Colour and pattern: Sydney

As I was marching into the MCA to visit the Biennale I ran into the wonderful Lynette Voevodin. I love her style- the jumper was a recent find at Glebe Markets $10 and the green gloves she's had for ages and where probably only a dollar. It had an odd label and was made in Italy- At first it looks like it is made out of old crocheted sandwich bags but as you look at it more closely you can see that it successfully balances many variegated yarns.

chaos and sleeplessness

Only two days to go and complete exhaustions as I try and make it all happen. Thanks to Kate and Hanako for the rescue last night.

But still pausing to photograph fashionistas:

A bike gang Tokyo style: Yoyogi

Install Shibuya.

pattern love

The combinations of pattern and decoration here fascinate me. The most interesting examples are in fashion and ceramics, especially the combinations in kimono outfits.

Hiroko (top two photos) is one the fashionistas of the art scene I find myself in (which means I assume there are many art scenes and I know I have not seen many of them). The top photo is from an Åbäke event last Sunday. The jacket is one she bought as a student in the 80’s- it’s a bone gabardine with heavy hot pink screen-printed design- no label. The skirt would not have been one I would have chosen but I can see how it fits with the aesthetic here.

The second photo is of her wearing a very interesting scarf. The green spotted fabric is shear voile, and the yellow, green brown check is soft wool. Again two patterns you don’t normally see together- spots and checks, and two fabrics that are not a usual match- the light weight voile with a medium weight wool. It works though.

The bottom two photos are of a lovely lady I meet in the second hand kimono store on Aoyama Dori, which is the main road out in front of the residency. I went in two weeks ago after a particularly frustrating encounter trying to buy a ticket and hotel to Hakone. It was the right thing to do to put me back into the positive connections you can make in Tokyo.

It seemed to me that although she was dressed very traditionally that her energy made the kimono very contemporary. I went in and had a look around, and as I was leaving I took a second look at a jacket. She encouraged me to put it on and then when I pointed out an especially beautiful kimono, but said I would not buy it because it need to be worn for what it was created: a coming of age celebration; not to be cut up to be more conventionally worn in a western country. She agreed but said I should try it on so she could take my picture in it- Very nice! She chose an interesting obi with a lot of gold thread work. I asked how the choices where made- what patterns go with what? She found it hard to answer and she it took a while to understand it, that beginners make mistakes.

She asked me where I was from and when I told her Australia- she said ah summer! And that she wanted to go to Australia to go surfing. She said look at my tan line- and held out her wrist pointing to where her full body wet suit ended. Japanese can be so cool.

Conversations with cats

When I visited Taoko-san I came into the shrine courtyard and heard the incessant mewing of a cat. It was a small white cat with ginger patches sitting in front a watercolour painter begging for food. I made me distressed to hear a stray in an area I had gone to visit to see birds. Later I walked past the monk’s quarters to visit a cave shrine and saw some cat food bowls in a doorway, with a photo of the cat I had seen, lying on a royal blue silk cushion. So a scab, not a stray.

Walking around Yoyogi Park late one afternoon I saw an old street dweller man open a homemade cardboard cat box and let out a large white cat.

I have been missing my Mambo quiet a bit, and have often found myself thinking about Ruben who died a little over a year ago. I am pretty crazy for ginger cats so was very excited by this homeless man’s three well cared for cats. They had really soft fur and the two stripy ones where very friendly. The man was very well organsied, like many people living in cardboard, and was setting up his bed cabin for the night. There are a lot of people living in this area around Shinjuku. It doesn’t look like they have lived long on the streets and it makes me wonder about what kind of social security Japan has and whether the government is going to build more social housing for these people who lost out went the bubble burst.

Two domesticated strays on Endoshima getting lots of attention from visitors. Second one looks like Glenn's Darryl.

Isetan department store windows: The model dressed in a super expensive designer dress has a speech bubble that says: “Lets Work” and holds out a rattrap. The mice in the hole on the far left also say “Let work” while the cats just have blank looks. The designers had quiet a sense of humour, not sure how they got away with this one though.

Kitsuné launch- wednesday

Maki, Kajsa (one half of Åbäke) and Yuri with the flowers sent for the opening of the “pop-up store” Kitsuné Boutique at Montoak. I still don’t have a photo that captures Kajsa’s joyful energy.

Kitsuné is another one of Åbäke projects, along with two others, a DJ and a fashion designer. It was a very fancy event full of fashionistas and one we only really managed to bluff our way into because I had no idea we weren’t strictly invited.

Second photo: Nicolas, Matt and Miwa after many of the translucent red, white and blue cocktails. Nicolas caught in full emphatic French point making, Matt winding him up, and Miwa laughing AT and with them. At this point I managed to scandalize some people in the uni-sex toilet queue because I bashed on the door of someone taking too long. It turned out to be an employee- probably checking her hair- bloody bludger.

Only on leaving, when I saw one of the store attendants vacuuming the newly laid tri-colour carpet, did I realize there was a French theme going on.

Third photo: After getting chucked out of the launch we went to what has become our “local”. It's a dangerous place- there are no windows, you don’t see the dawn light slowly coming, and end up leaving when the sun is already up. I wonder why I have put on a little weight and then I remember those second dinners at 3am.