{ Fruity Juice }

Chanced upon these interesting juice packaging while researching for my work. This series of creative fruit juice packages are designed by Naoto Fukasawa, a Japanese industrial designer who is best known for his MUJI's CD Player (part of the permanent collection, MoMA New York). They were first featured at Scotland's Arts and Design Exhibition in 2008.

This new concept from Fukasawa took industrial design to a whole new level. His intention was to create packaging that accurately represents the actual fruit's skin in colour and texture. With that in mind, he created banana, strawberry, kiwi and soymilk (which resembles a block of tofu) design.

"I imagines that if the surface of the package imitated the colour and texture of the fruit skin, then the object would reproduce the feeling of the real skin."
– Naoto Fukasawa.

The actual production of the juice series would likely be too costly to get them on the supermarket shelves, but I think alot of designers would be inspired by these unconventional packaging.

**For more readings on Naoto Fukasawa, click here.**

{ RSA Animate }

Nice Illustration!

{ Disco Booth, Anyone? }

Initially what drew me to the Trans-Cool TOKYO exhibition at 8Q SAM was Yoshitomo Nara's paintings. But after my visit, what really "wowed" me was Kiichiro Adachi's e.e.no.24, a disco booth installation.

e.e.no.24, a Museum of Comtemporary Art Tokyo collection, was a converted telephone booth serves as a one-man disco for those self-conscious of their body in public. The mirrored interior of the booth reassures (albeit falsely) the person inside that he/she is not exposed to the outside world, when in reality this is so.

Exploring concepts of society's gaze and its reflection, Adachi heightens one's perception and sensitivity to the immediate society and community one is living in. The work in particular comments on the supposed anonymity that technology such as the Internet gives people today, but this anonymity is in reality a false one.

The exhibit features a projection video (shown above) and the actual disco booth, visitors are encouraged to experience dancing to one's heart content inside. As expected, Singaporeans being Singaporeans were shy about stepping into the lighted booth. All those that I've encountered just stood there watching the video.

Experiencing dancing to my heart's content :P

As a curious cat, I went into the booth, closed the door and put on the headphones. Nope, I didn't dance (too self-conscious to do that!) but I managed to experience what it is like. And I must said I totally understand why people in the video can dance their hearts out inside.....it's a COOL experience!

{ Trans-Cool TOKYO }

Been wanting to go to Trans-Cool TOKYO Exhibition held in Singapore's 8Q SAM and I just managed to do that this Christmas Day. :) As from the name of the exhibition, one would guess that it got to do with the Japanese culture.

Bingo! You are right!

Featuring 40 artworks from the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo collection, this exhibition tells the story of how Japanese artists, since the second half of the 1990s, have established their own creative identities within the context of global pop culture. From Yayoi Kusama's pioneering works of Japanese Pop Art to Yasumasa Morimura's role-playing in his portraits from the 1980s, the exhibition Trans-Cool TOKYO provides an opportunity to view works by these groundbreaking Japanese artists who have made an indelible impact on contemporary art.

Working across all mediums, from painting and sculpture, to performance, photography and video, the featured artists have created work in response to the onset of the information age and the greater freedoms and uncertainties that are available in contemporary society.

Artistes featured in the exhibition includes Kohei Nawa, Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami, Michihiro Shimabuku, Kiichiro Adachi etc.

Below are some sneaks on the artworks featured......

Kohei Nawa

Pixcell-Deer #17, 2008-2009

mixed media, 200 x 170 x 150 cm

Yoshihiro Suda

Gerbera, 1997

colour on wood, 6 x 5.2 x 24 cm

Yoshitomo Nara

Sayon, 2006

acrylic on canvas, 146 x 112.5 cm

Michihiro Shimabuku

Tour of Europe with One Eyebrow, 1991

Type C-print, text, 70 x 103 cm

Takashi Murakami

Flower, 2006

silkscreen and platinum foil, 70 x 70 cm

Kiichiro Adachi

e.e.no.24, 2004/2008

mixed media, 257 x 98 x 97 cm

Do visit this exhibition as it runs through 13 February 2011.