Tag: ‘Art’

Video: Nobuo Takahashi’s animated landscapes

21 Jan 2008

Musashino Plateau --

"Musashino Plateau" and "Japan" -- a pair of 3D computer animations directed by Nobuo Takahashi -- illustrate (in dramatic fashion) how Japan's landscape changed during the postwar period of rapid economic growth. The animations begin slowly with the early postwar recovery years, but the pace quickens to a frenzy as explosive growth during the bubble years (late '80s/early '90s) transforms the cityscape into a chaotic, tightly packed jumble of single-family homes, large apartment complexes and high-rise buildings. In the end, development grinds to a halt with the collapse of the bubble.


Video 1: Musashino Plateau


Video 2: Japan

[Source: Yoshida Gakuen Joho Business]

H.R. Giger’s creatures in ’80s Pioneer ads

21 Jan 2008

In 1984-1985, Pioneer featured the designs of H.R. Giger in a series of Japanese magazine ads for their Zone home entertainment system.

H.R. Giger Pioneer ad --
[Enlarge]

H.R. Giger Pioneer ad --
[Enlarge]

Fantastic Japanscapes

17 Jan 2008

The Japanese landscape makes a stunning subject for high dynamic range (HDR) photography, as demonstrated by these images and the 500+ others in the Japan HDR Flickr Photo Pool.

HDR Japan --
Nihonbashi [Tokyo] -- Photo: Altus

HDR Japan --
Wave Gate [Numazu] -- Photo: Altus

HDR Japan --
Cloudy Day in Gotokuji [Tokyo] -- Photo: stu72

HDR Japan --
No.6 [Kanagawa prefecture] -- Photo: dokool

HDR Japan --
Machinery [Nippori station, Tokyo] -- Photo: heiwa4126

HDR Japan --
Landmark Tower and Minato Mirai 21 [Yokohama] -- Photo: shinnygogo

HDR Japan --
Shibuya Backstreet [Tokyo] -- Photo: yongfook

Brides of Kimiko Yoshida

16 Jan 2008

Photographer Kimiko Yoshida transforms herself into the brides of the world in an ongoing series of self-portraits taken over the last seven years.

The Sakura Bride --
The Sakura Bride, 2006

The Cyber Bride --
The Cyber Bride, 2003

The Green Tea Bride --
The Green Tea Bride, 2006

The Mao Bride --
The Mao Bride, 2006

The Pokemon Bride --
The Pokemon Bride, 2002

The Tamates Bride, Vanuatu --
The Tamates Bride, Vanuatu, 2003

The Afghani Bride with a Bukhara Cap --
The Afghani Bride with a Bukhara Cap, 2005

The Shinto Bride --
The Shinto Bride, 2002

Browse the entire collection of 150+ nuptial beauties at Yoshida's website (not entirely safe for work).

Urbano-vegetal

09 Jan 2008

Urbano-vegetal (structure 1) --

From Frederic Gautron's Urbano-vegetal series of digital photomontages.

[Link: Made in Tokyo]

Video: ILL MACHINE (x ULTRA BRAiN)

07 Jan 2008

Ill Machine (x Ultra Brain) --

The promo video for "ILL MACHINE (x ULTRA BRAiN)," a track off the recently released Nu Riot CD by Wagdug Futuristic Unity (a project involving Kyono of the Mad Capsule Markets), is set in a world 50 years hence (according to Kyono's blog), where heavily armed gas-masked clones battle giant machines that assemble themselves from trash and set out to cleanse the planet by blasting everything to smithereens. Directed by CG artist Satoshi Kuroda.

[Link: ILL MACHINE (x ULTRA BRAiN)]

Video: Subway Lung

27 Dec 2007

Subway Lung --

T-shirt retailer Beams-T is handing out a free art-themed DVD magazine to customers in Japan. The DVD showcases the work of five artists from around the world, including this incredibly loony scrolling video-collage of found GIF animations put together by international man of mystery Subway Lung (a.k.a. Tokyo Windbag).

You can see the other DVD magazine videos on kurandofuruya's YouTube page (the light-based graffiti video by Kieph/Atsushi Sasaki is also recommended).

Video: Kokiriko Bushi

12 Dec 2007

Kokiriko Bushi --

Omodaka's 21st-century disco version of Kokiriko Bushi -- an ancient folk song that Gokayama (Toyama prefecture) villagers used to perform for the local Shinto deities -- combines synthesized vocals with a Stevie Wonder-ish bassline and '80s video game chiptune sounds, and the wonderfully quirky and surreal video (animated by Teppei Maki) features a fragile skeleton dancer that shares the floor with lots of disembodied hands and floating eyeball-headed ladies. [Video]

Incidentally, the kokiriko is a type of percussion instrument made from old bamboo used in the roofs of traditional farmhouses. After being all but forgotten, Kokiriko Bushi was revived in the mid-20th century and has become one of Japan's most well-known folk songs.

Teppei Maki also directed the animation for DJ Kentaro's Tasogare Highway High...

...and he has worked on videos for Kaskade (Be Still), the Beat Crusaders (Your Song Is Good) and Fuuri (Nana Song), none of which appear to be available online.

Dekochari art bikes (video)

10 Dec 2007

Deco-chari art bikes from Japan --

For decades, dekochari have been the ride of choice for hardcore Japanese dekotora fans that are too young to drive. Modeled after Japan's celebrated art trucks, dekochari (deko means "decoration" and chari is slang for "bicycle") typically feature large front bumpers, ornate luggage racks, rear-mounted boxes that resemble truck trailers, colorful paint jobs, lots of chrome, and sophisticated electric light displays. This video pieces together random night scenes from Dekochari Yarou, a documentary that profiles a few dekochari enthusiasts and their custom rides. The soundtrack is "Ichiban-boshi Blues" (sung by Bunta Sugawara and Kinya Aikawa), the theme song from the Torakku Yarou movie series that sparked Japan's dekotora craze in the '70s.


+ Video

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