Spoon & Tamago

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Illustrations of Imaginary Cyberpunk Gadgets

May 13, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

A Japanese freelance concept artist who goes by the pen name E Wo Kaku Peter (which roughly means “Peter who draws” but we’ll just call him Peter) has been creating intriguing illustrations of imaginary gadgets. Based in Kanazawa, Peter’s creations often illustrate a dystopian, cyberpunk future. Peter’s illustrations can also take a humorous turn in which technology is wastefully applied to the most mundane of objects.

The illustrations are enjoyable on their own but it’s also fun imagining the violent and chaotic future in which such gadgets exist. You can see more of Peter’s work on his website and also on Twitter. Read on to see more of his work.

How a Redesigned Japanese Constitution Won a Prestigious Design Award

May 10, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

To revise or not to revise. That has been the ongoing debate in Japan over the country’s constitution amid political movements to revise war-renouncing Article 9. But husband and wife design duo Takuya Hoda and Yuuri Mikami were more interested in revising the look and feel of the constitution, rather than its contents.

Norihiko Terayama Dissects the Meaning of the Vessel

May 8, 2018 / Johnny / 1 Comment

If you’ve ever been to a Japanese traditional inn, you may have encountered the very same thing witnessed by designer and artist Norihiko Terayama: empty vessels and pots that are on display, without serving their intended purpose. What does it mean when the only thing asked of a flower pot is to sit quietly and exude presence. For Terayama, it meant that the function of the vessel’s shape and form had taken a back seat. What was more important was that it was simply there.

An Exhibition of Artwork that Provides a Window into Nature

May 6, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

Perched on the top of a cliff in Japan’s resort town of Atami is the Risonare Hotel. It’s a luxurious location that is surrounded by both the bounty of the sea and the lushness of the forest. But how to better illustrate this gift of nature to visitors of the hotel? The answer was, through art.

Go Inside Tokyo’s Massive Underground Storm Drain

May 3, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

all photos by Christoffer Rudquist

If you’re looking for something fun and different to do in Tokyo this summer to escape the heat, consider Tokyo’s “Underground Temple.” But maybe plan your visit around clear weather or you may find yourself evacuating.

TeamLab to Get Permanent Digital Art Museum Opening This Summer in Tokyo

May 1, 2018 / Johnny / 3 Comments

For the last several years, digital art collective teamLab has staged impressive installations all around Japan and abroad. Various museums have played host and fans have lined up for hours to immerse themselves in the short-lived digital projections that are often as interactive as they are colorful. Now, teamLab is getting their own museum of digital art thanks to a collaboration between real estate company Mori Building.

Tracing Japanese Lifestyle Changes Through Vintage Graphic Design and Products

April 26, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

The wave of modernity began to sweep Japan during the Taisho period (1912-1926) when Japanese society and the political system significantly opened up. Economic prosperity created a class of people that had more money to spend and increasingly lived in cities where they came into contact with influences from abroad. The terms Mobo and Moga (Modern Boy and Modern Girl) were coined to refer to those “it” boys and girls who sported western fashion and were often spotted in glamorous Ginza.

Feeling the Love from Japan’s Traditional “Boar Eye” Inome Symbol

April 23, 2018 / Johnny / 1 Comment

the Inome-Window at Shojuin Buddhist temple in Kyoto

The Shojuin Buddhist temple, which is roughly an hour drive from central Kyoto, is home to one of Japan’s most popular windows. Unlike Genko-an temple, where the round “Window of Enlightenment” and the square “Window of Confusion” offers a manifestation of Buddhist teachings, visitors don’t flock to Shojuin for enlightenment. Rather, they go in search of love. Well, not exactly.

A Redesigned Hourglass Questions How We Perceive Time

April 20, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

“Variations of time.” Nendo designed 4 different types of hourglasses that question how we perceive time

The hourglass, despite dating back hundreds of years, has remained largely unchanged in shape and form. In fact, with the advent of clocks, wristwatches and digital timepieces, the hourglass has ceased as a functional object and, instead, has been rendered a symbol of time itself. For Japanese design studio Nendo, this presented itself as an ideal opportunity to rethink how we perceive the concept of time.

A Tree Grows in Tokyo | Tree-Ness House by Akihisa Hirata

April 17, 2018 / Johnny / 1 Comment

unless otherwise noted, all photos by Vincent Hecht

The Japanese architect Akihisa Hirata (previously) has always been interested in the tangled, organic structure of trees. A tree consists of roots, a trunk, branches, leaves and flowers. And it is made unique and beautiful by the moss and fungi that grows on it, and the bugs and birds and squirrels that inhabit it. For Hirata, who worked for the luminary architect Toyo Ito for 8 years before establishing his own office in 2005, his latest work, “Tree-ness House” in Tokyo, may very well be the perfect embodiment – a metamorphosis, if you will – of Hirata’s philosophy.