Self-portrait workshop”all about i” Bilingual workshop (English・日本語)
This workshop is about “ourselves”. Let’s explore about identity and how to express it. When you make your self-portrait, you want to show yourself to other. We will think and brainstorm questions like “What am I?” ”What do I want other to see me?” ”What am I constructed with?” At the end of workshop, each of participants will make original self portrait of themselves. Let’s think about the closest friend of you which is “you”, and express.
Instructor: Hoan Minh Thu(AIRY intern), Gaku Okata(Visual artist) Date and time: May16th 3pm-5pm Location: AIRY 2-37-2, Marunouchi, Kofu, Yamanashi Fee: 2000yen (Including Drink) Things to bring; creativity (materials are provided)
Learning the basic body construction.
The first drawiong of selfportrait.Appreciate the self-portraits of the masters.Brain stoming on individual personalities and characteristics, one of the works on own angry personality.One of the works that focus on own gaze.A work that gives me own gentle personality and unexplored talent.
Instructor: Hoan Minh Thu(AIRY intern), Gaku Okata(Visual artist) Date and time: May30th 3pm-5pm Location: AIRY 2-37-2, Marunouchi, Kofu, Yamanashi Fee: 1000yen (Including Drink) Things to bring; creativity (materials are provided) contact Gaku Okata line: gakuokata0906 gakuokata@gmail.com 080878960876 for reservation and more info
Lecture that focus on Color, Texture and SimblismStart from practicing Water Color that is fun.Rough drawing using Water Color.Appreciate the self-portraits of the masters and brainstorming about own favorite.The instructor Gaku Okata draws some examples.The participants enjoyed two hours the final works showed each personality and technique.
After a one-hour drive from Kofu we arrived to Koryuji Temple. I really enjoyed just sitting in the car and watching the beautiful scenery and all the blooming flowers. It feels good to sometimes just drive somewhere far away.
At Koryuji Temple we actually went to see a jazz live. I don’t usually listen to jazz at all, so this was something new to me. But I really enjoyed it! It had this artistic feel to it, as if someone was painting an artwork but with music.
After the live we drove to Kobuchisawa, where I read out loud a book in Finnish to the audience. We also talked about Finland in general, and I taught some easy Finnish expressions. I had a good day! I’m glad I got to experience many kind of new things.
I’m happy I had a chance to write this hiking blog! I got to go to many places I wouldn’t usually go, and I got to try out writing a diary. I also learned to enjoy taking pictures when I go to new places. Thank you all for reading my hiking blogs! I hope to meet again someday at AIRY!
This time we went hiking to Daizokyojiyama from Isawaonsen. 15 degrees and sunny was perfect weather for hiking☀️ I think this might have been my favorite hike in Japan so far!
As it’s spring, I could see lots of flowers during the hike. Cherry trees are starting to bloom, and there was some even in the mountain🌸 Near Izawa Onsen Station there were magnolias, and in the mountain there were also these little yellow flowers as in the picture.
On the top of the mountain the forest reminded me of Finnish forests. I really love the smell of nature🌿 We also found this miniature version of a temple (?).
The hike took about 3 hours altogether, and I think it had just the right amount of challenge to give that good feeling after exercising. I really want to come back here once the nature turns green!
The hike of last Saturday was probably the most beautiful out of our hikes so far! The wind next to the lake was a bit cold, but with enough clothes you’ll be fine. This hike was a little longer than previous ones, but it was quite an easy road so 3 hours passed without any problems.
What I liked the most about this hike was Shiroyama (white mountain) with its white sand. From the top of the mountain you could also see Yamanashi and the lake, so the sceneries were very pretty 🏞
戻ったら湖の近くに歩いたらフィンランドの湖を思い出して気持ちよかった。日本で湖やっぱり珍しいよね。
On the way back we walked near this lake, which reminded me of all the lakes in Finland and it felt relaxing. Finding a lake in Japan truly is rare!
This time we walked 30 minutes from Kōfu Station to Yuki Zoo. The weather was perfect, so a relaxed city walk felt good. For me as a Finn, 18 degrees and sun is basically a summer weather☀️
Of course seeing happy and cute animals made me happy, but that wasn’t the case most of the time. Looking at animals put to way too small cages, I could’t help but hate humans. We really shouldn’t take anything we want just because we can.
The most heartbreaking was the swan there. The cage was way too small for it, and all we saw was it trying to hopelessly get out, but ending up just staring at the river right next to the cage. As I’m used to seeing swans in my summer cottage where they live in the nature with their families and swim on the lake, looking at this made me so sad. I just wanted to help it but I couldn’t.
I was happy to see even the cute penguins looking happy. However, I can’t suggest this zoo to anyone. If a zoo doesn’t think about the animals’ well-being, I think we shouldn’t support anything like that.
