A cult record store and the Japanese art of flower arranging might not make natural bedfellows, but there is plenty to connect the two skills and passions for Haruka Hirata, the co-founder Big Love Records – the ‘if you know, you know’ globally respected record store in Tokyo. Speaking to Twin about what this ancient practice has taught her about life, her musings could act as a reflective signal to how we will need to responsibly think about a future we are carving as we all move forward.
How did Big Love Records come about?
Masashi Naka, co-founder of Big Love Records started his record label in the 90’s, and opened his own record shop called Escalator Records in 2002 in the same location as now. I started working there and changed the name to Big Love Records in 2008. It was to focus more on international bands. That organically made us meet great artists, not only musicians.
What is the ethos of BLR?
To be independent. Be responsible to the world.
Do you think our approach to records and independent music stores will change post COVID-19?
I believe a lot of people has revisited listing to music during their self-isolation, and dug deeper, so it definitely was a good chance to realize how music could be your nutrition. But at the same time, some people may notice it was because you had enough time to do so. Record shops should not just rely on the customers, but needs to create a better platform for people to fully enjoy and experience music and embrace in their lives.
It’s about experience. A community is an experience.
You practice Ikebana: tell us how you got into this and what it has taught you?
Hiroshi Teshigahara, son of the Sogetsu Ikebana School founder and the second Iemoto (grand master), was an avant-garde movie director. I was a big fan of his movies- “Woman in the Dunes”, and “The Face of Another”. One night I was casually googling his name and found out he was an Ikebana artist. I was looking for a medium to address my voice in a better way, and the next day I called my Ikebana school. Been studying for four years, I finally got a certificate last year.
It has been teaching me a lot.
The importance of preparation and cleaning up. Showing respect to your teachers, and classmates. Patience. Never compromise but forgive yourself.
You can never complete learning an art form working with nature, because you will never be able to use the same material ever again.
Can you give us a few pointers on what makes a balanced arrangement, and how can an arrangement effectively come alive?
Focus on three things. Line, color and mass. How do you feel today? Pick one main color. Use three strait or curved materials, in three different lengths.
Create a mass, or keep it
Give space to each other. Don’t fully cover the vase, create a room.
You can keep the flowers or branches live longer if you cut the stems under the water. This is to prevent air coming in the stem, and let it absorb water.
What sensations does ikebana give you? Calm, satisfaction, energy?
Ikebana is about life and death. You need to face how selfish you are to cut, bend, or nail the flowers or branches only to express yourself. You are sacrificing nature.
Do you listen to music while practicing ikebana?
One time I was listening to dark techno while working on the piece, and it was not right.
The sound of the scissors are the best music.
You should always listen to silence and find your own rhythm.
In a new series of images, photographer Emily Stein creates portraits of Akemi and her kimonos. A celebration of traditional clothing and heritage set in a modern British environments.
Emily Stein explains the story behind her bright and celebratory new series.
Akemi has lived in the UK for twenty years, however her heart is truly rooted in her home country of Japan and this manifests itself in her extensive Kimono collection. As I got to know her she explained to me how she came to London in search of a safer place for her and her young daughter. She explained how in Japan women are sexually harassed frequently and how she grew up being taught to obey men. She felt she had no voice or way of expressing herself.
Each Kimono has a story to tell about her past which she is emotionally connected to.
Her kimono collection is a way for Akemi to be close to certain parts of what she loves about her heritage. Her collection of 100 beautiful pieces feels like an extension of her.
She always dresses in Kimono’s. I felt like it would be a lovely story to tell.
Until early July, IBASHO Gallery in Antwerp will host the works of twelve young female photographers from Japan. IBASHO means ‘a place where you can be yourself’ in Japanese, and the gallery consistently displays stunning Japanese photography in its many forms.
The title of this show is ‘Female Force from Japan’, and it includes photographs from an array of young female artists, with images ranging from the raw and unpolished, to the minimalist and still.
Kumi Oguro, ‘Drift’ 2015
The exhibition will display selected images from artist Yukari Chikura’s series ‘Fluorite Fantasia’, a very personal body of work that deals with the death of her father. Photographer Mikoko Hara presents a selection of her square-formatted photographs, all taken without using a viewfinder, and London-based photographer Akiko Takizawa exhibits images that use the 150-year-old Collotype printing process, which originated in France. Other artists included in the exhibition are Haromi Kakimoto, whose crisp images falter between our everyday lives and our dream worlds, and Mika Nitadori, whose artistic focus is on human interaction.
Mika Horie, ‘Spring Dragon’ 2016
The varied and compelling nature of the works are tied together by both the artists’ gender and national identity. And with works by Western photographers who have been inspired by Japan also on display, this exhibition at IBASHO ensures a complete survey of the exciting work coming out of the country, and its wider ramifications for contemporary culture on the international stage.
Reiko Imoto, ‘Parallelism’ 2000
‘Female Force from Japan’ will show at IBASHO Gallery in Antwerp until 2nd July
A major Tate exhibition of Yayoi Kusama’s work doesn’t even open for another three weeks, but Twin are already dotty with anticpation. Such is the appeal of the Japanese artist’s work and personal story that the exhibition is shaping up to be the most exciting of 2012.
Since 1977, Japan’s foremost contemporary artist has, of her own free will, lived in a psychiatric institution and has been a victim of her own neurotic and obsessional behaviour. This behaviour however, has transformed itself over four
Come February 9th, the Tate Modern offers a diverse parade of her work, from paintings and drawings, to captured performances and immersive installations.She may be mostly known for her slight dot obsession, but this exhibition explores further, celebrating her intensely fruitful career, and is sure to only garner her more fervent followers.
Yayoi Kusama is at the Tate Modern from 9th February – 5th June 2012 tate.org.uk
world’s coolest celebrities and models. So what happened when the Japanese photographer asked some of them to pose for a book of nudes? Playful, slick and downright hot, Naked is a girl’s own take on Helmut Newton’s glamazons.
Twin asked Sarai to tell us a bit about the project:
How did the book come about?
One very famous Japanese editor, Masa Sugatsuke approached me to make an all-nude book in June 2009. That’s how the project started.
A lot of the women in the book are models – how did shooting Naked feel different to a normal fashion shoot?
Shooting subjects naked is very different from a normal fashion shoot. There’s no clothes anyway. I shoot with a very minimal team when I shoot for Naked. I focused on our privacy and intimacy for this project.
How did being a female photographer affect the kind of nude images you ended up with?
Just adding one more spice for my style and name, that’s all.
A lot of the photos are in black and white and project a strong and tough take on femininity, was that on purpose?
It is on purpose and it’s my style.
How did you go about approaching people like Alice Dellal and Twin’s own Celestine Cooney?
I have shot with Alice Dellal before and we knew each other. Same with Celestine Cooney. We are friends and so it’s a very comfortable situation.
What’s been most people’s reaction to the book?
People just love it. And so many people want to take off their clothes for me now. It’s brilliant!
Is there going to be a follow-up to Naked?
Yes, I have already started shooting for Naked II. I have photographed 10 people including Janice Dickinson.
Mari Sarai’s Naked goes on show at the Blackall Studios, EC2A 4QS from September 14 – 20 and at Doors Showcase, EC2A 3DU September 21 – October 13.
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