the selby - todd selby

"a translator, a Tijuana tour guide, a strawberry industry researcher, a cartographer, a political corruption consultant in Mexico, an art director at a venture capital firm, an exotic flower wholesaler, a Japanese clothing designer, and a vermicomposting entrepreneur."*

who's this? the photographer of the blog "The Selby" which features the cribs of creative minds. Todd Selby is the mastermind behind this blog. he is a New York-based fashion and potrait photographer who's works are featured in high profile magazines such as British Vogue and Sony. the blog features a collection of photos from a variety of artists, with funny brief hand-written interviews at the end. artists featured are from around LA and New York including such individuals as the fashion designer, Alexander Wang.

i wish i can post some pictures but i can't display them without permission.

i hope you will take a look at "The Selby" at http://www.theselby.com/

*mini bio from Bernstein & Andriulli (http://www.ba-reps.com/artist/Selby/as/photographer)

- cup of red

berry-stained lips

berries are my favourite type of fruit, but to look like i just kissed a basket of ripe berries...i think i'm obsessed with berry-stained lips now.

how to do it: dab matte berry-coloured lipstick on your lips with your fingers.

- cup of red

0 yen house - Kyohei Sakaguchi

"can you live for zero yen?" i asked.
"yes,of course. because there is many treasures in Tokyo"
"treasures?" i can't understand.
"yes. i get all money from the street." he said.
"i want to know how to live for zero yen. please tell me."
"sure. please come in. let's drink at first."

sustainability and homelessness are popular words today - both issues waiting to be supported or solved. but the Japanese has found a solution...zero yen houses. Kyohei Sakaguchi is a documentor of portable houses belonging to the homeless. the innovative architecture draws the use of recycled materials and rubbish, thus the name "zero yen house." these zero yen houses are found on the streets of Tokyo, under bridges and even on public stairways. the focus of Sakaguchi's photos are on the architectural aspects and practicality of the houses, not of the "homeless" people themselves. the homes are often mobile and easily collapsible because it is illegal to build permanent structures on public land.

i went to an exhibition of Sakaguchi's work at the Vancouver Museum. in the centre of the exhibit was a replica model of a zero yen house built by a former camera engineer that he saw on banks of Sumida River in central Tokyo. the little house was even complete with solar panels! on the walls, Sakaguchi blueprints the architectural aspects of the dwelling. these houses are not like camping tents where one can only rest and sleep in, but they are complete with electricity and water! by recylcing unwanted "junk", the street dwellers of Japan has demonstrated what real sustainable living is.

where you can learn more about "0 yen house" and other works of Kyohei Sakaguchi: http://www.0yenhouse.com/en/index.html

- cup of red

the dancing jellyfish

i recently went to the vancouver aquarium and saw one of mother nature's most beautiful creations - the orange jellyfish. their delicate tentacles waving about like a trail of smudged ink. i didn't take any photos or videos but i found some on the net that are just as enchanting. *edit* apparently, these jellyfishes are called japanese sea nettles. japanese ninjas carried a dried powdered form of the animal in their around and threw it at enimies' faces so the enimies would sneeze and the ninjas could escape.


below is an art piece by Rekha Garton, a artistic photographer. the piece is called "dancing jellfish." she created it by blobbing red ink into water in a coffee plunger. it's just like a dancing jellyfish...



where you can see jellyfishes: vancouver aquarium @ stanley park
where you can view more of Rekha Garton's works: http://flickr.com/photos/_rekha_/

- cup of red

rice field art

the people of Inakadate, Japan has a tradition where they grow four types of rice on their paddies into a large works of art. the idea sprung up in 1993 as a project to revitalize the community. from then on, they have done rice reproductions of the works of famous artists such as Katsushika Hokusai and even Leonardo de Vinci. each year, the team of artists and farmers determine which artwork they want to reproduce and recreate a digital image of it in dots. the dots are the precise location of the crops and the type that should be planted on the rice field. like photograph, increased amount of dots (or crops) equate to increased resolution. the dots are then transformed into different coloured reed sticks that reflect which species of rice plant to plant on that spot. in May, 700 volunteers participate in this extravagant project, planting the seed of art. the four types of rice they use are ki ine (yellow rice, yellow plant), murasaki ine (purple rice, brown plant), Beni Miyako (Red Miyako) and Tsugaru Roman (green plant). in July, one can climb up to a 22-meter-high mock castle tower overlooking the paddies to enjoy the rice creations. however, there's also 600 to 700 hundred visitors to fight with every weekend for the view. this is truely the English crop circle taken to a whole new level.

- cup of red