A residence in Kanagawa Prefecture Japan. The scenery of the residential quarter in suburbs where the detached house with the garden lines up has extended. At first, I put a big box whole of the site, then make big void as a window.The relation “Garden and house” is improved to "The big box including the garden and environment around the site” in the scale. The box makes a big window on environment is chosen, sky in the south and green tract of land in the north. This is trial for urban residence to close and open to the environment. It enable to feel more large scale.
In the spirit of the holidays, I thought I'd post my favourite scene from one of my favourite films, Love Actually. Coz love actually, is all around. Happy Holidays everybody! :)
Def: That feeling you get when you leave a conversation and think of all the things you should have said.There is no word in the English language for this.
I've always considered myself somewhat of an introvert, not too loud, I've never given myself as much credit as a really should have and I've always thrived on being somewhat of a loner - often choosing the enjoyment of my own company over loud crowded areas - in fact, I've always felt more lonely being amongst a room full of 'wrong' people than on my own. This goes the same for my work, I've always been able to work with others and contribute to a group, but I've always really enjoyed going away and working on my own - for some reason, I tap into some visceral thought inertia of "flow" where my brain neurons connect and interplay in such a way that it never quite has when I'm with others, and whilst I do enjoy the company of theirs and certainly enjoy the ideas that can only be formed through discussion between people, my creativity has only ever been sparked in moments of my own solitude. Perhaps that's why I enjoy work like design or photography. I don't know how I feel about communal work places, they almost feel forced, whilst I feel like dialogue is only ever effective once others have done their homework, which can only ever be done properly in private. But like Susan Caine says, I think theres an element of introversion and conversely and element of extroversion in all of us. None of us are wholly white nor wholly black swans. I've never been overtly socially shy, but I'm not exactly the kind who can "work a crowd". I heard that extroverts tend to gain energy from introverts and introverts tend to toil ifrom their own pool of energy, so maybe theres something under that veneer of softness that introverts are hiding. There's hope for us introverts afterall!
"Go after her. Fuck, don’t sit there and wait for her to call, go after her because that’s what you should do if you love someone, don’t wait for them to give you a sign cause it might never come, don’t let people happen to you, don’t let me happen to you, or her, she’s not a fucking television show or tornado. There are people I might have loved had they gotten on the airplane or run down the street after me or called me up drunk at four in the morning because they need to tell me right now and because they cannot regret this and I always thought I’d be the only one doing crazy things for people who would never give enough of a fuck to do it back or to act like idiots or be entirely vulnerable and honest and making someone fall in love with you is easy and flying 3000 miles on four days notice because you can’t just sit there and do nothing and breathe into telephones is not everyone’s idea of love but it is the way I can recognize it because that is what I do. Go scream it and be with her in meaningful ways because that is beautiful and that is generous and that is what loving someone is, that is raw and that is unguarded, and that is all that is worth anything, really."
- Harvey Milk
Fuck
yes Harvey Milk! Why the fuck can't we all just fucking come clean and
say what we want without being deemed an emotional psycho. I'm human, and I'm
not going to masquerade around like I don't care, 'cause I do. I feel, I think,
maybe too much at times, but I'm not gonna justify my exploding head and
heart in favour of conforming. Sometimes we need to go after what we want,
whether it's right or wrong. I think with my head so much, sometimes I want to
take my heart out on a walk, get a little air, 'cause I never let it
out of it's fucking cage. But as much as I hate it, sometimes life's messy,
brutal, awkward , honest, raw and gritty and so are my emotions. Sometimes it
needs a little detox so I can go on again. I will not regret telling him how I
feel and acting on this impulse because I rarely ever allow myself to, and I'm
not gonna apologize for something that's gonna be healthy for me in the long
run. I don't wanna be 70 years old and look back on the coulda, woulda,
shoulda.
