nomikomu-blog

[nomikomu-blog]

Mumford & Sons: Hopeless Wanderer

No aspect of the band's image escapes the actors' mockery. Their intensity is parodied with lingering looks and tear-stained faces, while later, when the music reaches its characteristic fever-pitch, the comedians begin to kiss. They flit from field to boat to stage, mock-playing and finally destroying their array of instruments. And the result - for both fans and critics of Mumford & Sons - is laugh-out-loud funny. If anything was to cement the band's success in the States, this is the video to do it.

[nomikomu-blog]

LEANDRO ERLICH | DALSTON HOUSE

[nomikomu-blog]

JUSTIN WALDRON

Nostalgia is a theme which informs the work of photographer Justin Waldron, who captures the memory of a rose-tinted past in a portfolio of beautiful images. Packing his photographs full of colours, balloons, pancakes and inquisitive Japanese schoolchildren (his time is split between New York and Tokyo), Waldron's collection is evocative of bygone playtimes. A quiet sense of sadness underpins much of his series. Playgrounds are photographed at a distance and children play with their backs to the camera; we are, it seems, being kept at arms-length from the fun. But the beauty of the images is irrefutable, and we cannot help returning to this wonderfully wistful collection. A must-see for the enduring Peter Pans among us. 

justinwaldron.com

[nomikomu-blog]

NEKO SUSHI

nekozushi.com

[nomikomu-blog]

CUT OUT GIRLS X NOMIKOMU

cutoutgirls.com

[nomikomu-blog]

NICHOLAS BARKER | TOKYO DREAMS

nicholasbarker.com

[nomikomu-blog]

JULIANNA BYRNE | EXQUISITE BEASTS

juliannabyrneillustration.tumblr.com

[nomikomu-blog]

1968: JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHY | EXHIBITION

1968: Japanese photography

[nomikomu-blog]

Henrietta Swift | Light Up Your Mood

henriettaswift.com

[nomikomu-blog]

KENJI HIRASAWA | PORTRAITS

Kenjihirasawa.com

[nomikomu-blog]

PEEL | YOY

YOY

[nomikomu-blog]

This week Nomikomu's Friday Favourites range from Sumo wrestling to bookmark magazines.

1. Issue 5 of Boat magazine will take you across the waters to Kyoto, Japan’s former capital city. Fascinating stories from local writers, photographers and artists feature in the magazine released this week. 

2. 25th May marks the return of Victoria Park's annual Field Day Festival. At only £60 for a day ticket, the festival will witness the likes of Solange, Animal Collective and Everything Everything. We've got our fingers crossed for some sunshine!

3. Don't miss the last weekend of Japan's May Grand Sumo Tournament. You can buy cheap ¥2,100 tickets on the door each day, but make sure to get there early!

4. The musical duo Takako Minekawa and Dusting Wong will be marking the release of their new album with a show at O-Nest in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, on 26th May. Here is a taster of Wong's dreamy, intricately-looped guitar layers with ethereal vocals from Minekawa in their single 'Party on a Floating Cake'.

5. DOG-EAR Magazine: it's a bookmark, but it's also a magazine! Brimming with poetry, flash fiction and doodles, this is a small publication with a huge amount of character.

[nomikomu-blog]

SOUZOU: OUTSIDER ART | WELLCOME COLLECTION

Don’t miss Souzou: Outsider Art from Japan – until 30th June at the Wellcome Collection, 118 Euston Road

The experience of visiting the show is one of wonder, shock and laughter. Japanese traditional cultural influences are obvious – the colourful and meticulous work of the textile artists in embroidery and indigo dyed woven cloth continues with ink drawings, and paintings on Japanese washi paper, models, where Gozilla meets Kofun period Haniwa, 1950s Japanese cinema posters, recreated from memory, a vast plain of tiny shiny samurai warriors and calligraphy in row upon row of miniscule kanji characters. Nothing could be more charming than an ‘apple of rabbits’, all their little ears inquisitively protruding, or the expression of the pottery Okinawan lion, or humorous than ‘the possible effects of Viagra’ or the explanation ‘If Azumachi Castle were placed in Kobe (as if!)’. Explorations of sexuality and procreation are phobic, of the erasion of self disturbing; a giant 30 foot cityscape scroll, fascinating in close up and alluring at a distance. Life sized dolls may provide channels of communication and findings about IQ and the calorific intake of ‘normal’ people and baseball and sumo tournament results prediction may also be attempts to have a handle on the world, but they are also curiously moving. All the pieces come from powerful individual ‘Souzou’ imaginative creativity; the collective impact is unforgettable.

[nomikomu-blog]

1. Lend your life a little colour with Ita Color’s Yellow, which can be found on the ground floor of Don Qujiote in Akihabara. The salon’s resident artists will adorn your nails with an anime character or design of your choosing at a rate of ¥1,000 per 10 minutes; alternatively, choose from a range of otaku-appropriate removable nail tips if you're in a hurry.

2. See if you can tell a Tracey Emin from a Damien Hirst at this year's RCA Secrets, where all postcards are anonymously listed and can be bought for £45.

3. Book your tickets to see Mies Julie at the Riverside Studios today! Director Yael Farber relocates Strindberg's nineteenth century play to South Africa in the powerful reinvention of a classic. 

4. Megane is a zine made by Star Graphics containing the works of up-and-coming Japanese artists. 'Megane' means 'glasses' in Japanese, a testament to the inspiring vision of the young artists it collates. 

5. Local museums and galleries stay open until dawn at Roppongi's annual Art Night, which also involves a number of temporary installations and one-off performances. Don't miss another brilliant PechaKucha event as part of Design Ah! at 21_21 Design. 

[nomikomu-blog]

I WISH 奇跡

[nomikomu-blog]

FIXPERTS

Such is the premise of Fixperts, a scheme created by Daniel Charny and James Carrigan, which connects designers with those who need help with a problem, from disabled people to the elderly. The process of approaching the problem and finding its solution is filmed and uploaded to the site, where success stories rank in their hundreds. Watch the FixFilms and see the Fixperts at work, finding solutions to all sorts of problems from Edna's new sock horn and Harold's new seat to a fix for the Paramedic cyclists and one handed bottle opener! 

Daniel and James are always looking to recruit designers to fix, or film-makers to document the fixing, and would welcome applications from both fields; similarly, FixPartners hoping to overcome a problem should visit the site for more information. 

[nomikomu-blog]

5 of our Friday Favourites to keep you busy this weekend: 

1. Has Mothers' Day slipped your mind? Fear not, Chanel will come to the rescue with a very elegant remedy. Take your mum to its pop up flower stall in Covent Garden and treat her to a bottle of fragrance and a bunch of roses.

2. Head to Battersea Park this weekend to discover emerging talent and household names in a diverse and inspiring sale at the Affordable Art Fair.

3. 1000 portraits of local residents are being displayed along the underground passages of Shibuya station. Head underground and try to spot a familiar face!

4. If you've got a taste for blue blood and silver spoons, be sure to visit the V&A's latest exhibit, Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars. Through a collection of over 150 objects, the museum hopes to celebrate and document the relationship between the English monarchy and the Russian Tsars.

5. The Exhibition of Great East Japan Earthquake Regeneration Support Action Project showcases the work and collaborations between artists, activists and residents of the disaster-hit areas of Tohoku.