What Women Make Sustainable Gift Guide 2011
For all price ranges and passions (the full post on Tythe.com)
1. COOKING
Epicurean Designer Cutting Boards Though this Duluth, Minnesota run company …
2. HELPING
Nomi Bags Nomi network produces recycled bags that fight human trafficking.
3. INDEPENDENT DESIGNERS
I’ve always loved the spunk of Junk Prints owner / designer Chanel Kennebrew.
4. GLOBAL DESIGN CULTURE
Yoshii Shirt Stripe Towels – Towels have a strong significance in Japan.
5. CRAFTSMANSHIP
Stacking Vessels by Pia Wustenberg – As I see it, design is art and worth the price to celebrate the human ability to transform materials for use in our everyday lives.
-Chauncey Zalkin
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Friday Diary: 6 Female Curators Take The Helm at South Korean Biennale Gwangju 2012
Gwangju Biennale 2012 Artistic Directors, all women.
Here’s what one of the six chosen, Carol Yinghua Lu, says on her Frieze blog. “My Asian colleagues (and I).. realized how little we actually knew about each other – much less … our Western counterparts. In an attempt to find out about our own relevance in the world, it’s also equally necessary to learn more about our immediate neighbours and our interrelationships. This issue is probably what makes the choice of six Asian curators for the next Gwangju Biennale timely and necessary. ”
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The Gwangju Biennale Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of Sunjung Kim, Mami Kataoka, Carol Yinghua Lu, Nancy Adajania, Wassan Al-Khudhairi, and Alia Swastika as Joint Artistic Directors of the 9th Gwangju Biennale 2012. For the first time, the Biennale has appointed a group of six young Asian women curators to co-direct the exhibition and program. The Gwangju Biennale Foundation has not selected Asian female curators in order to display the political, cultural, or geopolitical hegemony of Asia. Instead, through their appointment, we seek to build a platform that can embrace layers of diverse and engaging discussions in visual culture. As the oldest and most prestigious biennale of Asia, we hope to provide an opportunity to rethink and reexamine the anthropological and aesthetic positioning of Asia. Breaking away from past regional and global conflicts and the constant collision between truth and information, we propose to discover a new grammar of communication unique to the Biennale.
The Artistic Directors of 9th Gwangju Biennale are young and internationally renowned curators in Korea, China, Japan, India, South-East Asia, and the Middle East. Rather than driven by political ideology or systemic concerns, these curators will engage both the autonomous language of art and the active communication networks of civil society to produce the exhibition and audience participation programs. The Gwangju Biennale will maintain a commitment to the democratic values of social consensus and human rights long supported by the Foundation, as well as create a space for aesthetic discourse.
• Sunjung Kim is a Seoul-based independent curator and Professor at the Korea National University of Arts. From 1993 to 2004, Kim was the Chief Curator at Artsonje Center in Seoul. In 2005, she was the commissioner of the Korean Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennale. The first festival, titled “Somewhere in Time,” was followed by “Tomorrow” (2007), “I have nothing to say and I am saying it” (2008), “Platform in KIMUSA: Void of Memory” (2009) and “Projected Image” (2010). Most recently, Kim was the Artistic Director of the 6th Seoul International Media Art Biennale – Media City Seoul 2010.
• Mami Kataoka is a curator and writer and has been the Chief Curator of the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, since 2003. From 2007–2009, Kataoka joined the curatorial team at the Hayward Gallery in London as the first international curator. During her tenure at the Mori Art Museum, Kataoka has curated a number of exhibitions, including “Ozawa Tsuyoshi: Answer with Yes and No!” (2004), “All About Laughter: Humor in Contemporary Art” (2006), “Ai Weiwei: According to What?” (2009) and most recently “Sensing Nature: Perception of Nature in Japan” (2010).
• Carol Yinghua Lu is a curator and writer who lives and works in Beijing. She is a contributing editor for Frieze and co-founder and co-editor of Contemporary Art & Investment magazine. She writes frequently for international art journals and magazines including e-flux journal, The Exhibitionist, Yishu, and Tate. Her texts on contemporary art have also appeared in many art catalogues, books, publications, and critical readers. From 2005–2007, she was the China researcher for Asia Art Archive. From 2009–2010, she was the founder and Art Director of SUITCASE ART PROJECTS, a project space of Today Art Museum
• Nancy Adajania is a cultural theorist, art critic and independent curator, based in Bombay. She was educated in Politics, Social Communications Media, and Film. She has written and lectured extensively on extended sculpture, new media, public art and transcultural art practice (including at Documenta 11, Kassel; ZKM, Karlsruhe; Transmediale, Berlin; Lottringer 13, Munich; Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin; Kuenstlerhaus Wien, Vienna; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Soma Museum, Korea; Wuerttembergische Kunstverein, Stuttgart; The Danish Contemporary Art Foundation, Copenhagen; and BAK, Utrecht). Adajania was Editor-in-Chief of Art India magazine.
