News

Tokyo Scapes

Posted by Shop Oryx Info on

100 photographers describe Tokyo: http://tokyo-ga.org/ Do we appreciate these images solely though our sense of sight?  Geoff Dyer says "Good photographs are there to be listened to as well as looked at; the better the photograph, the more there is to hear." What does he mean by this? What can we hear from these Tokyo photographs?SHIMOHIRA TatsuyaPhoto source: http://tokyo-ga.org/7photosaweek/20170925-week/#Mon Sèbastien LEBEGUEPhoto source: http://tokyo-ga.org/7photosaweek/20170904-week/#Wed Navid BARATYPhoto source: http://tokyo-ga.org/7photosaweek/20170703-week/#FriISHIYAMA KimikoPhoto source: http://tokyo-ga.org/7photosaweek/20170828-week/#WedCésar ORDÓÑEZPhoto source: http://tokyo-ga.org/7photosaweek/20170227-week/#Thu

Read more →

Waka Poetry and Paper Cranes

Posted by Shop Oryx Info on

Could these words be part of a waka collection? Waka (和歌) is a kind of Japanese poetry mostly written in Hiragana. The most famous waka collection is Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (小倉百人一首). This collection contains 100 Japanese waka by one hundred poets. Each waka conveys the poet's love, longing and other intimate feelings, expressed through the four seasons, day and night, flowers and animals. A waka can be comical, such as No. 62 by Sei Shonagon (966-1017)*: Pretending to crow like a cock won't fool the Ausaka guard; And I hope that if you try it, they keep the gate well barred! It can be philosophical, like No....

Read more →

Origami: Hand or Machine?

Posted by Shop Oryx Info on

We make folds using hand and finger movements to create 3D paper sculptures. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we do not. Sometimes we make precise folds, sometimes we do not. Diligent practice usually yields better results. Therein lies the joy of origami. Will machine ever take over? Which of the following do you prefer? Hand or machine? You decide!

Read more →

Kazuo Kobayashi, Origami Ambassador

Posted by Shop Oryx Info on

Origami uses the simple action of folding to create paper sculptures. Anyone can fold a piece of paper, just like anyone can produce sounds on a piano. To be skilful in any activity, however, requires many years of practice. How effortless one performs an activity can be a simple measure of his or her level of competence. Kazuo Kobayashi exudes origami. In interviews, he often speaks and folds at the same time - effortlessly. To Kobayashi, whom we can consider an Origami Ambassador, paper art replaces words as a communication mode. "If it's a rabbit, it's a rabbit,"  for the world over....

Read more →

Paper Crane Tower, Hiroshima

Posted by Shop Oryx Info on

Orizuru Tower, the latest sight in Hiroshima, officially opened in September 2016. Ori  means "folded" and Tsuru  means "crane." Put together, we get paper crane, which forms the main theme of this building. Located next to the A-Bomb Dome, the Orizuru Tower underwent a conversion from an office building to the existing mixed-use facility tower. Hiroshima-based Hiroshi Sambuichi is the architect in charge of this refurbishment and redesign. The tower consists of a cafe and a souvenir shop on the first floor (street level), an observation deck on the top floor, an interactive multimedia space on the 12th floor, and office space in between. Visitors...

Read more →