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AST News
ART SPACE TOKYO REVIEWED IN LEAP MAGAZINE
Happy New Year! We hope you’re as excited about 2011 as we are.
The year has already got off to a good start for us. We just received a copy of the December issue of LEAP, a bilingual Chinese-English periodical on contemporary art in China. In it, its editorial director, Philip Tinari, wrote a brief but glowing review of AST—one that appreciates our enthusiasm for the Tokyo art world, the city and the art of bookmaking.
This immaculately written, edited, and designed pocket archive of the Tokyo art world offers a printed vision of its co-authors’ mental, nodal picture of a scene they know from the inside. Its topical interviews with key dealers and collectors, inky illustrations, and articulate maps don’t so much as portray a city through its art world as they capture an art world through the meticulous voice of its city. Less ironic than gleeful in its embrace of authoritatively bookish conventions—copious endmatter, empirical footnotes, self-conscious copyright page—the compact volume revels in being a monument at a moment when permanence can seem but a stylistic choice.
Thank you, Philip!
Nakaochiai Gallery Closing
I’m sorry to report that after six years of exhibitions, Nakaochiai Gallery is holding its closing party on November 27.
Having long been involved in art projects all over Tokyo, the owners, Julia Barnes and Clint Taniguchi, have decided to move their home to Mejiro and continue their art activities without a permanent gallery space.
The only other featured gallery to have closed in the two and a half years since Art Space Tokyo was first published is Project Space Kandada, run by the nonprofit artist collective commandN. However, like Nakaochiai they were not shutting down their operations but were relocating and expanding them elsewhere, at their new initiative, the 3331 Arts Chiyoda center.
When Craig and I chose the 12 spaces to feature in the book, we did try to choose those with longevity. After all, we were looking for some of the most architecturally and historically distinctive galleries and museums, so the fact that most of them are located in striking, often purpose-built buildings makes them less likely to relocate.
But it was inevitable that some would, and Project Space Kandada and Nakaochiai were the two that we suspected would be most likely to do so. But it’s important to remember that we also chose these spaces because of the fascinating neighborhoods they are in. We want our readers to continue to explore the secondhand bookstores of Kanda and the old-world residential backstreets of Nakaochiai. Keep wandering!
A Moment With Craig Mod
Art Space Tokyo publisher Craig Mod talks to Graham CopeKoga about his philosophy of bookmaking while in London for the DO lectures, held in Wales, where he spoke on September 19th.
The video contains previously unseen footage of the second edition of Art Space Tokyo in mid-production at the printers in Tokyo.
Art Space Tokyo on Twitter
Sometimes the obvious hits you waaaaay later than it should have.
Until today, Art Space Tokyo had no Twitter account.
But now we do! So please follow us!
We’ll continue to use the AST blog to post monthly round-ups of links to articles on Japanese contemporary art as well as other news items, but through Twitter we will definitely offer more up-to-the-minute updates about the Japanese art scene.
Art Space Tokyo’s July Party at the TODs Flagship Store
Following our party at the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, we celebrated the relaunch of Art Space Tokyo in style at TODs.
The party was full of people featured in AST, but given the book’s focus on a specific set of venues, it was fantastic to see so many artists, gallerists, curators, collectors and editors from the broader Tokyo art scene in attendance.
You can check out the full photo report on the Pre-Post website.
AST’s July Party at the On Sundays Bookstore in the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art
On July 3, Craig and I held the first of two events to celebrate the printing of the second edition of Art Space Tokyo.
Kisato Kusano, the owner of the renowned On Sundays bookstore in the basement of the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art (one of the 12 spaces featured in the book) generously offered us the chance to use the space so we could bring in a big bad crowd of book lovers for an evening of free beer, wine and sake.
Thank you to everyone who came! It was great to see you out in force!
Photos by Xin Tahara and Ashley Rawlings.
Left: The stunning exterior of the Watari Museum.
Right: Kusano-san laying out copies of Art Space Tokyo.
The On Sundays bookstore quickly filled up with supporters.
AST editor Ashley Rawlings talking to Megumi Matsubara from the Tokyo-based architectural office “Assistant.”
