Day 4170: Rice Shop and Ants.

 

   

"Tension": junk collage, inks, digital.

 

  

Want music?

 

    

Click here:  Patti Labelle, On My Own

 

  

 

 

2GN2S

Almost Perfect: 

100-Year Old Tokyo Rice Shop Converted to a Space for Creatives

all photos by Brian Scott Peterson

Tokyo based illustrator Luis Mendo would often travel to the neighborhood of Asakusabashi to pick up sketchbooks. And over time he began falling in love with the creative and artistic vibe of the town. He and his wife Yuka were weary of feeling isolated in Shinjuku. Their tight apartment was putting a strain on their love for hosting artist friends from overseas. So when they stumbled onto a 100-Year old building that formerly housed a rice shop, it immediately checked so many boxes for them. It was almost perfect.

After some renovations, Almost Perfect opened in Octobe 2018.

  An essentially a short-term residency program for foreign creatives who want to come to Japan to learn, be inspired and display their work. The 1st floor serves as a gallery and cafe space. Luis & Yuka added a  wall to showcase art and kept the old rice machines in place as a tribute to the owner’s past hours of labor.

the 1st floor exhibition and cafe space

The 2nd floor has been completely renovated and now functions as a sleeping quarters for the resident artist, as well as a shared office space. The top and 3rd floor is where Luis and Yuka reside.

Built right after the 1923 Kanto earthquake, the 100-year old building survived the WWII bombings and is in surprisingly great shape with lots of old elements remaining as a nod to its past. Almost Perfect has already completed its 1st residency with French comic artist Charles Berberian and is currently hosting their 2nd creative resident, British photographer Hugo Tillman.

 

the resident creative’s sleeping quarters

the 2nd floor residency and studio

Interested? Check out their website.

How cool is that?

Thought for the day ...

 

Did you know that if you put 100 black ants and 100 red ants in a jar, nothing will happen? But if you shake the jar hard, the ants start killing each other. The red ants consider the black ants their enemies, and the black ants consider the red ants their enemies. The true enemy is the one shaking the jar. The same thing happens in human society. So, before we attack each other, we should think about who is shaking the jar!

 
Credit: Kurt Vonnegut

 

 

 

 

  

 

A 5 minute video, Happier Alone, here.

 

 

  

Just because ...

  

Lyrebird

 

Saturday's Smiles ...