours!

Q: Please tell us where you get the inspiration.
A: Anything. I get the inspiration from anything. I was in Kyoto until the day before yesterday, and I got lots of energy there. When I went to Brazil to shoot the Brazilian top team, I found a beauty in their fighting practice. Wrestlers and ultimate fighters grab the body not the Judo jersey. That's part of their communication. I saw the wrestlers intertwining their bodies with each other, which I found to be particularly interesting. I also get the inspirational resources from people I hung out with like Humiho Tachibana, Tatsuya Ariyama, Eisaku Ono and Keita Ishiguro. It doesn't matter whether it will lead you to creation, but it's simply fun.

Q : Please tell us about your next project.
A : I haven't done nude photos, so I want to do it. Maybe, I would beat around the bush, never saying "nude."

>Yasuhide Kuge Exhibition (Until 11.23)Place : Appe5-29-20 Kyodo Setagaya, Tokyozip 156-0052Tel / Fax : 03-5426-2411Mail : b_rabbit@gb3.so-net.ne.jpURL : http://www.bit-rabbit.com/Δ

The Underground History of Thought (1):
"The Encouragement of Creating a Secret Society"
by Yusuke Shouno

Everybody knows Ise Jinguu, right? Even the people who don't know what it is must at least have heard the name somewhere. On the other hand, it's not so well known that this Shinto shrine is rebuilt every twenty years. This procedure is called "Shikinen Senguu," and it's a system in which they construct a new shrine in the exact same dimensions as the present one, and then take down the present shrine. This process is repeated every twenty years, which is a pretty short span of time. It's rebuilt four times in an average person's lifetime. When you think of how far back the history of Ise Jinguu dates back to, you are able to see how much net-manpower has been put into this cycle. It seems inefficient, and it's costly too. However, this is actually a system that was devised by people of the past, to pass down their ways of thought. By rebuilding the shrine, the shrine carpenter is able to learn how to build it through direct experience. The internal structure of the shrine is engraved into his physical consciousness. Unlike some stone temples which we don't know how they were built, this shrine passes down the method of construction, rather than the construction itself. This system has communicated the way of thought concerning shapes, which has been in Japanese culture since ancient times, down many generations.

This is only one example. Around the world, there are many instances in which ways of thought are passed down many generations without any outsiders ever knowing about it. In ancient times, when there were no such things as letters, myths and tales were all passed down through the spoken words of elders. Once letters were invented, people attempted to place these legends in the form of written language. The first time this was done in Japan is when the famous Kojiki was written. However, it is usually the politically dominating group that is in charge of turning spoken legends into written texts. It is the destiny of letters, that they be used by the establishment as tools for ruling. This is the same in every country, and in every age.

In America, there is an artist called The RAMM:ELL:ZEE, who has been active ever since the dawn of hip hop culture. Through his activities, which span across all of hip hop, he warns us that letters are ruling us at a subconscious level. In one of his essays, he explains how he deconstructs the alphabet, and then decorates it with his sensibility as a graffiti artist, in order to arm himself. In works and performances, he depicts the amusing theme of his armed letters going to war against the standard letters, which are the incarnation of the establishment. When he was young, he used to be a member of The Five Percenters (a.k.a. The Nation of Gods and Earths), which is a religion for people of African origin. In his unreleased script "Alpha's Bet," there is even a scene where an African-American man who couldn't answer a riddle is assaulted by his fellow Five Percenters. This group is a new religion that was founded by Clarence 13X, who used to be a pupil of Malcolm X, and it shares a large part of its ideas with black-supremacist Islamic groups. It is obvious that The RAMM:ELL:ZEE's works are also deeply influenced by the unique Islamic philosophies concerning letters and words. The Five Percenters refer to themselves as a science, and never as a religion. Some people think of them simply as a gang. They don't go out and try to teach people the validity of their beliefs, just like ancient Shinto, so I personally believe that they aren't a religion, strictly speaking. I guess we should just call them a group who shares the same way of thought. They also resemble a secret society, as they have some rather violent rituals for their entrance ceremonies. There is an English FAQ on the internet, so those who want to know more about the Five Percenters should check it out <http://www.blackapologetics.com/fivepercentfaq.html>. There is also a web site where you can see The RAMM:ELL:ZEE's works and essays about his beliefs, also in English <http://www.gothicfuturism.com>.

As I have stated earlier, there are many ways of thought that do not become acknowledged by outsiders, simply because they are not written in letters. A portion of these traditions is referred to as esotericism or mysticism. Unlike religions and typical groups sharing a way of thought, which try to diffuse their beliefs to as many people as possible, the esoteric traditions choose a few number of people to be something like DNA, to pass down their secrets. It is similar to some of the martial arts traditions that only allow one pupil to one teacher; It is a system in which a chosen human being communicates the way of thought to later generations. The famous artist Taro Okamoto was heavily influenced by George Bataille and his French Mysticism school of thought, and he even participated in one of their associations. Okamoto brought this way of thought back to Japan, and showed people a view that was alternative to that of the mainstream Japanese culture (e.g. reevaluating the significance of Jomon earthenware pottery). He is a significant figure not just in the Japanese history of art, but in the history of thought as well. The sociologist Shinji Miyadai's book, Cypher: Kakusei Seyo! is unlike his other books which depict him as a trendy theorist. It expresses the part of him that is a deviant philosopher; this book is a stimulating work. Also, it is important that we be careful when we deal with ways of thought, since any group can easily turn into an organization of people with power, just like the American presidents and the Freemasons.

