I met some people from the organizing institutions and they told me that it would be difficult to find inhabitants willing to open their Machiya for me to show me their house, give an interview and to allow me taking photographs. It’s strange that although inside there’s nearly no privacy because of the paper walls, the exterior of the houses is very dark and closed, you can’t look inside or even dare to open a Lees verder
This morning I met one of the neighbors. He explained me very gently when and how to open and close the sliding doors* in the house. Places we share, places where he could see me (‘you’re a woman’) when and how to open or close them. I will show you the sliding doors of my part of the house(s). black are walls, red are the sliding doors, grey is my place, green is the couryard. Lees verder
After 11 hours by plain (7 hours forward in time) and nearly any sleep I got a warmhearted welcome from the people from the KCCC, the Doshisha University and the owners of the house. My apartment is big and full of things from the family: some traditional (photographs from the family, paper rolls, low tables, but … also a big television screen, western table and old-fashioned chairs, an inkpainting from a cathedral drawn with musicnotes. Lees verder
Exactly seven years ago I traveled for the first time to Japan. I was invited as Artist in Residence to come to Tokyo. Tokyo is the new capital of Japan, Kyoto is the old capital. In 794 it became the seat of Japan’s imperial court till 1869, than the emperor moved to Tokyo. In Tokyo I did research on mapping. How would I find my way in a country where I don’t know the culture, Lees verder
Today Joke Robaard (a colleague artist) asked me if I planned to put this book from Christopher Alexander in my suitcase. It’s new to me, but sounds very interesting. I haven’t packed yet, so maybe to take with me together with ….. (max 23 kg!) In a series of books published between 1964 and 1987 Christopher Alexander, an urban planner and architect, has inspired object oriented programmers with his idea of a pattern language, which Lees verder
Last weekend I was suprised to see this book in the Stedelijk. It’s an essay on aesthtics by Junichiro Tanizaki (1886-1965). Femke told me to read it for preparation, and Kenya Hara wrote about it in his book ‘designing design’. Tanizaki has a sharp eye for colour, light and material. The toilet is the most aesthetic of all elements of Japanese architecture
Yesterday I had a meeting with a friend and colleague artist Meinbert. He is active on E-bay, with buying masks, sculptures and textiles especially from Timor. I wanted to know how it would work to sell or buy a prefab house. How it works with: taxes, transportation, assurance. He told me that good reviews are very important for sellers. Mostly sellers prefer taking their things back instead of a bad review by the buyer. It Lees verder
Inspired by the famous Japanese graphic designer Kenya Hara, I would like to use his thoughts on ‘exformation’ in the Kyoto Machiya Research. He writes about ‘exformation’ as a counterpart of ‘information’: information is about making things know. Exformation is about understanding how little we know. What we are used to do, when we visit a new place is gathering information from all kind of sources (books, internet, friends). We want to see what we Lees verder
Invited by the Japanese Cultural Center in Amsterdam I’m going to Kyoto (october-november 2011) to do research on the old traditional wooden townhouses (Kyo-machiya). On this weblog I will write on a daily basis about my work. Japans cultureel centrum
Tijdens de expositie ‘Kaarten van Amsterdam’ was Hannie van den Bergh een van de deelnemers aan het project Amsterdam RealTime van Esther Polak en Jeroen Kee. Gedurende week 40 liep zij elke dag met een GPS op zak om haar route in kaart te brengen. Deze werd direct geporjecteerd op de expositie in het Amsterdams Gemeentearchief.