Spoon & Tamago

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Our Favorite Things from artKYOTO 2020

December 5, 2020 / Johnny / Comments Off

After a successful inaugural show last year, artKYOTO is back. The 3-day art fair is taking place this weekend at the Kyoto National Museum, along with a number of satellite locations. “The event aims to engrave in our minds the history of culture and art, which our predecessors have long protected and nurtured, as present-day wisdom. The Kyoto National Museum, an Important Cultural Property, will also serve as a venue in addition to Nijo-jo Castle, a World Heritage site.”

The programs includes an art market, a live performance at Nijo-jo Castle, spotlights on up-and-coming artists and art history tours, all while taking the utmost precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Below are some of the artworks that caught our eye.

KANOGU: Aromatic Paints Stimulate Your Sense of Sight & Smell

December 4, 2020 / Johnny / Comments Off

Painting primarily involves the sense of seeing and touching. Kanogu (香の具), which means “aromatic paints” in Japanese, is a new tool that combines 100% natural essential oils with paints to offer a new way of painting that also involves the sense of smell.

Imaginative Drawings of Travel During a Pandemic Lockdown by Oscar Oiwa

December 3, 2020 / Johnny / 1 Comment

Tsutenkaku, Osaka (created in March 2020) “I was supposed to travel to Osaka at the end of March, to have a meeting with a museum curator and prepare for a show that would take place at the end of year. I was thinking about preparing a series of works with a local theme, and hoped to also spend the trip researching the history and culture of the area. However, after the coronavirus outbreak hit Japan, I needed to give up that trip too”

The Brazilian-born Japanese artist Oscar Oiwa (previously) found himself in the same state as many of us when the pandemic struck earlier this year: projects and trips were all postponed. Instead of meeting with curators, going to his studio and walking around New York City where he’s based, he found himself confined to his apartment. So he did the only reasonable thing: he used his craft to begin a series that would transform his feelings into visual art.

Arata Endo’s 1928 Kaji Villa in Hayama Renovated as a Short-Term Rental

December 3, 2020 / Johnny / 1 Comment

Frank Lloyd Wright first arrived in Japan in 1917 and that same year he met Arata Endo – 27 years old at the time and fresh off the team working on plans to construct Meiji Shrine. The two architects bonded and Endo would go on to become Wright’s primary protégé, overseeing many of Wright’s projects in Japan after he left the country.

Social Distancing Meets Erik Satie in Interactive Musical Installation

November 29, 2020 / Johnny / Comments Off

A panoramic mural of musical keys recently appeared along the floor leading into the Minato Mirai Hall, a music venue in Yokohama. Titled “Social Harmony” and created by Eisuke Tachikawa, the mural is part social distancing sticker and part interactive musical art installation.

Adorable Takeout Space Added to Restaurant in Wakayama

November 28, 2020 / Johnny / 1 Comment

all photos by Hirobumi Imanishi

Latelier Natural is a French restaurant in the Arida district of Japan’s Wakayama prefecture, situated near Wakayama Bay. Behind the small restaurant was a parking space just large enough for 2-3 cars. As if anticipating the pandemic and social-distancing response, in 2019 the restaurant decided to expand by converting their parking lot into a tiny yet adorable takeout counter.

Keiko Miyamori Created Tree Rubbings for 125 Days as a Show of Resilience During the Pandemic

November 27, 2020 / Johnny / Comments Off

Japanese artist Keiko Miyamori divides her time between New York and Japan. But when the the global pandemic struck earlier this year her exhibitions in Japan got cancelled and she found herself stranded in New York. On that fateful day in April she began making tree rubbings and encasing them in boxes.

Artisan Spotlight: Potter Akihiro Terada

November 26, 2020 / Johnny / Comments Off

Artisan Spotlight is a new initiative at the Spoon & Tamago Shop to highlight the work of individual artisans and craftspeople in Japan. Although we’ve always been supportive of traditional crafts, our focus within the shop has always been on makers and designers that fall somewhere in-between handmade and mass-produced. But with limited travel and exposure now due to the pandemic, we thought it was important to expand our coverage.

Experience Authentic Kutani Ceramics at the new Cerabo Kutani

November 24, 2020 / Johnny / Comments Off

Cerabo Kutani is a new museum and hands-on workshop that opened over the summer in Komatsu City (Ishikawa prefecture), a location known as one of the few and first production centers of kutani-yaki porcelain. It’s here that, over 350 years ago, clay was first made by crushing rocks mined from the nearby Hanasaka mountains.