In Germany, there is a man who brought this kind of mysticism to the attention of the public. This man is the philosopher Rudolph Steiner. The first time I encountered his philosophy was in a book called Forumen Wo Kaku (Drawing the Formen), which is a book that explains Steiner's line-drawing art. In this book, the author attempts to extract the meanings hidden in ancient decorative patterns, and teach the reader how to draw these kind of patterns. Through creating line-drawings, it is possible to freely express inner states like joy, sadness, energy, and introversion. By repeating this, patterns emerge, and it is then possible to express your inner state through these patterns. It feels as though the line is trying to express itself, and the process resembles the birth of a piece of music. Anybody is able to learn how to do this, through practice. There are actually schools that have classes for this line-drawing art in their curriculum, meant for people with mental illness.

I believe that esoteric traditions were designed as alternative systems of communicating ways of thought, with a resistance against manipulation and oppression that would be brought on by the establishment of any age. It's just like kuchikomi (word of mouth), which seems to be popular these days. I am a man who makes an indies magazine, and I have a deep interest in African-American culture. So naturally, I tend to see great potential in the esoteric traditions that were created to withstand the overwhelming power of the mass. If this type of way of thought is "opened" as in the case of Steiner's education system, I believe that it can become a practical philosophy, and even draw social change. I really like the idea of a way of thought that can wait for centuries in order to reveal itself, just like a stone being worn by long rain, or a compressed file awaiting to be decompressed.

THE POTATO
The Simplest Question
by Hiroshi Iguchi

As I mentioned it in the symposium "CREATIVITY NOW TOKYO" held at Harajuku Laforet Museum on 11.6, I realized when I was painting in my childhood that "human visionary perception is not closed in a square frame." On the contrary, as I am now doing graphic design in the two dimensional format, I sometimes feel that there are certain constraints that are given to visual expression by the mediums such as paper medium, TV monitor, or gallery space. There was an opinion that everybody is seeing interesting images in his or her perspective, which I agreed about with surprise because I also discovered it when I was a child. It means that anybody who has sound eyes to see things is equally qualified to own the juicy raw materials for trimming and editing. There is another great thing that I found in my childhood, which was that there is no image of yourself in your perspective unless you see the mirror or the reflection image of yourself. What I am trying to get at here is that you are involved in the images that are seen through your eyes. Does it make sense? According to Takeshi Yoro, although one often pictures himself in the past scenes when he remembers them, it should never be true that he appears in his own memories because everything is seen through his eyes, which testifies to ambiguity of the human memory. I contemplated on this matter so much. Everybody is using his eyes to contact images and acting with them in accordance with his own will and editing them in whatever way he likes. There are gaps between the act of adjusting the focus of camera and my own perspective, and between the nearsighted blur world and the world I see with the glasses on. I take advantage of the gaps and try to incorporate them into my works. It is important for a simple-minded person like me to think of these trivial things that sometimes give me a flash of inspiration. When you want to convey your ideas to somebody else through any form of visuals, editing, which gives order to certain restrictions? such as pages, time, or money, has to be done at one point or another. When I encounter other people's creation through editing, once in a while I get the vibration that goes beyond the restrictions. It's the moment when the expression is absolutely liberated from these restrictions of picture frame that normally closes it. It's exactly a "wicked!" phenomenon. Now that I know such liberation exists, I have to urge myself to pursue for that kind of expression. It's considered so common and natural in this world that you have to risk your life for it. Maybe it will end up being one of those common things, but who cares? Anyway, my consistent Q and As through my childhood led to the project that I started on my own, "THE BWOY." It's a noun in Jamaican patois, meaning "boy" in Standard English. The concept of this project is simply "observation." The basic attitude is to observe what is happening around me, from which I extract the things that I can convey to other people. I want to convey it to kids to extent of which they will have traumatized experience on it. Trauma is often associated with bad trip or dark side memories, but I want to make it even an enjoyable thing. In other words, if you know how to turn the negative experience into something creative, you will get a hunch. It's an abstract idea, and I want to make something like a joker in card playing. Well, when I get bored of this concept, I will immediately throw it away and take on a totally new idea. Whenever I think about square and perspective, I always end up thinking about visual and aural perceptions. I feel no square when I am lying down outside and hearing things around me. I jumped up again and go like "this is great!" but I will have to start again to work within a square frame. I have just come up with ideas to write about Beethoven, THE WHO's rock opera "Tommy" and Zatoichi, so I can't stop writing articles here. That's about it, and I will keep showing my shameful part (POTATO). If I could convince you that you are a lot smarter than me, it's good enough!

NEW HYPE RESEARCH
Against OLD HYPE BOMB FILE #006
"Kidden Play for Unfan Terribles"
by Keita Fukasawa