These breathtaking shots are taken by James Yeung, a fulltime lawyer based in Hong Kong. He first got his first DSLR back in 2008 and was instantly hooked. When he first started taking photos, the tiny details of life that often go unnoticed most sparked his interest. Since then, he has focussed his attention on the details such as the emotions and actions of people, trying to capture them and share them with the world. For James, theres always been a story behind every photo. It is up to the photographer to capture and allow the audience to interpret as they will.
Ok, no one, except the priviliged few have enough money to go overseas and document, get inspired and take photos, but for those who are firmly grounded to in one place for the majority of the year - we need to find things that constantly interest and inspire us within the place we live. I suspect that Yeung uses his evenings wisely, being a full time lawyer means moonlighting as a street photographer by night is his only option.
This might just be what I need for my photography inspiration. I love how Yeung manages to use the little back-stories of each character in his images to give colour and character to the city scape.Within every image, Yeung manages to create little space of excitement, mystery and intrigue. His subjects aren't celebrities or style mavens, they're just normal people going about their day-to-day, but theyre all stars in their own right, acting out their own living movie - theres beauty in that, kinda like short films in still form. I find the hadest thing about photogaphy is creating an interest and inspiration into a subject that bores you. Life back in little ol' NZ isnt exactly rivetting, but it might just be my perception. But by creating a cinematic atmosphere, it's possible to make that dreary, mundane cityscape that much more interesting.
Masterclass is a series produced by HBO, a couple of years old now, but none the less interesting, where creatives fresh from high school and art school undergrads intern under a "master" for a couple of days. Each master passing on their creative process and sharing a bit of themselves through their discipline. The inter-relatedness of art as to our world really struck a chord. These episodes really reminded me just how much I miss the creative process and just how much I want to pursue a career in it, whether it be my hobby-turned-freelance job, or my fulltime job, only time will tell. I've featured my favourite episodes from the series below:
"They say women are made of water. So are some men. Most people fall in love for the first time as teenagers. I guess I'm a late bloomer. Maybe I'm too picky. On May 30, 1995, I finally fell in love for the first time. It was raining that night. When I looked at her I suddenly felt like I was a store. I don't know how long she'll stay. The longer the better, of course."
"If you make yourself more than a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal. And if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely. A legend Mr Wayne, a legend."
- Ra's al Ghul
Ok, this is a bit late, well not really, cause as far as I know, I can blog about anything at any time, but I guess it's been a long time coming. I'm the biggest fan of the Dark Knight Trilogy in every way possible. I just thought I'd dedicate a blog post and some time to reflect on exactly what it is about it I love. It's a talisman to creative perfection. Perfect in every way possible. So here goes the list of the things I love about Christopher Nolan's Batman:
1) It's a complete story. I love how the story ended, and it ended with the audience satisfied, not wanting more or with gaping holes in it. It was suitable and read like a story with a beginning, middle and an end.
2) The moral story behind it, it's a very rare that an action packed superhero flick has a human story to elevate it. It's very layered and smart, it assumes the audience is smart. I love that Nolan fleshes his characters out and gives each of them a complex character ark to ground them. They're each fully rendered human beings whose human condition is fully extracted. In this way, he makes the great elusive Batman out as someone, not enigmatic, but relatable. His story ark brings us the journey Batman must go on to come to self realization his fears, his pitfalls and mistakes, the courage and strength he must find withnin himself to carry on having lost his identiy and self worth - all issues humans need to grapple with. Nolan just made it so the average human feels empowered, as if teach of us are Batman in our own way - that greateness is not far off, its achieveable and attainable within all of us to become a superhero in our own lives.
3) The action scenes were awesome and bad ass, but they were only made better by reasoning behind them. They were never gratuitous - every action scene would contribute to the storyline in some way. and the batpod, its just so cool.eveything is so epic, the power of it all. The sophistication of the technology and sleekness and finesse. The way it flowed with the score. Everything.
