The Pseudo-amnesiac: art

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Life, Lately: August, Art, and Allies

Another month down into 2019 ahhhhh! How time flies! For the past months I feel like I'm stuck but this time around, I'm *happily* stuck lol. See the difference? Ha! Probably because this month, since I had more free time, I decided to make a conscious effort to not sulk, have a break on the things that I have no control of at the moment (but I will get back to head- and heart-strong) and instead feel happier- yes, you've read that right, I chose to be happy which meant surrounding myself with people I'm happy to be with, things that excite me, experiences that I know would lift my spirits up.

With that said, welcome to my August.

Summer in Nagoya with the beau.

Meet-up with friends who are in and around Tokyo but I don't see often because of our schedules. I'm glad to have caught-up with you all! Super thank you for the time and the company~

Went to two art exhibits this month and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Here is a separate post about those exhibits plus one more. *wink*

https://alyssashimode.blogspot.com/2019/08/art-lately-boltanski-shiota-tanaami.html

LANY concert in Tokyo. Fun, fuuuuun night!

Kiyose Sunflower Festival 2019. I have loved sunflowers since day 1 and I'm so glad to have visited a nearby sunflower festival! So many yellows that lifted my mood in an instant! Check out my post on this, here.

Summer Sonic 2019 aka my third one since 2017. As always, it was so much fun! Highlight would be BLACKPINK and CHVRCHES!!!

Riverside BBQ at Jurigiland in Akiruno and Japanese Tourism Workshop on the last day of August c/o Valiant Japanese and Japan Lover Me. It was a fun day of travel journaling, photography, stationery, and talking with some old and a lot of new faces! Super thank you to Kaila/@Rainbowholic for inviting me and giving me first dibs on the newly-launched #MyValiantJapanese book. You can check the website below to get your copy!

https://valiantjapanese.com/

Weeeewwww what an August! Pretty hectic but a loooooot of fun! Ya girl is very happy! Hope you had an awesome August!♡ September will be ending soon so please look forward to another Life, Lately post from me! 😘

Previous Life, Lately post (July): https://alyssashimode.blogspot.com/2019/08/life-lately-crossroads.html

xx,

Alyssa

Friday, August 16, 2019

Art, Lately: Boltanski, Shiota, Tanaami

I know this is not the first art-related post I have here on my blog but I want to organize my posts a little, hence the "Art, Lately" heading lol. I know, I didn't put that much effort on naming this new blog series but that will do for now. If you have suggestions, feel free to comment down or let me know via my sns sites. Thank you!

So yup, I have been to a couple of museums and galleries recently- probably the reason of me trying to put things in order here on the blog. It was quite a bold thing for me to go to the three exhibitions below as the artists were foreign to me. But if I think about it, that's probably the reason I went- because their names were new to my ears. I didn't research on them beforehand for the thrill of it. I wanted to know what they're made of. I wanted to know what kind of stories they tell. I was quite hesitant to go and shocked at times during the visits but I'd admit that it was quite refreshing to see different perspectives and art styles. If anything, these museum visits fueled me to reach out more to the vast world that is ✧art✧.

⎡Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles⎦

I went here three days after the opening and was amazed by most pieces as they were huge and just imagining me doing all of those made me tired already lol. Some pieces were disturbing for me but I guess it's on me. Berlin-based artist Shiota Chiharu was just presenting me something that already existed and me being uncomfortable with it doesn't make its existence invalid. The whole exhibition was centered around memories, anxiety, dreams, identity, existence, and boundaries. Pieces I personally loved are as follows:

Mori Art Museum, Roppongi Hills

Nearest Station: Roppongi Station Exit 3

Fee: ¥1,800/ adult

Run time: June 6, 2019 - October 27, 2019

⎡Christian Boltanski: Lifetime⎦

Boltanski is a French contemporary artist, and this exhibition in Tokyo is said to be his biggest one yet. His works revolve around "history, memory, and the vestiges of human existence".

The National Art Center, Tokyo

Nearest Station: Nogizaka Station Exit 6

Fee: ¥1,600/adult

Run time: June 12, 2019 - September 2, 2019

⎡Keiichi Tanaami: Great Journey⎦

I went here with my childhood friend Tomo and we were greeted with a mural near the door of the gallery, a work made by the popular post-war Japan artist Keiichi Tanaami. We went and saw a sculpture- colorful, psychedelic, pop in nature. I thought the artist is in his 30s, someone young and vibrant. But he's actually 83 years old!!! Me being shocked is an understatement lol. It was intriguing... how his mind works- in a good way, of course.