The world of children is acid. It's also punk, skam, core and ill…If you have ever seen the picture books or the TV programs for children, you know what I am talking about. The new currency is NHK's educational program "Do Re Mi No Television," <http://www.nhk.or.jp/doremi/> which has been granted the Good Design Award prize. UA, the Japanese female pop singer, and the mysterious percussionist Tomo Yamaguchi, whose nickname is "Tomo-tomo," hosting the program, it deploys Chie Ito from Strange Kinoko Dance Co. for choreography, Michiko Kitamura for costume, Yasunori Ikunishi and Yasunori Kakegawa for caption design, Takei Goodman for subtitle, Kuknacke for title music. Directed by Seinoshin Yamagishi of the media unit Flow <http://www.floweb.org>, the program has brought the hard-core line ups and gone beyond the sub cultural appeal, in spite of the popular recognition that it is for "children." First of all, their costume is weird. Apparently, it has received a lot of criticism from PTA, which is denouncing that "they should sing the way the children's song should be sung." On the other hand, the program has gained the enthusiastic support from some people and proceeded to level itself up. Obviously, its acid effects are never designed for children's taste, but rather, it is for the producer's complacency. I would even suspect that they make it for the creator's melting brain that survives the all-night-long stay-up work, and even if that were the truth, speculating from a frenzy of children who supports it, it would follow that it has intensity of what we call "tripping." In addition to this, there are things that are little known but never fail to excite children, such as Site of Reversible Destiny, Yoro Park <http://www.yoro-park.com/j/rev/> attributed to Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins and Taro Okamoto Museum <http://www.taromuseum.jp/>. As is exemplified by these samples, what is generally perceived as "educational" is much less appealing to children than things that are labeled as odd, extreme, delusive or paranoiac by adults. Even some grown men can have fun with such things. It works so intensely that some might want to get soaked in it. What is this all about anyway? What we call "educational" is generally intended to appropriately and effectively work on children's development from a perspective of development psychology. However, what is thought to be "good" for children is, after all, a projected image of a "respectable" grown man who is equipped with an ethical value of the time and social norms and common senses in the society. An educational content is praised as long as it contributes to the mass production of socially acceptable men and women in an effective way. In other words, criterion for judging the "educational" contents are determined by the conventional moral standards in the society, and the criterion are still extremely arbitrary and inductive if you take into consideration the scientific points of view on development of children. The commercial activity, moreover, considers infants and children as a mass object and the parents as a purchaser, which brings the circulation of the products that are "according to children's taste." Onto this structure is projected an image of "a popular mass," who is supposedly pleased with the major, nationalistic, and good-mannered J pop and "the latest news" that the media evacuates every day. Is it my mere imagination that, thinking this way, there is only a standardized personality born out of this environmental situation? Whether it is deliberately done or not, the standardized norms in the adults’ society is directly reflected on the "educational" contents, which is reinforcing the institutional system which tames the sheep that bleats "individualistically" in the cage. Poorly, this is part of the educational principles in Japan that pursue for individuality and equality. The phenomenon of children, as well as some adults, rushing for the acid, skam, punk and core stuff reveals the adults’ prejudice, the depth of internalized social norms, the disciplinary authority permeating in their unconsciousness, and the globalization effect represented by Disney. Contemplating on this phenomenon and never relying on the trend that the economy induces, "Do Re Mi No Television" has cleaved the way through depending on the idea of what they believe culture should present to the society. Of course, because it takes quite a subjective stance, they could have gone in a wrong direction, where children would go banging their heads on the wall. I ponder this matter as part of my life works, and I would like to recommend here Jim Woodring's "PUPSHAW & PUSHPAW" (PRESSPOP GALLERY) <http://www.presspop.com/shop/jim_woodring/jw_013.html>. This is really cute and I think children will love it. Also, I found Kenjiro Okazaki and Shuntaro Tanigawa’s "Po Paa Pe Po Pi Pappu" (CRAYON HOUSE)< http://esbooks.yahoo.co.jp/books/detail?accd=31446160> for 0-year-old infants. You know what? It blew my head off. It's ill! Sorry, I am not a respectable grown man, but I am having a mental disorder. Papapapapapapopipipipipipeppeppe?

News-29 "About to Be In the 2005 Mode"
by NIK (PROGRESSIVE FOrM)

There's only fifty days or so left in this year. Conversations like "2005 is right up ahead" are starting to feel real. I don't want to be looking back on the year already, but how did this year turn out for all of you? Just recently (actually one month has already passed; time sure does fly), Sonarsound Tokyo 2004 was held. Everyone that came, thank you very much. There were a lot of issues I'm going to have to reflect on, but I'm going to work hard to keep the event going into next year as well, so please bear with me. The location isn't decided yet, but I think you can look forward to it. On December 18 (Sat.), "Parade Electel" is going to be held in at Yebisu Garden Hall. This is a festival that's going to be something like "Sketch Show (Haruomi Hosono & Yukihiro Takahashi) and their friends," and it will be a sum-up this year's electronic music (the kind that I'm always surrounded by) scene. The performers are going to be Sketch Show featuring Ryoichi Kurokawa (visuals) and Keigo Oyamada (Cornelius), Yoshihiro Hanno with Ikuko Harada (Clammbon) and a few supporting members, Takamasa Aoki, and others. Specific info can be seen at <http://eee.eplus.co.jp/LULTIMO/>.

These days, I'm busy with contracts, publicity, and a lot of other things for Towa Tei's <http://www.towatei.com/> new album, which is scheduled to be released in late March. I seem to always working at my desk, so I have no clue as to what's going on these days in the outside world. I also recently participated in "a discussion between organizers of independent record labels," which was an event commemorating the tenth anniversary of Cisco Techno Shop. These days, I was spending a lot of time with floorish-people who work on the site of the performances, but speaking and exchanging information with these other organizers was a great joy. Our ages were various, but we shared some similar roots. These days, I often feel the significance and joy of working with people outside of my company. My record label wouldn't be able to make it if we were alone; I would like to build more synergies that arise from collaborative work, and keep them going into the future. I actually think that this kind of thing has significance in a wide variety of situations. We conversed about how there are some parts of the job that should be entrusted to people on the outside, for overall efficiency. Well anyway, I hope that 2005 is going to be another fun year; actually, I'm going to make it another fun year.

The year 2005 is going to be "the year of Germany in Japan." The main personality for this event is going to be Hiroshi Kume (newscaster). It's still too early, but I'm planning an interesting event for next July. All of you can look forward to it. Wouldn't it be great if there was an encompassing event that was Japanese in origin, that we could display to the world with pride? Well, see you guys.

Isn't it
"Shoes Designed by Ian Ginoza"
by SHiURA

Just the other day, I received a little package by mail. It was sent by a friend of mine, Ian Ginoza. Inside? A pair of Nike's DUNK LOWs...and not just your ordinary all whites either.

You may have heard of Ian Ginoza but I'm going to tell you about him anyway. After doing his thing as the art director for the skate company I-Path, getting props, and leaving behind numerous designs for skateboards, he went on to creating his own sneaker shop KICKS/HI <http://www.kickshawaii.com> back on the island of Hawaii. Collaborating with Nike, he designed a KICKS/HI original... the ALOHA DUNK LOW!