4) The aesthetic of Nolan's Gotham, his Batman, the architecture, the menacing villains the panning cityscapes, his villains his allies - everything is so transferable. It's gritty and raw and real in every way, it doesn't distort from what we know cities to be. Its a superhero set in the world we know. Nolan really has a sense for the epic and cinematic. He creates a world and a life worthy of grandeur. In a way it empowers the audience, that such a normal man, can have such an amazing life - the world really is his and the relatability to his character resonates humanity in all of us.
5) Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy has empowered me in ways that other movies never have. I've had a pretty rough year this year, and it reminds me that even if it's tough, every hero must go through the bad to get to their glorified moment. Keep living. Keep working. Keep loving. Stay inspired. " To conquer fear, you must become fear. To manipulate the fears in others, you must first conquer your own."
I discovered Vice Magazine's YouTube channel just recently. The travel series and the fashion week series are pretty good too. Its a fun channel where super random cultural topics are presented by twenty-something hipsters who are just as euro-centric as I am, so are just as shocked on assignment. There were a lot of interesting documentaries on the Vice channel, particularly the conversation with a cannibal and donkey sex in Colombia, but for the sake of maintaining taste level, I decided to exclude them from my blog. But check them out anyway! Their videos inspire me to expose myself to issues that might alter my perception of the way I see the world, and to be more open, the rawness of the content is quite confronting but engrossing at the same time. It's like a train wreck - the shouldn't stare, but can't seem to turn away kinda deal. Unfortunately, you do get stuck with some naff reporters, who ruin an otherwise grossly entertaining doco, but hey, at least the content is out there.
Suicide Forest in Japan
This doco really struck a chord with me. It follows this man, whose work it is to monitor suicide through the forest at the foothills of Mt Fuji, nothing explicit or gruesome, just melancholy and introspective. So beautiful. This man has the most beautiful soul. He has such a sense of empathy and humanity, it's just a pleasure to watch him go about his work - such a noble vocation. So inspirational. Seriously worth a watch. Oddly calming and disconcerting in equal measure.
Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan
Ok, this was one of the more disturbing of the vice videos. Harrowing and violent as this act my be, it's a core part of their traditional and has been and looks like it will continue to be common practice in Kyrgyzstan for generations to come, considering the normalization of this behaviour by national media. Its super interesting, if not menacing. But I dread to say, my western POV makes me think that it's only just slightly backward? I mean, regardless of culture, its pretty radical to violently kidnap a girl on the street unsuspectingly against her will and essentially force her to get married to often times a virtual stranger, or a man she does not want to marry, within hours of the violent act. Regardless of the 'rightness' of it or not, it's interesting how strongly rooted in this the country is because of tradition, the saddest part of this is that she will unwillingly become the servent of her forced husbands family. Eventually having to drop out of school and often, giving up her career totally, for a future she never planned and cannot fight against. She is left powerless to her own kidnapper husband. The openness and normalcy of this kind of act in the Kyrgyz culture, is baffling and is widely accepted, even encouraged.
Check out the Vice Mag YouTube Channel here and the online mag here.
3Destruct is an immersive installation, a large
semi transparent cube that generates light and sound, whereby as a visitor
walks through, will lose their bearings in the non-linear universe that numbing
any spatial coherence. The installation was for the Scopitone festival in
Nantes, France in 2011. AntiVJ is a UK design collective made of artists
Yannick Jacquet, Jérémie Peeters and Thomas Vaquié.
Upon discovering this design collective for the first time, I was surprised that I had never heard of them before. Their installations are meant to challenge the audiences perceptions through light projection influencing human perception.Their work is reminiscent of Eliasson's. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. AntiVJ have definitely found a new fan in me.
Learn more about the work of AntiVJ by clicking here.
The way she says 'I love you'. And the conviction and strength she found within herself despite her loss. Mariane Pearl is an inspiration. And Angelina Jolie is such a talented actress. Both women are beautiful inside and out.
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