• Wassan Al-Khudhairi is the director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, since 2010, responsible for developing the newly established institution and managing the development of its new building. She also oversees policy development, acquisitions and collections registration. As a curator, she specializes in modern and contemporary art from the Arab world, with a particular emphasis on Iraq. She is of Iraqi origin and has lived in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the U.K. and the U.S., where she worked at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York.
• Alia Swasticka is a curator, project manager, and writer based in Jakarta. From 2002–2004, Swasktika worked as Associate Editor for SURAT newsletter, published by the Cemeti Art Foundation, which led to her curatorial debut at the Cemeti Art House, where she worked as an Artistic Manager from 2004–2009. In the meantime, she joined staff exchange programme in UfaFabrik, Berlin, Germany with a grant from Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF), and the same program funded by Kelola Foundation and Asian Cultural Council. Since 2008, she has been working for Ark Galerie in Jakarta and has recently been appointed as a curator of the upcoming Jogja Biennale XI in November.
100% via e-flux
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What Women Make Presents: Japanese Illustrator Yoko Furusho
JULY 30 & 31 – Yoko Furusho is a New York based illustrator from Tokyo who, in her short career has already designed for brands such as Keds and Maybelline, agencies Lowe and TBWA, and magazines as diverse as Amelia’s Magazine to Princeton Architectural Press. She has had group shows and solo shows and is now working on a children’s book / iPad app and a charity project to help victims of the Japan earthquake among a million other things.
She was invited to show her work at traditional Japanese store, Ikiru, located in the heart of the Born neighborhood of Barcelona. She offered to come in person to do a live painting in their window – to the utter delight of the store’s dynamic press officer and the owner. We followed Yoko’s progress over the course of the weekend interviewing her about her inspiration, mesmerizing color palette, and the meaning behind her dream-like fairytales.
accompanying an article about Japanese people who come to New York
fine art installation pieces by Yoko Furusho
Go to Show Love to see more gorgeous videos, part of a collaboration between WWM founder and partner videographer, Peter Crosby to bring social content of the highest order to the best organizations and businesses out there.
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Designers / Artists: ON ZA LINE
“We have found ourselves longing to return to nature and sooner or later, we believe we will. But what will nature look like in the future?”
Ai Kurahashi and Kiyomi Kodama are a ceramicist duo from Japan.
Ai Kurahashi – born in Japan, 1976. Ai graduated from Nihon University’s College of Art with a degree in architecture in 2000. She had countless part time jobs at bars, boutiques, interior design offices, factories, warehouses, publishers, fashion brands – as a graphic designer, interior designer, interior stylist, editor, writer, or just a worker before focusing fulltime on ON ZA LINE with Kiyomi in 2005.
Kiyomi Kodama – born in Japan, 1976. Kiyomi studied ceramics at the Jyoshibi University of Art and Design. After graduation, Kodoma worked for four years designing ceramics for a Japanese design firm. In 2003, she started collaborating with Ai while still at the firm, and in 2005, quit her job to make ON ZA LINE her full time focus.
“We never know what will come out of the partnership between the medium and our creative processes. We could find ourselves with rings, necklaces, cups, or chandeliers. Some are born without a definition of what they ought to be.”
MORE FROM ON ZA LINE
- On Za Line 1
designed by: On Za Line
Description of item: Everything is made carefully by hand. This requires a great deal of time and passion. For this reason, we almost always make less than 50 of each item.For Inquiries, contact us
- On Za Line 2
designed by: On Za Line
Description of item: Everything is made carefully by hand. This requires a great deal of time and passion. For this reason, we almost always make less than 50 of each item.For Inquiries, contact us
- On Za Line 3
designed by: On Za Line
Description of item: Everything is made carefully by hand. This requires a great deal of time and passion. For this reason, we almost always make less than 50 of each item.For Inquiries, contact us
- On Za Line 4
designed by: On Za Line
Description of item: Everything is made carefully by hand. This requires a great deal of time and passion. For this reason, we almost always make less than 50 of each item.For Inquiries, contact us
- On Za Line 5
designed by: On Za Line
Description of item: Everything is made carefully by hand. This requires a great deal of time and passion. For this reason, we almost always make less than 50 of each item.For Inquiries, contact us
Artist: CHISATO ISHIKAWA
“The theme of my work is clothes that cannot be put on,” she says.