It's fluorescent green suede and LAUHALA (traditional Hawaiian knitting method), with an embroidery ALOHA tag. Talk about Hawaiian spirit, this is THE shnitz.

What makes this even better; these sneakers are super, SUPER rare. Limited to only 24 pairs worldwide, these gems will only bless famous select shops in the U.S. starting December. Unfortunately, these are not planned to go on sale anywhere in Japan.

When you think of Hawaii, you think of that played out tourism image. But with people like Ian Ginoza, next-generation artists with Hawaiian soul, it may not be too long before we find them creating an impact on the design/art scene of the world.

P.S. Sneakers are to be worn, but these go on the shelf. You know how it goes...

txt.Archives
"The Prescription for Murder is Fifteen Years"
by Jiro Ohashi

"Former bar hostess Kazuko Fukuda was wanted for allegations of the murder of another hostess in Matsuyama city, which was committed in October of 1982. At 6:40 p.m. of July 19, 1997, Fukuda was apprehended in Fukui city. After the police received a notification from a civilian, officers of the Fukui Police Department arrested the suspect while she was eating in a restaurant. Her fingerprints matched the suspect's, and she was 49 years old at the time."

The reason why the newspapers of the time bothered to write that "the fingerprints matched" was because the suspect had gone through plastic surgery for her face. The negative prescription for murder is fifteen years in Japan. The period between October of 1982 and July of 1997 is exactly fourteen years and eleven months. These two factors caused this case to draw much attention at the time. The wanted suspect had changed her name, lived in hiding, and altered her facial features. She had lived as a totally different person for almost fifteen years. People were glued to this case, mainly because of feelings of pity towards the suspect, but also because of their projection of a longing toward things that haven't been realized, due to continuous failure.

I'm talking about that final oppertunity to start over again as a different person, to reset all sins, small and large. The situation each of us are placed in, which derives from things like personality, character, and relationships, does not always suit our ideals. It's about that last chance to overcome this frustrating composition, before getting a job in the real world.

The introduction into a network of relationships in a particular community is often referred to as a "debut" in Japan. In our modern age, the first debut that a Japanese goes through is the well-known "park-debut," in which the mother and child enter the community of other mothers and children who spend their time in the park. However, the child is still in a dim mode of consciousness at this stage, so it is mainly the mother, whom the child regards as a continuous part of himself, who is debuting. Then come the debuts for the actual child: preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. The guardianship of the parents in terms of consciousness, personality, and economy, gradually dilutes as the child grows older, and the person who is going through the debut shifts from the parent to child. The final stage of this gradation is college. In this sixth debut of the child's life, he finally goes through with a debut that is 100% his. Everybody ventures into this new stage of confrontation with a certain psychological dynamism, as they are all eager to manifest their ideal selves, liquidate their pasts, and enter a new, uncharted level of freedom.

Springtime at the age of eighteen; that's fifteen years after the preschool debut, and even longer since the park debut. Will this final debut be a success? Only after riding this out, will the outside world be accessible. Kazuko Fukuda thought she had successfully gotten away from what she had done for a full fifteen years, but as she left her favorite restaurant, she was arrested: she was out. It is said that a relative of a near-by sweets shop was the one that informed the police. It is also said that the baseball player Hideki Matsui used to often go to this shop when he was a child in Ishikawa prefecture. Hideki Matsui doesn't have anything to do with our topic of college debuts, but unlike Fukuda, he seems to be safe all the time.Δ

oneSAL magazine vol.13 released in late October

The new issue of SAL magazine vol.13 will be upon us at the end of October! The theme of the issue is "living," collecting various works concerning human living life. The first term of history of SAL magazine focused on the theme of magazine as paper media (SAL, GIFT, FACE, CMYK, RE:NEWAL, OR.GAN.IZE, REAL, RE, DROP), and in the second term it was expanded to the theme of sound that can not be registered on the printed material and the space that resonates it (AUDIOVISUAL, AUDIO, STEREO SYMMETRY), and this new volume starts the third term, which develops the images of existing reality, as well as the works created by "artists" on the white canvas of spread. It conveys the graphics that are rooted in living life, not the ones visualizing the virtual reality. That can be living space itself, or tables or chairs. That can be landscapes in which people make a living or various kinds of products they use in everyday life. The contributors are, Intentionallies, Tycoon graphics, Enlightenment, Makoto Aida, Future Systems, Yasuhide Kuge, Naohiro Ukawa, Elements, Masaru Ishiura (TGB design), Takafumi Miyajima, Hideki Inaba, and more.

twoExhibition of DALEK "IMAGINARY FRIENDS"

DALEK is the graffiti artist from Brooklyn whose works were widely appealed in Nike's promotion in NY in summer 2002. He is going to have his first exhibition in Tokyo "IMAGINARY FRIENDS" at BEAMS T in Harajuku. Apparently influenced by Japanese Anime, he paints the unique character called "space monkey." He pastes the layers of ground before he draws the characters, which are astonishingly sensitively and meticulously painted when looked closely. Not to miss it, the awesome skill of the graffiti artist has been revealed here.

>Date : 2004.10.8(Fri)~2004.11.4(Thu)Open : 11:00~20:00Place : BEAMS T Harajuku3-25-15 Jingumae Shibuya-ku, TokyoInfo : 03-3470-8601Entrance freeURL : http://www.beamst.com/

threeVolfgang Tillmans "Freischwimmer"

Volfgang Tillmans is a German photographer whose works from early 1990s distilling the naïve and straightforward portraitures of young people today first got him into the limelight. He now works in London, continuing to make his works known through the fashion magazines like i-D or Interview. As a representative eye of youth culture, Tillmans' works gain lots of popularity not only in UK or Europe but also in Japan. The title of this exhibition, "Freischwimmer," means in German "a person who swims freely and live freely," and "the first swimming trial."Tillmans himself will show the installation for the gallery space of Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. The previously unreleased film works will be shown, as well as 200 new and old photographic works.

