Pictures from the Takedao Art Event 2010

Yesterday was the Takedao Art Event organized by Charles-Eric Billard. A gathering of creative and festive people, it was nice to get out to the country, enjoy some great art, both performance and visual, and catch up & meet people. I had been through the tunnels before, but it was a whole different experience this time with great pictures and installations, including two somewhat disturbing teddy bears whose eyes changed colors along an psychedelic soundtrack. The celebrations went on all night, but I returned home relatively early.

But before that, I had a fantastic time and obviously took a few pictures along the way, especially of the performances. But I was too silly to take actual pictures of the installations, including mine. Luckily for me though, Hiromi & Atsuko danced in front of my shots, so I do have some record of it. You can see some of my shots here.

Takedao Art Tunnel Event 2010

My friend Charles-Eric, whom I talked about early in the entry on the Rooftop Improvisations, is organizing this year again the Takedao Art Tunnel Event. It takes place in an abandoned train tunnel along a river in Hyogo prefecture. It will features art of all descriptions, including dance, music, installations and photography.

I'll be publicly presenting for the first time pictures from my Machine Death project, which explores our relationship with machines, when these days we throw them away remorselessly, while in a not so far future, some of them could well be endowed with intelligence quite close to our own. This project is ongoing, as I shoot discarded things as I find them. They probably are some of my most violent pictures, something I didn't really know was inside of me.

With some luck, my installation will also feature demo songs of the soundtrack that my friend Sylvain Esteve is creating specifically for this photo project. I haven't heard anything yet, but it should be quite interesting, I'm sure. I've basically given him carte blanche on this project, although we talked about basic directions before.

The event will start around 15:30 and officially finish around 22:30, although many people will stay overnight. I should get there early afternoon to set up, and will stay until the evening. I'm not planning on staying all night, though.

To get there, take the JR train from Amagasaki towards Sanda/Sasayama. It is the 3rd stop after Takarazuka. From the station, walk along the river for about 10 minutes, first on a road and then on a hiking path. The trail is pretty popular so it should not be hard to find. While still in the 'town', there a little mom & pops shop where you can buy some snacks and drinks.

I hope to see you there and talk about nothing and everything.

Osaka TV Profile

I've received the video of my profile that aired on Osaka TV News Bizz on Aug. 17, 2010 and uploaded it on my website. If you wish to laugh at my poor attempt at speaking Japanese (and my chopstick fumble!), you can check it here.

It was little surreal at times to think that they wanted to do a profile on me, and walking around with a camera crew was an interesting experience to say the least. Hopefully it will attract some attention and help with promotion. A big thanks to Sakata-san from Take One and Chris at Kansai Scene (I have a piece in this month's edition, covering a restaurant, which also appears in the video).

By the way, all my wardrobe wasn't coincidental: I wore a t-shirt from the Trailwalker, which I joined in 2007 and 2008; a MontBell shirt, who sponsored my team on both Trailwalkers; and a Car Danchi 3 t-shirt from Neil Hartmann, a snowboard filmmaker and photographer, who has the distinction of both being the first person I ever interviewed and my earliest photography mentor.