Chisato Ishikawa is a newcomer with a very strong, surreal sensibility for depicting disembodiment, an evocative image of rearranging, reclassifying, rethinking fashion consumption. She studied fashion design at university but then took this unique path as an artist after the idea came to her while making a pattern one day.
“The theme of my work is clothes that cannot be put on,” she says. “I make only one work with the same paper pattern.” She sews all her work herself and emphasizes that she works alone.
Chisato was born in 1980 in Kyoto, Japan. In 2003, she graduated from The Kobe Design University. In 2004, she began her work as an artist.
THE INTERVIEW
wwm: Do you use clothes that you have worn or owned?
CI: I don’t use used clothes for my work. I also rarely wear used clothing.
wwm: What are some of your favorite fashion designers?
CI: Rei Kawakubo. I like her stance on creation but I don’t have even a single item of her clothing.
wwm: Who are some of your favorite artists or musicians?
CI: M.C.Escher and René Magritte.
wwm: Name three of your favorite things.
CI: People-watching, the color gray, and geometric graphics – squares, circles, etc.
MORE PRODUCTS FROM CHISATO
- Slide 1
- Slide 2
- Slide 3
- Slide 4
Fashion Designer: NATSUKI SHIGETA
“How about a kinky punk yukata? It seems crazy, but our philosophy is to be authentic. This craziness could just be the high road in Japan! We also have a range of really coooooool accessories.”
Born in 1971 and with a degree from Nihon University in architecture, she designs a line of kimono, obi, and geta shoes in Japan under the name Tsukikageya. In 2004 she opened a shop in Shibuya, the fashion mecca of Tokyo. She also styles for magazine and films.
For Natsuki, the Obi, the traditional Japanese kimono belt, and the Yukata, the traditional Kimono cotton robe, define classic Japanese style. Her passion for both have driven her to create obis and kimonos since 2001 under her eponymous label. But these aren’t your everyday Japanese robes, belts and shoes; Even though she uses authentic materials, conventional patterns and employs only traditional craftsmanship, the textile patterns themselves, what she calls “smart punk”, have raised a few eyebrows. Hearts, stars, yen bills, animal prints, western hairstyles and Japanese hairstyles, a collection of abstract mouths, some smoking cigarettes – these are some of the images featured on a Tsukikageya robe. Natsuki points out that this kind of quirkiness is at the heart of Japanese authenticity. Honoring tradition while pushing boundaries is the essence of what she does.
THE INTERVIEW
wwm: Who wears your Yukata robes?
NS: Fashion lovers. Even people who are uninterested in a yukata, they wear TSUKIKAGEYA’s.
wwm: How do you come up with the ideas for the textile designs?
NS: They just pop up, suddenly, without any thread or any context. Especially at the last minute!
wwm: What is the best thing anyone has ever said about your designs?
NS: The best comment was being called “unorthodox.” People almost always say “punk” or “new” to my yukata!
wwm:Tell us how to wear the robe.
NS: You can wear with “Obi” like a traditional way, or also you can wear with western clothes. I’m happy if you can find a glamorous way to wear, anyhow.
wwm: Who are your favorite bands, favorite artists?
NS: Lou Reed!!
wwm: What’s your most prized possession?
NS: Good food.
From Japan, living in Berlin, Naoko Ogawa, creator of “gathering jewelry”
A different kind of jewelry designer, Naoko makes jewelry for your clothing. She decorates by changing the shape of shirts, shoes and shins – some of the more overlooked sculptural materials of our day to day selves. What drew me to her was her work with soft metals where the wearer can change the shape of a garments with a simple squeeze. Naoko’s “gathering” pieces create new draping, a new visual focal point.
She is from Japan and lives and works in Berlin.
Here’s the interview which I’ve edited for the language but only slightly.
Where were you born?