>Date : 2004.10.16(Sat)~12.26(Sun)Place : Tokyo opera City Art Gallery3-20-2 Nishi-Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku, TokyoURL : http://www.operacity.jp/ag/exh55.htmlOpen : 12:00~20:00 (12:00~21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays / the final entry is 30 minutes before the closing time)Close on MondaysAdmission : Adult 1000yen(800yen) Students 800yen(600yen) Children 600yen(400yen)

fourExhibition of Makoto Aida "Aida no Shigoto"

Since his debut in 1991, Makoto Aida has been labeled as a "precarious artist" by presenting various provocative works that disclose the dark and shameful side of the Japanese society. He participated in "Ground Zero Japan 99" along with the big names of Taro Okamoto, Tadanori Yokoo, Tomatsu Shomei, Shinro Ohtake, Tohl Narita, and Takashi Murakami. Aida also toured around the world as a representative artist of Japan for "Yokohama triennale" and had favorable responses at "Coloriage" curated by Takashi Murakami at Foundation Cartier Pour l’art contemporain. Recently, the documentary film primarily for the fanatic fans chasing Aida’s life and work has been screened, which shows his immense popularity. Now, his one-man exhibition “Aida no Shigoto” is taking place at TAKAHASHI collection, run by Ryutaro Takahashi, the renowned art collector and the authoritative psychiatrist. It is a good opportunity to see Aida's representative works like "war picture RETURNS," and "The Giant Member Fuji Versus King Gidora."

> Date : 2004.9.11(Sat)~10.23(Sat) Every Saturdays 11:00~19:00Place : TAKAHASHI collectionMinato Daisan Bldg 3F 3-7 Nishi-Gokencho Shinjuku-ku, Tokyozip 162-0812URL : http://mizuma-art.co.jp/news_j.htmlInfo : 03-5228-1651

fiveYasuhide Kuge "At the Promenade"

At the gallery café "appel" in Kyodo, Yasuhide Kuge's exhibition "At the Promenade" is coming up soon. Yasuhide Kuge, the photographer who intersects the boundary of art and commercial and is known for the works for the magazines like "AXIS" or "relax," and the work called "LIFT" designed by BarnerBros Design, conveys the indiscernible that lurks behind things and people, perplexing readers with the outlook rejecting any analysis. <kuge_yuhodo1.jpg> <kuge_yuhodo2.jpg> In this exhibition, he is presenting a series of photos of the promenade that strolls down in front of "appel." Also, Voima, the band unit consisting of aen and Tetsuro Yasunaga, the improvisation computer music artist, will perform the live show. Kuge is contributing his work to SAL magazine vol.13, which is to be released at the end of October.

>Date : 2004.11.4(Thu)~11.23(Tue) 13:00~21:00Close on WednesdaysPlace : appel5-29-20 Kyodo Setagaya-ku, Tokyozip 156-0052Tel/Fax : 03-5426-2411Mail : b_rabbit@gb3.so-net.ne.jpURL : http://www.bit-rabbit.com/

>Live Date : 11.10(Wed) Entry 19:30 Start 20:00Reservation needed( a capacity of 35 persons)Place : appelImage : Yasuhide KugePerformers : Tetsuro Yasunaga, Voima (Tetsuro Yasunaga+aen)Photo : Yasuhide Kuge

sixMuneteru Ujino "KARMA OF SUBURBAN VILLA"

Muneteru Ujino has always been the center of attention, calling his own work as "DEATH arts and crafts" after "Death-Metal," or making a series of musical instruments "LOVE ARM," which are composed of junk parts of bikes and tracks. As an exceptionally talented artist who has shaken the bodily perceptions of the audience through his works, he also did a series of works dealing with "Japanese English" and last year presented "Love Arm2 extended." It is the first time in last 2 years that Ujino holds a one- man exhibition at Mizuma Art Gallery. The main works of the exhibition are monster sculpture work "Oxon-so" and the automatic music player system "The rotators" on the theme of the rotation movement. The materials of these works are things like household electronic appliances, junks, building materials, books or ordinary stuff in our everyday life. As recycling is a big thing today, wastes are no longer wastes. Maybe the flashy future is already in the past. That's what Ujino thinks about when he tries to challenge the limit of the living space. "Oxon-so" is a military-tank-shaped Japanese house piece suddenly appearing in the gallery. It seems like Ujino would rather challenge not to break down the floor of Mizuma Art Gallery, which is built in the old building.

>Date : 2004.10.12(Tue)~11.13(Sat) 11:00~19:00(Close on Sundays and Mondays)Place : Mizuma Art Gallery (2F Fujiya Bldg 1-3-9 Kami-Meguro Meguro-ku, Tokyo zip 153-0051)Tel : 03-3793-7931Fax : 03-3793-7887URL : http://mizuma-art.co.jpMap : http://www.mizuma-art.co.jp/img/newmap.jpg

sevenGAS graphic and fashion exhibition "JUMBLE"

GAS is holding the exhibition of graphic experiment, which is to be mediated through artwork presentation, clothes and accessories on the theme of "before and after chaos," gathering the artists and the brands that they recommend, and presenting the showcases of the outstanding fashion brands for 2005 spring and summer. The participating artists include Marok, known as the art director and chief editor of Lodown as well as the free-lance designer and aritist, and Will Sweeney, the renowned illustrator who has dealt with a number of commercials for the apparel brands like Silas, Stussy and Levi-Strauss, who is also a member of the emerging band Zongamin. Also, Kou Chihara, who presented the aggressive and innovative textile collage mask in collaboration with HUMaNS BY MIKE MILLS, and Ten Do Ten, the ex-member of delaware who is doing the iron painting show at Traveling Gas Shop and making the first presentation of the instant pixel textile show at CET04 GAS and Moog Yamamoto are participating in the exhibition. In addition, it introduces The New Shopping Bag, which has achieved wide popularity for its wide color variation and unique form, and Pacific Furniture Service, which continues to produce the high quality products in the name of "liberating furniture." Proposing the idea of the distinguishing type of exibition, GAS is eager to make it "the new showcase of graphic art."