Kisato Kusano, the owner of On Sundays book store.
AST co-author, designer and publisher Craig Mod gives a speech about the Kickstarter fundraising that made this second edition a reality.
Naoki Matsuyama and Lena Oishi, who helped with the translation of Art Space Tokyo.
It’s Almost Ready
Those of you who followed our Kickstarter.com fundraising campaign in April saw that we ended up climbing to a sum much higher than our original goal of $15,000.
To our amazement, we hit the $15,000 mark after only two weeks, and pledges continued to pour in over the remaining three weeks of the fundraising period.
On May 1, we reached an astonishing total of $23,790, which is allowing us to go ahead with a full second print-run, as well as develop the iPad version.
We are profoundly grateful the 265 backers who made this possible.
Over the past month, Craig and I have been mailing each other back and forth, fixing up a few missteps in the original, and polishing the book’s editorial and design.
The 2010 edition of Art Space Tokyo is at the printers right now and will be with you soon…
Fundraising For Art Space Tokyo Reaches its Goal!
Wow! We have reached our goal of $15,000 in only 16 days!
Craig and I are bowled over by the enthusiasm that people have shown for the Kickstarter project since the page went live on March 29.
We want to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who have pledged. Your enthusiasm and backing mean a great deal to us.
The project doesn’t close until May 1, so there’s still a chance to join us!
All additional funding we receive will be invested in expanding the second print run, developing an iPad version of the book with supplementary content, and potentially starting work on guides to art scenes in other cities around the world.
If you haven’t already, please join us!
Art Space Tokyo Reprint, Update and iPad!
Art Space Tokyo will be back on the shelves, in your hands, and on your iPad soon!
The book’s original print-run of 1,500 copies has been sold out for more than a year. If you’re one of our loyal followers who is frustrated not to have gotten hold of a copy, then this is your chance.
Demand has remained very high, so we bought back the copyright and are reprinting it ourselves, also with plans to develop an iPad version.
We have set up an Art Space Tokyo Kickstarter page, where you can pre-order your copy of the new edition.
Even though this page has only been up for less than a week, and Craig and I haven’t even sent out a mass e-mail about it yet, the response has been incredible.
Just by posting news of the reprint on Facebook and Twitter, as well as some coverage on a couple of popular blogs, we have already raised over $5,000!
This is an experiment in community-funded publishing. If we cannot secure $15,000 in pre-orders by May 1st, printing will not go ahead and you will not be charged. You’re only charged if we raise enough interest and reach our minimum goal.
We hope you’re as excited about this as we are, and that you will continue to give your support to Art Space Tokyo.
Art Space Tokyo in 2010
This is running a little late maybe, but Happy New Year!
Where to in 2010?
The Art Space Tokyo blog was less dynamic in 2009 than I would have liked. My move from Tokyo to New York in January last year meant that I’ve had to run it as a bit of a skeleton service since then. I haven’t had the time to post weekly updates on art in Tokyo, so the best I could do was to keep compiling the monthly round-ups of links to exhibition reviews, artist interviews and feature articles.
These long lists of links may not be the most exciting things to receive on your RSS feed, but I think that in the long term this archiving of the main sources of information on the Tokyo art scene is a useful project, and one that isn’t being undertaken anywhere else.
In any case, Craig and I are working on new developments for AST in 2010, details of which we will bring to you over the next couple of months.
Until then, thank you for keeping your eye on AST, and please stay tuned for more!
AIGA/NY Apple Store talk this Wednesday (Oct. 8th)
Apple Store, SOHO, Manhattan: Wednesday, October 8th, 6:30 - 8:00pm
Just a quick note to let you know I’ll be speaking about the design and production (among other things) of Art Space Tokyo at the Apple Store in SOHO this coming Wednesday (Oct. 8th, 2008) evening.
I’ll be talking about books, design, the creative process, finding time to work on passion projects and other topics, all within the context of living in Tokyo.
It’s a free event and should be quite interesting—pop by if you’re in the ‘hood!
