Utamakura

Bus Home, Yoshinogawa

A very interesting photographic project by John Tran, and I learnt a new word - Sabi:

"At the heart of this poem is the aesthetic ideal of sabi that infuses so much of Japanese verse. Closely related to the concept of yugen - the aesthetic of profound spiritual mystery - sabi was propounded by Fujiwara Shunzei (1114 - 1204) in the late Heian period and could be loosely described as a sense of beauty arising from the contemplation of desolation, solitude and stillness."

The poem in question is the following Basho haiku:

Lying over angry seas

and the distant Sado Island -

the arch of the Milky Way

John Tran has lots of great photographs elsewhere on his website, organised by conceptual theme, and the whole thing strikes me as being very much worth repeat viewing.

I used to walk past this view every day, which makes me warm to him even more :)

View of Electric Town From Ochanomizu (2004)

Roni Horn and the Library of Water

A colleague, who has decided the credit crunch is the perfect time to start out as an art dealer, was organising an exhibition - his first in fact - for a San Francisco-based artist called Jill Slyvia and asked me to come along to tell her about my recent trip to Iceland since she was planning a excursion while on this side of the world. On the day of the exhibition I'd stumbled across a photographer called John Chiara (creator of the trailer-cam) and jokingly suggested that my friend sign him up next. He asked me to mention this guy to Jill the artist when he introduced us later on, so when the time came I did. "He's my boyfriend!" was her reply. Ok, so I know the chances of two San Francisco-based artists getting it on is less surprising than say a Masai warrior and a Swiss business woman but you have to admit it's still a strange coincidence!

John Chiara - 24th at Carolina (right)

My colleague tells me that Jill has since returned from Iceland, having fallen slightly in love with the place. I can understand how that would happen. Banking crisis or not I would move there in a flash if I had any transferable skills whatsoever.

This is a long-winded introduction to highlight a new Artangel project by Roni Horn called the Library of Water. Besides these the only work of Roni Horn's I've seen/known have been her pictures of the Thames, which have cropped up in various photography surveys and collections, but I'm guessing her fascination with water is more than a passing idiosyncracy.

Roni Horn

almost Friday song . . .

It's best not to have a backseat . .

Dear Texas Highways from Shaun Roberts on Vimeo.