>DATE : 2004.10.26(Tue)~10.29(FriI) 11:00~20:00 (Party thrown at 20:00 on 29)Place :Claska Gallery (Meguro, Tokyo / http://www.claska.com/ ) URL : http://www.hellogas.com/

eightSAL magazine night 5.0

The audiovisual party "SAL magazine night," organized by SAL magazine, will be happening for the opening of the digital film festival "DOTMOV" in Sapporo. SOSO café, the site of the festival, will be filled with projection images and sound. Nipponia Electronica will perform the live set and the lighting designer James Clar will present the lightening object and the installation system that synchronizes with the DJ sound. The audio & visual performance featuring the original clips by SAL magazine is definitely a must-see showcase.

> Date : 2004.10.31 (SUN) 20:00~Place : SOSO café (http://www.shift.jp.org/soso/)Sansei Bld., 1F, Minami1 Nishi13, Chuo-ku, SapporoInfo : 011-280-2240Admission : 1500 yen/1drink, 2000 yen/1drink (a through pass)Performers : James Clar, Nipponia Electronica, Kurando Huruya (SIM / SAL magazine), Jiro Ohashi (SAL magazine), and more.Link : DOTMOV FESTIVAL 2004 (URL : http://www.shift.jp.org/mov/)

nineTOKION "CREATIVITY NOW 2004" in Tokyo

The culture magazine "TOKION" organizes "CREATIVITY NOW," in which creators from various different genres like art, design, music, film, fashion, and media share with each other their own works and worlds of view on the theme of "Today's creativity." This is going to be its first symposium in Tokyo, inviting Naohiro Ukawa for a host navigator and the special line-ups, who would stir up the discussion. Go to TOKION's web site for more detailed information regarding the line-ups and the time-table.

>Date : 2004.11.6 (Sat)Place : Laforet Museum HarajukuOpen 11:00 / Start 12:00~18:00Host : Naohiro UkawaParticipators : Makoto Aida, Ai Iijima, Hiroshi Iguchi, Yuya Uchida, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Nobuhiko Kitamura, Kiki Kudo, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Kenjiro Kurosawa, Shing02, SK8THING, Takenori Sento, Kyoko Tanaka, David Elliot, Terry Ito, Hideki Nakajima, Nagi Noda, Keiji Haino, Takeji Hirakawa, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, and Michihiko Yanai.Admission : Advance / 4500 yen Door / 5000 yenAvailable online at Ticket Pia P-code (603-471)Also Available at Family Mart, Seven Eleven, or Thanks (Anybody who goes to the event will get the collaboration item of TOKIN and Lee and the latest issue of TOKION.)Info : http://www.tokion.com/site/index.htmlΔ

THE POTATO
Due to the tight schedule of the author, this time we can not present Hiroshi Iguchi's article "THE POTATO."He will come back for the next issue, so please stay tuned.

Editor's Voice
There's a small balcony in the office of SAL magazine, where a 30 cent-meter-long naughty tortoise is living. Usually tortoises are very alert to humans, but this one never cares about us. The other day, when I was washing the aquarium clean, it screwed out its head so abruptly that I cut it, with the unpleasant feeling left in my hand. I was frozen to death for the moment. Oddly, it didn't bleed at all and its body part is still moving. I was like "What's going on!?" and I realized that I was dreaming. I woke up in all sweat. I think it was pretty much like failure to get the manuscript. The next day I saw the tortoise splashing the water. I fed him lots of shrimps and tetrareptomin.

NEW HYPE RESEARCH
Against OLD HYPE BOMB FILE #005
The Battle of Impossibility: "Interior" versus "Design"
by Keita Fukasawa

In many cases, when I am searching for books about the interior design at the bookstore, I find that two genres are firmly separated in the bookshelf, that is, the categorization of "interior" and "design," the former stocked with the catalogues of "Asian" or "Scandinavian" rooms that seem like emitting the noble odor, and the latter with more product like design catalogues of the famous works that the architects or the product designers must have made. The categorization, in fact, implies a very interesting thing. For instance, let's enumerate the design events that took place in this October in Tokyo: Tokyo Designers Block (TDB/ http://www.tokyodesignersblock.com/), Tokyo Designers Week (TDW/ http://www.tdwa.com/04/index.html), Swedish Style, Design UK, Esprit Design France, Cyber AHIST, exhibitions of satellite design shops and etc. The pilgrimages of "design devotees" can be seen everywhere at the exhibition sites, but the sobering reality is that the design furniture is very expensive. Few people can actually afford the new products proudly presented by the makers. Most of them are just watching the design itself, whose attitude is so close to that of those who rode on the "design boom" that apparently came along with the "café boom" a few years ago. They want to touch the good design product or furniture, which makes them absorb a little knowledge, nurture some esthetic taste and motivate much creative desire, which is assuredly very significant. However, on the side of the event organizers, even though the event has a clear purpose of selling the brand images, it actually has little meaning if it ends up just doing so. They want to sell the product after all. The companies have the primary motive of appealing to either individual or corporate buyers for their products in the events. TDW, where the service bus is rotating around each exhibition site, was at first considered as the trade fair exclusively for the design industry, whereas TDB, which started later, incorporates more fashionable and sub-cultural aspect as TDW lacks the atmosphere of cultural appeal for the mass. (It is also important to bear in mind that TDB was systematically founded on the event called "happening," produced by airconditioned.) (http://trico.pos.to/happening/) Accordingly, TDB and TDW provide different tastes for the design-phil just like the way the genres of "interior" and "design" do so at the bookstore. Although the term "design" itself should encompass "interior," if you try to analyze the psychological structure of consumers apart from the meaning of the concept, you’ll soon notice that “interior” is prepared for more leisurely and noble ladies and gentlemen, (http://www.shufu.co.jp/magazine/) who like to appreciate the craft works by the professional artisan. On the other hand, it seems that the more DIY-oriented "design" represents the hype feeling of the young "creators."(How casually and frequently the word is used today!) It frequently occurs to me that it is pretty much questionable how people conceive the "creativity" in Japan, when some culture magazine praises the clerk of the street fashion shop as "creator." As I see the changes of these two events for years, TDW is trying to somehow produce casual and lounging atmosphere, whereas TDB is pursuing for the pop cultural aspect and trying to form the new cultural sphere. "Interior" and "design" should naturally fit in the nesting structure, which, distortedly separated, seem like struggling to compensate the lacking parts of each other. For me, it is impossible to make a trip around TDB, TDW and all the other exhibitions for the whole situation is so untidy that collecting data itself is painful. Well, I would rather list up the events that offer sake and soak in complacency about my ability to sort out the information, dreaming about the graceful days when I am in the same niche as the furniture collectors who enjoy the abundant disposable income.