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2021.02.07 ⛰AIRY→山梨県立美術館
今回はハイキングの替わりに少し散歩してきました！天気がちょうどよくて散歩にピッタリでした🌞
AIRYから出発して、45分ぐらい山梨県立美術館まで歩きました。This time instead of hiking, we took a little walk. We started from AIRY and artived to the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art in about 45 minutes. The weather was perfect for a walk, 15 degrees and sunny🌞
I liked especially this little road and cherry trees you can see on the pictures. It was very quiet there, and it was pretty even if the cherry trees aren’t blooming yet. I definitely want to see this place when the cherry trees bloom! Once I saw the river, I felt like it’s like Yamanashi’s Meguro river 🌸
At the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art we took part in a workshop of an artwork there called Tables. I had a chance to hand-sew something I would not usually make.
桜の季節になったら絶対もう一度この道を歩きたい！
Once the hanami season starts I really want to take a walk here again!
This time we went hiking to Yumurayama! There are various routes to choose from, also very long ones, but we went for this one to Azumaya that was a little difficult but last only one hour there and back. We climbed up in the forest, and chose this easier path on the way back. It was pretty windy that day, but it was sunny and it got warm as soon as we climbed a little ☀️
We had these two cute guides for the hike, which made it a lot more fun. Looking at the two run up the hill all excited made me want to climb up faster too 🥾
I think in Yamanashi, no matter where you go for a hike, you will always be rewarded with a beautiful landscape when you reach the top. Today we saw again the beautiful view of Yamanashi, the surrounding mountains and Mt. Fuji. As the route today was pretty steep, it really felt like a good refreshing exercise!
This time we went hiking from Katsunumabudokyo Station 🍇 After about a 30 minute walk, there was a cute market that is held once a month. This time we did our hike in an unusual order – first we walked down the hill, and on the way back climbed up.
There were many kinds of food and handmade items sold at the market. The candy in the picture is a famous handmade caramel that sold out quickly also this day 🍬
As a hike, this one was like a combination of hiking and a city trip. At the market you can get inspiration from the grape tunnel and the handmade items, and near the station there was a beautiful little bamboo forest that looked like a real-life painting 🎍
朝市とハイキングのコンビネーションの小さな旅をしてみたい方におすすめです！
I recommend this hike for everyone who wish to try a city-like hike and make a little trip at the same time!
On Sunday, we went for a little hike near Kōfu Station. I hadn’t tried hiking in Yamanashi before, so I didn’t quite know what to expect. It was nice that the route started right next to Kōfu Station and the weather was good. Sunny and 4 degrees – perfect for a Finn though someone might find it a bit chilly. What I was surprised about was that we found a plum tree blooming even if it’s only January!
I think this hike is good for people who aren’t used to hiking or would like to try it. It takes only about 30 minutes to reach the top, so you’re not too tired at the end and get the feeling you could try hiking also another time. Even if it’s a small hike, you’re rewarded with a beautiful scenery of Yamanashi and the surrounding mountains. Yamanashi looked beautiful on a sunny day, as if it was sparkling.
Because of corona, I think many of us have ended up staying at home a lot. To feel refreshed and get inspiration, I think a hike like this is such a good and easy way to safely enjoy outdoors!
The exhibited works are not the only works, and I think that human beings have lives before they make art, and their daily lives are full of creativity. I am very interested in what kind of moment the artist will be inspired by the life. I’m interested in artist-in-residence because I find the process of creating work interesting. And it may not be enough from the length of stay this time what kind of place Kofu is, where the inspiration is studded, but I hope I can get to know even a little.
This project can be called as interactive mobile drawing project. Ideally, the canvas goes to many spaces in the city and people paint or draw on the canvas. There is no rule for putting color. Painting over Gaku Okata’s drawing is what this project wants. In this corona pandemic, we easily become anxious. If this project distract people’s mind from anxiety for a bit, it would be great.
The monster’s mind is full of anxiety and fear. Circle of negativity doesn’t stop. The wings of the monster is connected to its mind so it cannot fly. It decided to go on a journey to find something that can calm its mind. As it thought, the world was messed up. Many things happen simultaneously. Emotions of people and things are everywhere around. It is so hard to find out which emotion is whose, and who feels what. Candy is what the monster is looking for. It always makes it feels better. It found candy and put in the mouth. It was subtly sweet and distract the monster from chaos of its mind. The wings are recovered. The monster decided to fly a little.
無観客ライブペイント by Gaku Okata大方 岳 ５月２０日＠AIRY５月２１日＠AIRY５月２２日＠AIRY①５月２３日＠AIRY②５月２５日＠荒川河川敷
I have been working with drawing and cut paper since almost ten years. It is the aim of my work to create small universes with paper, exploring fiction as a path for expressing the complex nuances of our daily situations. Using different elements for inspiration like plants, animals, and everyday objects, and mixing them into something new, using the infinite possibilities of drawing. At the beginning of my career I used just paper in all their multiplicity, but now I add to my work different objects like lightbulbs, wires and little doll hands. In every single piece I look forward to find a special conjunction of elements and characters.
For this one month art residency in Japan I would like to work with the third volume of the Hokusai manga “Fanciful, mythical and supernatural”, redrawing some of that characters of Japanese mythology and take pictures of them as if they where living in modern Kofu.