In a small town. Odawara, in Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo. I lived there until I was 18. Then I left to go to Tama Art University and Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music both in Tokyo.
Where do you work now?
Berlin.
How did the place you grew up influence your design?
the view from Naoko's studio
As a child, I was surrounded by woods and I spent a lot of time playing alone in nature. My favorite game was to play ‘treasure hunt.’ I’d gather small shiny things, a fragment of broken glass, a part of a broken buckle or vivid colored leaves and nuts, and show them to my family. It brought me great pleasure that my found treasures surprised them and made them happy. I wanted to expand on that experience and make something as beautiful as those found treasures. When I was five years old, I created my first piece of jewelry with acorns and thread. I’ve been making jewelry ever since.
Another way my town was an influence was that it inspired me to be different. My hometown was small and the people were conservative. They were not accepting of strangers or heterogeneity. Our family moved there from another town and it took time to acclimate. I liked the place, but didn’t like the group mentality. My reaction to this was to embrace being unique.
Talk about the materials you use. How did you come to use moldable metals in your “Gathering Jewelry” the pieces in particular that drew me to your work?
I majored in traditional Japanese metal crafts (metal hammer and curving works) in art school. I studied the properties of various metals. When you expose metals to too much heat, they become soft enough to manipulate into shapes. You have to watch out for metal fatigue though. Too much heat can break your material but I use aluminum plate for the Gathering Jewelry. Aluminum is soft and light, has strong plasticity, and can tolerate being manipulated over and over again.
What is your design philosophy?
I look for an element of surprise and to create joy, the jewel of life. I consider jewelry to be indispensable for a happy life – it’s like spices are to food.
Do you participate in any other art form? If so, what? (writing, fine arts, dance, etc)
No.
Any other female designers that you’d like our readers to check out?
Yuka Oyama & Susan Pietzsch (2). They are Artists, and their art is also jewelry. They have own unique opinions about jewelry, and are trying to create the “next” context for jewelry, evolve the meaning of jewelry.
Any comments on being a female designer? Is it tough for a woman or do you find it to be quite neutral?
Thank you for your interests in my work. I don’t think that it’s tough being a female designer at all. Men have their own angle. Women have their own angle.
You can see the rest of her work here.
What Five Japanese Women Make
Ever since I took on my first Japanese client and traveled to Kyoto with her, I’ve fallen in love with Japan like many before me. I was reluctant to present Japanese makers so soon because when I start in on Japan, its an Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole. Time freezes and all my other work is left undone. But I took the risk because I happened to find a small gem of a design graduate, Naoko Ogawa, and so off I had to go. I limited myself to two days to find a few more Japanese women, all in the name of a regional focus. And here they are, three Japanese designers and then the interview with Naoko-san which I’ll create for Wednesday’s post so stay tuned!
Emiko Oki
Emiko Oki
Based in London, born in Tokyo
Emiko-san uses each part of a place setting to form a trophy, her comment on what she calls a “fairly useless object” which is “masculine and sports related” rendering it “feminine, fragile, and functional.”
Trophy
Until August 23rd, you can see her work at the Museum of Art and Design in New York as part of an exhibit entitled Object Factory.
Then there’s Rie Isono and her firm Pear Design Studio. She worked for Sony before going off on her own. Here are two products of note, the elegant toothbrush holder and the skin-like fruit basket where the contents give it a unique shape every time you fill it:
Pear Design elegant toothbrush holder
Pear Design skin-like fruit basket
More traditionally Japanese are Hina Aaoyama’s intricate paper art cut-outs that she hand cuts! The zen patience of a saint. Makes me dizzy to watch it. So beautiful and delicate like couture clothing. She lives in France and has a permanent exhibit at the Museum of Miniatures in Lyon.
And I wanted to include the genius of Kazuyo Sejima the architect who makes up half of Sanaa with her protégé and partner Ryue Nishizawa. They are responsible for, in addition to this years summer pavilion in London, Tokyo’s Dior building and “Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion, which stunned critics for being perhaps the world’s first genuinely transparent museum — both external and internal walls are made of glass.” –Japan Times
And last, they’re not women, but noteworthy indeed. They fall under the category of “Men We Love” which obviously could be its own website. Check out the whimsy and inventiveness of Kyouei Design - from their oozy liquid bookmark to their aluminum mesh chair and gravity defying wine carafe.
Kazuyo Sejima
-Chauncey Zalkin
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