NEWS-29 "It's Almost Time, This Week is Going to be an Important One "
by NIK (PROGRESSIVE FOrM)

Hi everyone. Right now, it's 16:23 on the first of October, and I'm on the Shinkansen [bullet train] Nozomi heading for Kyoto. Around the same time just last week, I was heading to Osaka for "Namura Art Meeting '04-'34" (the first of a grand series of events that Takatani of Dumb Type is trying to continue for a span of thirty years. By the way, thanks to Eko and Rakko. I was able to have a great time because of you guys :-)). Today, I'm heading to Kyoto to go to Club Metro for the party "Patchware on Demand" (an electronic music event held on a non-regular schedule, which Mr. Itoi a.k.a. PsysEx organizes). PROGRESSIVE FOrM is heavily involved in this event this time around, and that's why I'm going to Kyoto. Exactly how are we involved, you ask? Well, 1.) It's part of Takamasa Aoki's tour for the release of "Simply Funk (PFCD11)." 2.) It's also part of Yoshihiro Hanno's tour for the release of "Graffiti & Rude Boy 67'." 3.) Atom™ had arrived in Japan for Sonarsound 2004, and we wanted to take him to Kyoto for his Kansai area promotion as well as sightseeing, so we decided to get involved in Kyoto. After explaining these things to Mr. Itoi, I find myself on a train heading West.

I went to Narita airport just yesterday (October 1), to pick up Atom™. I had never laid my eyes on a normal portrait of him, so I was pretty curious as to what he looked like. I went to terminal number one with a photo of him on the sleeve of a Senor Coconuts album in my mind, and I was able to discover him right away. He looked just as I had imagined him! He was wearing a brown striped suit + an orange shirt + a brown tie. Along with his slightly balding blond hair and a small beard, it all made him look like a fishy salesman. He had a distinct aura, and I was to find out later that he was in fact a very unique man. He looked like a warm, kind fellow in his early fourties, (I hope he stays this way) and the way he was smiling didn't make it seem like he just got off of a long, tiresome flight (Santiago - Los Angeles - Narita: two 12-hour flights plus 5 hours of waiting for transit in LA). However, he said "ohhhh, I'm tired" in the car ride to Tokyo station. We had him get on his way to Kyoto straight from Tokyo station, and I bet he slept like a baby in the train.

Around the same time, Hanno Yoshihiro's "Made on Mac" (organized by Sanreco) was getting ready to start in Ginza. I made it just in time for the 7pm opening. Hanno spoke about erotic topics while showing films of his live shows in France, Germany, Taiwan, Shanghai, and Tokyo.

Currently, my train is just about to arrive in Nagoya. The weather seems horrible (even though the sky in Tokyo was sunny; maybe its because of the hurricane). I wonder how the weather in Kyoto's going to be? I think I'm going to write the second half of this text on the train going back to Tokyo, after today's "Patchware on Demand," even though this switch is only going to be reflected as the start of a new paragraph to the readers.

Okay, I'm starting the second half (twelve hours have passed since I finished writing the first half). Currently, it's 6:38 in the morning, on October 3 (Sun.) (The train departed at 6:15). I'm sleepy, I'm tired, and I drank too much last night. "Patchware on Demand" ended up being a pretty cool event. The finances went smoothly, and I was able to make payments to the performers (Atom™, Takamasa Aoki, and Yoshihiro Hanno) without any problem. There was a fair number of people who came. From Tokyo, people like Negishi and the Flyrec Crew, Nishiyama from Headz/Fader (who came to do coverage on Atom™), Tsujiko Noriko, and Masakatsu Takagi (who rarely comes) showed up, and we had a fun time. Aoki wasn't feeling so well (he had a fever of 38 degrees Celsius), but his live performance was great. Atom™ performed an acid set, and I am anticipating his upcoming album from Daisyworld. I wrote before that he was in his early fourties, but I found out that he was actually 36. The last time he was in Japan was 1994/95, when he was here for the project with Hosono Haruomi, so it seems like he has been at it since he was young. This day, instead of the brown striped suit I saw the other day, he was wearing a plain beige suit. That night was the first time I saw Hanno do a "Grafitti..." set. I think you will be able to hear his smooth speaking again in Sonarsound Tokyo 2004. It was a very short Kyoto trip (I arrived at 18:11 and departed next morning at 6:15, so I was there for only twelve hours).

A bit of time has passed, and it's currently the afternoon of October 4. I'm in an office in Nakameguro, Tokyo to watch the recording of a guest chorus for my own solo album planned to be released in the beginning of next year. It's going pretty well, and you can look forward to it.

