Prueba Guille

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Little pieces of cloth

What is Quilt? My impression about this activity was of women knitting little pieces of cloth. I may be right about women doing it, but Quilt is much more than my first idea of it.

Kyoto Station held an exhibition of Japan's most talented Quilt artists and it was evident to me that art can be expresed in many ways: Quilt is one of them. With all kinds of fabrics and other textile materials, these women artists create patterns and compositions about their own life experiences. The designs can range from small pieces, to large ones, meters long.

The patterns are very complex, created all by different shapes and colors. Some of the designs do not fit a square shape, but rather get out of it, like flying fish.

I enjoyed in first place Goke Keiko and Emiko Toda Loeb. Subarashii.

Noritake Kinashi

I have had the fortune to visit many and very beautiful exhibitions in Japan, but there is always one exceptional. Noritake Kinashi's certainly is it. I visited an exhibition of his work in Kyoto Station where I had the opportunity to enjoy the strenght of his paintings. He plays with colors and shapes that come together in images that evoque not only beauty, but emotion, full of expresiveness thru all kind of resources and materials. His message:　REACH OUT

Beautiful garbage

Is it possible to have art in garbage?, in Japan it is. Maishima's incineration plant in Osaka is an outstandingly beautiful building designed by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, architect, painter and sculptor as well.

Hundertwasser has a very special style that goes against straight lines. He cares more about irregular forms, related to nature. Among his many works, he designed a proposal for a second flag for New Zealand, which he considered his home.

The incineration plant itself is a master of engineering that has the latest in technology. It is impressive to see how much waste humans create in everyday life. I guess the point is not only to have the best resources to deal with garbage, but also to prevent from generating that much, based on a more conscious consumption.

Follow the yellow brick road

If you happen to be blind, Japan is your place. Everywhere, everything has considered blind people's needs, attending the principles of Universal Design: to be used by people with different needs and abilities.

Just like in the famous Wizard of Oz, in Japan there is a yellow texturized road that blind people can follow and get to their destination without getting lost or injured.

One of the most complicated aspects of living in Japan may be public transportation, since there are many lines, that go in many directions. The Subway system has ticket machines with tactile instructions and also, the popular yellow guide road.

Again, there are all kind of considerations for blind people, but I experience that there are not as many for the elder population, which consists of a larger population, since Japan's birthrate is considerably decreasing (http://www.ipss.go.jp/p-info/e/PSJ2006.pdf). There is a lack of conditions for this big and growing segment of the population.

Hirocoledge

Recently in Tokyo, I met by chance -if that exists- Japanese Designer Takahashi Hiroko. She plays with simple shapes and colors and creates patterns that represent the Japanese spirit in a very contemporary style. She is the Design Director of her own brand, Hirocoledge, where she develops products that value the traditional techniques of Japan incorporing new ones.

In Japanese culture it is believed that black Kimonos should only be worn in funerals. Takahashi Hiroko`s recently received her Doctorate in fine Arts with a challenging line of black and white Kimonos that can be worn in happier ocasions. Why not question what has always been the same way?

http://www.hirocoledge-store.com/

www.hirocoledge.com/events_en/

Don't wanna be the president of America

All I want to do is bicycle!

Before living in Japan, I thought of bicycles as a sports and amusement device only. In Japan I would say that they are some of the most representative objects of their culture. Bicycles have been part of the Japanese culture as a very important way of transportation. It so practical to just take your bicycle for short or even long distances. And even if the weather is very hot, during the summer, when you move you can feel the wind refreshing you.

There are two basic types of bicycles in Japan: a big one whose objective is to carry things. It usually has a basquet and may also have a flat device on the back where you can either put a baby or a friend. The other one is smaller and its main purpose is to be folded in two, so you can take it everywhere with you.

The Bicycle Museum in Sakai, where 40% of all bicycles in Japan are produced (I just read that) is the only museum of this kind.

It was absolutelly amazing to see how well designed is this museum. They first show a video about the history of this important object. Then, they have an exhibition of the different models, showing the development of the bicycle, since the very first one from 1790, the "Celefere" from Frenchman Sivrac, which still had no pedals, so actually the user had to propell him along with his feet.

There is also a place where it is possible to realize how the mechanism of a bicycle works: the relation between the size of the chainring and the wheel (that is comething that I have already experienced with the two bicycles that I ride, one small and one large).

The three main contributions of the bicycle: sports, health and environment.

Bicycle is freedom.