Glass Book: Toyama Library and Glass Museum

On returning from the station…

Glass Book

Marion: Oh, it was incredible! I visited the Toyama library and glass museum. The architecture is mind-blowing, especially the way the use of wood and glass. 

Kazuki: Kengo Kuma's work is always impressive. What stood out the most?

Marion: Maybe the sense of space and the soaring wood pillars soaring up six floors.

Kazuki: Like being in a forest?

Marion: Yes, like in a forest. But, you know, it’s a museum, a museum of glass sculptures. Beautiful, delicate works of art. So I thought, maybe the library itself is like a glass book, each section a different chapter filled with knowledge and stories.

Kazuki: A glass book? Interesting metaphor. Yes, that street face of blocks and shards could be seen as representing glass book. 

___________

Voice-over

Toyama City Library: more than just a library, it’s an experience.

The DT Suzuki Museum

Returning to the homestay…

Kazuki: So how was your day?

Marion: Fascinating! I visited five museums, but the D.T. Suzuki Museum was the best.

Kazuki: It's a special place.

Marion: So Zen. The simplicity of the building and the few artifacts it held somehow captured the essence of Suzuki's teachings.

Kazuki: The architecture is modern, yet the atmosphere evokes a sense of tranquility and contemplation.

Marion: I spent the most time in that museum, especially in the book collection. Visitors were quietly leafing through the texts, absorbing the wisdom.

Kazuki: Ah, the books. Suzuki's words are timeless, aren't they? Did you go outside to the gardens?

Marion: I did. People were sitting quietly, contemplating, some even meditating.

Kazuki: That's the design philosophy. To create harmony between the mind and nature.

_________

Voice-over

So spare the structure, so few the artifacts, so deep the impression.

Ando Tadao exhibition

Architects at the National Art Museum…

.

Guy: Magnificent! How many people are here today would you say?

.

Paul: The information desk told me seven thousand.

.

Guy: Architectural exhibitions can be tricky to curate.

.

Paul: Because they're about buildings?

.

Ando Tadao in his Church of Light

Guy: The buildings are too big and the plans are too small.

.

Paul: But this. Brilliant curating. Hundreds of video screens on loops of projects, sketches, photos, models, working drawings.

.

Naoshima

Guy: And monster installations. Ando’s office, the multi-screen theaters, the walk-in life-size reconstruction of his Church of Light.

.

Paul: Performance too. Ando is here, he does an hour long Q&A, he sketches and pastes these in books of his buildings.

.

Guy: And self-taught. Began his career as a boxer. Opened his office in 1969. Still active all over the world.

.

Paul: National treasure.

__________

Voice-over

AndoTadao Exhibition at National Art Center, Tokyo. Nogizaka Station. Until December 18. Highly recommended.

...

Reflexive Museums

Video stole the photo show

At Fotografiska…

Henson: Sleek photos.

Bäckman: Very Vogue. And look. Inez and Vinoodh made a video of their stills workflow.  Documents their approach and technique.

Nordiska Museet

Henson: Very reflexive!

Bäckman: Reminds me of the Nordisk Museum. One display dedicated to how the museum was constructed. An exhibition of the museum itself.

Henson: Reflexive.

Salvaging the Vasa

Bäckman: The Vasa Museum did that too.

Henson: What a ship. Vast.

Bäckman: Much of the museum is about how the ship was raised from where it sank.

___________

Voice-over

Reflexivity: a concern for the process as well as the product.

Edo Tokyo Culture

A culture report starts...

Edo was quite different compared with Tokyo today. Because of the food, or perhaps because people sat on the floor, they weren’t as tall as people nowadays. Their houses were made of wood, so fire was always a worry. Their clothing was kimono and short coat (hanten) and wood sandals (geta) and straw sandals (zori). Most people were craftsmen so they worked with their hands. Books often contained pictures made by woodblock printing.

...

White Rabbits on Okunoshima

Edo Tokyo Museum artifact

White Rabbit,
White Rabbit, 
White Rabbit! 

Baskets of rabbits for the good of all!
(Except perhaps the rabbits in this case… though times pass and now on Rabbit Island, people feed the rabbits...)

Museums, Botanical Gardens and Planetariums

Three scientists discuss purpose…

Museologist: A museum has to have a clear purpose, for example, to collect, study and present artifacts.

Botanist: A botanical garden’s purpose is to collect plant specimens for research, conservation, display and education.

Astrophysicist: A planetarium’s purpose is to educate visitors about the night sky.

Moderator: We might note that museums and botanical gardens collect artifacts and specimens, but planetariums are a kind of theater and focus on presentation and education.

_____________

Voice-over

Stephen Weil described successful museums as having a clear purpose, that they had resources to reach their objectives, that they were effective enough to reach their objectives, and that they were efficient in using resources economically.

So perhaps museums and botanical gardens have common ground, whereas the planetarium is not part of that group. Just as Pluto, the dwarf planet, is not regarded as a real planet.

...