Well, there's only one week left until Sonarsound Tokyo 2004 opens (actually, there's only five days), so things are extremely busy right now. Next month, I'll probably be writing a report on Sonarsound Tokyo 2004. Peace!

Isn't It
Sneakerstories & Freshmag Exhibition
by SHiURA

The sneaker exhibition that I introduced last time in "T.U.R.D. in Sweden" has come to Japan <turd_1.jpg>! Many brands are releasing sneakers nowadays, and a subculture that recognizes the sneaker as a work of art or even a medium for communication is arising. Why do people like sneakers so much? Who wears what kind of shoes? This is an exhibition that displays the artists' attachment to sneakers through photos, installations, and custom sneakers.

The works of 15 Swedish groups/individual artists who are getting much recognition will be exhibited <turd_2.jpg> <turd_3.jpg> <turd_4.jpg> <turd_5.jpg> <turd_6.jpg>, along with the work of Japanese guest artists like Naohiro Ukawa, Fish S. Hasegawa, Inast, Ryuji Kamiyama, and SHiURA. Simultaneously, we're going to hold a release party for a free magazine that is gaining attention in Sweden, called "FRESH MAG" <turd_7.jpg>. Additionally, we're going to set up an exhibition space for the extraordinary female collage artist, Malin <turd_8.jpg>. If you come, you'll be able to experience the refined Swedish creativity, which is a bit different from that of the United States or Great Britain.

>Stocktown + Freshmag Presents: Sneakerstories & Freshmag Exhibition
Date: Oct. 6, 2004 (Wed.) ~ Oct. 24 (Sun.)Tue.~Fri. (17:00~22:00), Sun. (15:00~22:00)Closed on Oct. 12, Oct. 18, and MondaysLocation: Depot Gallery (Nakameguro)Address: 2-43-6 KamimeguroEntrance Fee: freeInfo: 03-5773-5502URL:http://www.depotcrew.comSupported by: Kulturhuset Lava / Turbo Sonic / www.depotcrew.com

txt. Archives
"006: The State of Film After Since the Emergence of Graphic Design: MIDI x Sampler = FireWire x DV Camera"
by Jiro Ohashi

Years back, Trevor Horn collected the sound that an orchestra produces in a single moment, and assigned it to the keys on a keyboard. This was the beginning of the transformation of "sampling"; it wasn't just another tool for popular music anymore.

This so-called "orchestra hit," which makes sounds like "zwish!" and "bam!" was often used as a spice for music, and it was a necessity for the techno-disco scene in Japan. The important thing was that this sound was being heard not in Maniac Love or Yellow, but in that famous disco where John Robinson would be shouting "Julianaaaaa Tokiooooo!!" It was a place where "Body-Con Gals" would shake their hips with fans in their hands, and dance like crazy on the "Otachidai (platforms)." This was a time when music composed using technology was being accepted into popular culture, with the sampler and MIDI acting as chemical agents; a time when the club scene was arising and beginning to replace the discos. While the DJs played records in these clubs, VJs would project motion images from three-tube projectors, or Sony machines stacked up in high places.

The increase in the number of production environments that could utilize DTM (Desktop Music) played a significant role in allowing the layman to produce music; a job that had long been limited to professional musicians. Music production infrastructures became systematized and modularized with the emergence of MIDI, and the transfer of the base of production to the PC was being prepared by the spread of sequencers and samplers. Because of the increase in disk space from Kilo to Mega to Giga, and leaps in CPU performance, it is now possible to create music completely within a single Apple laptop. Whether that kind of music is interesting or not: well that's another story.

This kind of desktop production environment is not limited to music. Around the same time that the DTM style was being established in the music scene, DTP (Desktop Publishing) was being introduced, with new technological innovations like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, QuarkXPress, and the Apple LaserWriter pushing this movement forward. This was a liberation from the artisan world of "how many lines can you draw within a one-millimeter width." Handing in finished texts in the format of digital data became common, and now anybody was able to become a graphic designer if they just learned how to use the computer and the essential software. Of course, this situation led to the chaotic abundance of "people who call themselves designers," but at the same time, there were those people whose livelihood were saved by the Macintosh and PostScript. Just like in the old cliche story of the man whose life is transformed by rock music and the electric guitar, when the convergence of artistic expression and technology starts to concretely affect personal realms, it is a sign of maturity of that scene.

The film/motion-image production scene used to be a typical specialized-skill-area, which only a handful of professionals could access. However, the diffusion of the personal computer into the audio-visual scene opened these gates to many more people. The preparations for the rise of DTV (Desktop Video) production were completely ready at the point when the time axis of music and graphic design were both being done on the same platform (PC), and computer performance rose while prices notably dropped. Before this happened, motion image production for individuals was usually an attractive hobby for people like wealthy independent business owners, successful architects, and retired workers with money left over.. It was a hobby that was difficult to begin because of the necessary equipment, often compared to high-end audi:, another hobby that is based on expensive equipment. The hobbyists would record personal events like field days, recitals, and birthday parties onto video and film. However, music and graphic design led a new stream of motion image production onto the field, separate from the audio-visual hobbyists' market.

After the mid-1980s, the synergy of music and visuals spread to the consumer realm, as the result of much experimentation on MTV, and it eventually permeated into the dance music scene. There was a certain cheesiness about the visuals of these VJs; the same kind of cheesiness as the asia-style techno music (which spawned from eurobeat) that used to boom out of the speakers at Juliana Tokyo. However, this phenomenon (which was distinct to Japan) may be representing the fertilization of a new type of artistic expression that is separate from the ever-continuing history of motion image, which includes elements like the movie and video art. The realm that Art of Noise pried open years back is recurring in the film / motion image scene.

(First Printed in: Bijyutsu Techou, March 2002 Issue)Δ