NY Launch Wrapup
A big thank you to all who attended our event last week at Kinokuniya in NYC! It’s hard to believe a week has already passed since our official US launch of Art Space Tokyo. Turnout was better than expected. All seats were full and people were snaking around the back of the room and into the adjacent cafe. A large contingency of the New York art world, designers, artists and others interested in Japanese culture were in attendance.
It wouldn’t have been a success without the great panel we had that night: comprised of Roland Kelts (Japanamerica), Reiko Tomii and Kosuke Fujitaka (NY/Tokyo Art Beat). I’ve been to many a talk with panels than grossly ran over on time, had little focus or just sounded like a bunch of people talking over one another. In stark contrast to that, I think we were able to achieve a focused and concise look at the Tokyo art world. And Reiko even managed to plunge historical contexts in reference to the contemporary. Thanks to the diversity of the panelists, those in attendance got to hear three very different, but equally informed voices. Truly a special event that wouldn’t have been possible without the kindness of John Fuller at Kinokuniya for lending the space and equipment.
So this marks a somewhat sad moment for us here — with this event we officially complete the conception, production and launching of Art Space Tokyo. It’s strange, after working on something for so long and so hard, having planned these events months in advance, to finally arrive at the ‘finish line’ (so to speak) feels very much like having completed a mental (and very much physical) marathon. And as anyone who has trained for an finished a marathon knows, there’s a tinge of sadness in the triumph of achieving your goal.
Of course we’ll still be blogging about the Tokyo art world here, and we’ll be putting on more events and speaking at more bookshops. But the ‘official’ timetable, the schedule we had been working off for the past year or so, is done. Thank you all who helped make this book a success thus far! We look forward to seeing where this project leads us next.
Art Map #7 - SCAI The Bathhouse - Yanaka
SCAI is located in one of my personal favorite areas of Tokyo. Yanaka is in all the guidebooks but it’s often overlooked in favor of the glitz of Shibuya or the moral dubiosity of Shinjuku.
Yanaka is a romantic’s Tokyo: low lying, temple filled, spiritual, wooden, old, textured, musty, comfortable, friendly, slow, delicious ... these are some words you could use to describe the area. Mainly, I love the excellent Japanese food (100+ year old senbei shops and superb soba) and the easy going mood. Visiting for a few hours is like a tonic to the rat race of the rest of the city. Many a great day can be had in the Yanaka area if you’re simply looking to whittle away a sunny afternoon. And SCAI, sitting in the middle of it all, is a great stop along the way.
Don’t forget to grab the PDF map.
Takahashi Vs. Kinokuniya NYC
From September 15th until October 1st, Kinokuniya at Bryant Park, Manhattan, will be hosting a small exhibition of Art Space Tokyo illustrator Takahashi Nobumasa’s work.
Above is an image of the preparations in the secret back offices of Kinokuniya, which, despite being located in the heart of New York City, instantly transports you into a Japanese Office Space—otsukaresamadeshita and all.
Of course, this is in preparation for our big launch event / contemporary art symposium being held next Tuesday, the 23rd from 6:00pm. If you’re in the city, be sure to stop by—it should be a blast. We’ll have some of Takahashi’s prints and tenugui on sale. We’ll also have a healthy supply of books, so those looking to pick up their copy and get it signed shall be satiated.
Details:
Location: Kinokuniya Bryant Park (40th Street and 6th Ave, Manhattan. Closest station: 42nd street Bryant Park)
Dates: From September 15th to October 1st
CMP at the Brooklyn Book Festival
Craig and I were at the Brooklyn Book Festival all day yesterday, thankful that our stand was just in the shade of some very tall trees on an unusually hot day for New York.
It was great to meet fans of Chin Music Press and it was particularly rewarding to witness first hand so many people discovering Art Space Tokyo and the rest of CMP’s publications… there was unanimous praise for the quality of production! We’re looking forward to seeing many of you join us for the talk at Kinokuniya on the 23rd.
As Craig previously announced, last week we were guest bloggers for Powell’s Books. You can read our posts for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
About & Community
A place to keep abreast of Art Space Tokyo related news, reviews, events and updates.
Art Space Tokyo is a 272 page guide to the Tokyo art world produced and published by Craig Mod & PRE/POST.
It was originally published in 2008 by Chin Music Press.
