Jun 22, 2004
“Vito Acconci wrapped the United Bamboo boutique in Tokyo with an interlaced steel mesh. The interior is made with steel tubing, lighted fabric walls and PVC. What’s so special is that everything in and around the store was treated this way. A welcome change to the “minimal” loft like spaces most fashion stores use.” (RE. Design)
PauseTalk is a regular series of events that take place at Cafe Pause on the first Monday of every month, with a start time of 20:00. The idea is to create a forum where Tokyo-based creatives can get together and discuss their own projects, as well as cultural currents of the city. The next edition happens in March.
PLAY is a series of events with Jean Snow spinning some of his favorite virtual discs in a casual setting at Cafe Pause. The next edition happens in January. See the setlist for previous editions here, and subscribe to a feed of the mixes.
Being a survey of recommended titles for your gaming pleasure. New games are added 2-3 times weekly, and all selections are by your host, Jean Snow, a Tokyo-based writer and gamer.
Jean Snow is a contributor to Arcade Mania, your guide to the arcade gaming scene in Japan (Amazon US/Amazon Japan). He also provided assistance on Tokyolife: Art and Design, a guide to Tokyo's cultural output of the past few years, covering the works of over 80 influential creatives.
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of The Rough Guide to Tokyo and The Rough Guide to Japan, due for release in 2011.
I'm also a proud member of the Pecha Kucha Night family, working on various projects, including updating Pecha Kucha Daily, a blog that highlights the creativity coming out of PKN events worldwide.
I serve as editor-at-large at Néojaponisme, a web journal covering social and cultural aspects of Japan. Read the manifesto, by founder and chief editor W. David Marx.
what i love about the store is the ipods stuck in the ends of the clothing racks.. cords are long enough to check out what is on the rack as you listen.. yeah, not THAT practical, but fun all the same.
i thought at first the staff was snooty, but as it turns out they are nearly blind due to flouro overload. if you stand really still, they will eventually notice you and be pretty helpful. ha!
i love minimalist interiors, but united bamboo is like shopping in a tanning bed. you are overwhelmed by fluoro lights as you shop and your optic nerve detaches from your retina trying to escape the light blast. sunglasses are recommended.
http://www.unitedbamboo.com/
there is a nice site about acconci at: http://redstudio.moma.org/features/index.php
From what I can make out in this picture, this piece vaguely reminds me of Frank Gehry’s Gehry House in LA.
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Gehry_House.html
Something like that, updated, and crossed with that Christo guy that wraps things up (e.g., WRAPPED REICHSTAG). Maybe.
It’s just a typo, but the artist’s name is “Vito Acconci” (not “ito”).
He’s a really weird guy. One of his “signature” pieces was called “Trademarks”. Basically, what he did in that piece was sit curled up, naked, and bite himself all over.
http://www.artnet.com/ag/fineartdetail.asp?aid=1208&wid=60542&page=1&group=&max_tn_page=
Another seminal Acconci work was “Seedbed”: “In Seedbed Acconci lay hidden underneath a gallery-wide ramp installed at the Sonnabend Gallery, masturbating while vocalizing into a loudspeaker his fantasies about the visitors walking above him on the ramp. One motivation behind Seedbed was to involve the public in the work’s production by creating a situation of reciprocal interchange between artist and viewer.”
http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/v/vi/vito_acconci.html
Seems like his themes and interests have evolved a bit over time. Cheers.
speaking of the ipods…. they are just held in place with velcro!!!!!! easy to just put one in your bag. i noticed this, because one of them were missing.
and on second thought… i like the concept of the store, and it looks great in photos, but when you go in there it looks really cheaply done. the white fabric walls seemed to be superglue’d on, rather than being seamless. the details look a bit shoddy.
btw… here is the interesting link from reluct http://www.framemag.com/articles/article_4294.htm
from the reluct link, a quote about the fluoro’s…
” Illuminating the form is a row of fluorescent lights mounted behind a layer of PVC above the doorframe. ‘Customers seem very comfortable in this bright space. The only other shops that are as bright are the convenience stores found on every corner in Japan’, says Nicolas. ‘This may be a new identity for a convenient brand.’”
i laughed at this. fashion going for a conbini ambiance? “new identity for a convenient brand” wtf? inspired by 7-11?