Some images of Glass from Japan

Julia and I saw a lot of Glass, Craft and Contemporary Art  on this trip. The following is a cross section of images of glasswork we collected and encountered while traveling.  We ended up seeing a number of exhibitions thanks to Masahiro, and while staying with him in Nagoya we helped him to set up his solo exhibition. On the trip we also saw a fair bit of glasswork in Museums and we made it a point to collect images at the schools where we were teaching. So this is by no means a comprehensive overview of glass in Japan but I’m sure you glass enthusiasts will enjoy it.

Masahiro Sasaki- These shots were taken during exhibition set up at GALERIE hu in Nagoya.

Aichi Art Center Public Art 

Seto Exhibition:

Yukako Kojima

Hiroki Numi

Yukio Miyamamoto

Kochi Matsufuji,  who curated the exhibition Flat Glass

Toyama Institute of Glass Art Faculty, Teaching assistants and a few students:

Makiko Nakagami

Chicako Ogawa 

Jin Hongo

 

Kyoko Sano

 

Lada Semecka

Ryoji Shibuya

Robert Lewis

Katsuji Miyawaki

Yosuke Tsusaka

Shoko Matsushita

Here are a few images of this fourth year student’s work. The level of finishing was impressive.

Eriko Asano

Another student who was coming back to school as a mature student gave me a great digitial pinball game to play on my computer. She and her husband developed it, Little Wing  Monster Ball… check it out you can play the trial online!.

 

Appropriate Proportion by Hiroshi Sugimoto, Go’o Shrine Arthouse project, Naoshima.

Some work from Kurashiki Glass Program:

Akihiro Isogai

Jang Kyung-Nam

A selection of past graduates student work from the program:

Bike Culture

I’m not sure what compelled me to take pictures of bikes and motorcycles on this trip. Having never owned a motorcycle myself other than a dirtbike as a kid, and rarely riding my own bicycle it sort of boggles my mind. I guess it is because there are so many bikes and motorcycles EVERYWHERE. Japan is the place where Bike Culture really makes sense and it is absolutely a part of everyday life. Everyone rides them…. kids, business men in suits, and elderly people. We began noticing a trend with older women in Kurashiki and Takayama having their rides done up with a bit extra. We never really found out why the hand covers were employed  or their use, some were made of vinyl and others  used lace or other light fabric. Anyway there is one shot of them in this mix.

Wabi Sabi, Stonework, and Details

We really enjoyed the attention to detail displayed in older architecture and the Wabi Sabi of letting a little of the natural remain. Here is a group of shots that  focus on stonework walls, fences, and details.

 

Signs

Sometimes it is the little things you notice in a different place. With no cultural context and often without being able to read the information being communicated, we thought that many of the signs were interesting. Some lead to speculation and in turn interesting conversations, others were just plain odd. Here are some of our favorites: