Assignment 1

Did a project this week, where I went out with Helen, and we asked people in Chelsea to draw us a map to their favorite spot in the neighborhood. As is to be expected, we met some really cool people! Of the 10 people we asked, 9 participated. My favorite was Dave (wearing the Spruce T-shirt). He is turning 68 on the27th. I’ll have to bring him a cupcake.

Photos here.

Week 1 at The Kitchen

My first week at the Summer Institute with The Kitchen in New York is going well. It’s called an intensive for a reason. I am exhausted but loving it. A few photos of what’s going on. Harrell Fletcher - Artistic Director; other participants. Students we’re working with at the Hudson Guild, and pictures they drew for us today about polar bears and penguins.

Photos here.

Japanese rockabilly

“The tree-lined area leading from the south end of the park to Shibuya is filled with all sorts of street performers, mostly folk-pop singers, but also including hip-hop dancing and street theater.”

What America really needs

This post will be brief, but very important. I have discovered something in Japan, that I truly wish existed in the US. Today, at the Mori Museum in Tokyo, I used the bathroom, and discovered a button on the toilet that I had not seen before. A fake flusher. This includes volume control, and a stop button – which enables you to play the fake flushing noise for as long as you need it. I was truly in heaven. This country thinks of EVERYTHING!

In the 80’s with 100% humidity and I don’t care

My days here continue to wonder and amaze. The food has been an experience that I will never forget. It is treated the same way as art or design. It’s an art form of its own. Everything is so delicate and beautiful. They are careful about everything, and speak softly and slowly. It’s so different from the US which seems very brash in comparison. No one yells here. And as a result, I find myself really taking my time with everything. So peaceful and beautiful. Everyone I’ve met or dealt with here is very polite, friendly and considerate.

I met yesterday with the conceptual artist I had found online while researching Kyoto art spaces before coming here. Markuz is originally Swiss, but spends his time now between Kyoto and San Francisco. He spent the day showing me things that arent on the map. We hiked 20 minutes up a mountain to an authentic shrine that sits between two waterfalls. It was breath taking. He also took me to a noodle place to eat lunch. A plate with beautifully julienned vegetables and ginger, added to a bowl of broth, which you then add your handmade udon noodles to. Slurping is considered a compliment, and so the noise in the restaurant was astounding. SLURPPPPPP. SLURPPPP. He explained that it’s considered a way of airing out your mouth as you eat to enhance the flavors, and compared it to the way people open a bottle of wine and let it breath first. I was in heaven, and it was nice to move around with someone who speaks Japanese.

performance at conference gala dinner

graveyard with blessings at the tombs

Markuz in his home office

Greetings from Planet Japan

Stepping off the plane in Osaka and hopping on a train to Kyoto seemed normal enough. Having traveled a fair amount over the years, it was not completely out of my element to traipse from one form of transportation to the other. But even at the beginning of this journey, I was noticing small details that seemed beautiful. Bright green leather seats in the airport; chairs that recline on the train the same way an airplane seat does; rice fields next to each apartment building as we whipped by the landscape.

It was only after emerging from the subway into the neighborhood of our hotel that I felt that magical electricity of somewhere completely new. So quiet. So serene. So lush and green. The landscape different to what I know. The trees manicured in a different way. As we stepped into the hotel, there were people to take care of us. One woman stood with us, as we waited in line to check in. The sea of economists waiting with bags was daunting. After checking in, two other hotel representatives walked us up to our room. The hotel is round, and built with a large green garden in the middle. As we walked to the room, I was in awe. The room is huge, and the furnishings are beautiful. This was Japanese simplicity at it’s best, and I was in love.

I am in love.

At this stage, I could spend hours writing about what I’ve seen done and eaten, but it would be far more useful for me to continue exploring. And so, I will leave the hotel soon, and set out to further my adventures in this gorgeous place.

I leave you with a few photographs from my collection of 240+. There will more reporting soon.

view from our room

my samurai

museum of contemporary art

shojin lunch at zen buddhist temple (vegan)

temple

green velvet seats on the subway