Art History

"I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living."

― Anaïs Nin, The Four-Chambered Heart

Darth Vader to return in ‘Star Wars’ spin-off

23 JUNE 2016       JAPAN TIMES       

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (AFP, Jiji) -- Cinema’s ultimate villain, Darth Vader, is set to make a comeback with a menacing appearance in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” industry magazine Entertainment Weekly said on Wednesday.

The first standalone “Star Wars” story, “Rogue One” is set just before “A New Hope” — the original film in the blockbuster series — and stars Felicity Jones alongside Mads Mikkelsen and Forest Whitaker. 

 

EW said on its website it would reveal “never-before-seen characters while also reintroducing a few classic ones” in the new issue, out Friday. 

“We’re confirming a big one on our cover: the galactic man in black himself, Darth Vader,” it added. 

Rumors of a Vader return in British filmmaker Gareth Edwards’ contribution to the “Star Wars” canon began to circulate in April with the release of the first trailer. Read More

Cosmetics firm Shiseido rolls out smile-rating app

23 JUNE 2016       JAPAN TIMES       

(AFP, Jiji) -- How do you know if you’ve got that winning smile? There’s an app for that.

Japanese cosmetics firm Shiseido says it has come up with a system to rate a person’s smile by measuring facial movements. 

Users look into a tablet device with the app, and it gives them a reading on the quality of their smile on a scale of zero to 120. 

The app can also tell them how their smile is seen by others in various categories — trustworthy, elegant, attractive, beautiful, positive, friendly and lively. 

“But even if you have a 120 rating smile, it doesn’t mean it’s the best smile,” a company spokeswoman told AFP. 

“For instance, a smile could be perceived as more elegant even when the overall rating is 80.” Read More

Osaka aquarium boasts first successful artificial insemination of endangered penguin

24 JUNE 2016       JAPAN TIMES       

OSAKA (Jiji) – The Kaiyukan aquarium in the city of Osaka said Thursday it has become the world’s first to succeed in artificial insemination of the southern rockhopper penguin, a species at risk of extinction.

The chick was born June 6 and has grown to weigh 724 grams. It is now on display at the aquarium. 

... Using sperm obtained from Tokyo Sea Life Park, Kaiyukan performed artificial insemination on three female penguins in April. Three chicks were born in June, and DNA tests confirmed that one of them was conceived through artificial insemination. 

Kaiyukan said it managed to ascertain the appropriate time for insemination thanks to its accumulated research data. 

“We’ll foster the chicks carefully so we can contribute to efforts to increase their offspring using technology,” Kaiyukan head Kiyonori Nishida said. Read More

Goro Hasegawa, inventor of board game Othello, dies at 83

23 JUNE 2016       JAPAN TIMES       DAISUKE KIKUCHI

Goro Hasegawa, who invented the popular board game Othello, died Monday at his house in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, and a funeral was held Thursday. He was 83.

As chairman of the Japan Othello Association, Hasegawa took part in the World Othello Championship 2006 held in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, the birthplace of the game, and was expected to attend the 2016 tournament in November. 

Hasegawa came up with the concept of Othello when he was a student attending a school in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. 

Growing up in the postwar era, he used the black and white stones of go, a traditional board game, for his creation. It quickly became a popular pastime during recess among students at his school. Read More

Hyerim Shin's Kawaii home appliances explore the nature of cuteness

23 JUNE 2016       DEZEEN       RIMA SABINA AOUF

... The MA Design Products student explored the concept of kawaii – a Japanese term denoting cuteness – in her final project, producing three home appliances programmed to act in ways that might be considered cute.

This means that when her Roomba-style robotic vacuum cleaner becomes full, it wiggles its "bottom" and "poos". The poo is actually a soft grey dust receptacle, which is deposited on the floor and left for the owner to pick up. 

The toaster, meanwhile, will make wheezing noises when its tray gathers too many toast crumbs. As its owner pulls back the lever to eject the crumbs into the bin, the toaster emits an audible sneeze. 

The final product is a rubbish bin that mimics the behaviour of a child who thinks that by covering their eyes, no one can see them. When its liner needs changing, it will skittle to the side and turn around, "hiding" from its owner. 

All of the products are made of rounded plastic and finished in a colour palette of duck egg blue, soft pink and mint green. 

However, Shin's project explores a more complicated idea of cuteness than what we would usually associate with the term. 

"Cuteness works in the imbalance of power," the designer told Dezeen. "So when somebody thinks something is smaller and weaker than themselves, that's when they feel the experience of kawaii, or cuteness." 

A typical example of something that is cute in its weakness is a baby, which is why Shin's three appliances are collectively named Be My Mother. 

She chose their idiosyncrasies by matching a problem that particular appliance might experience – like being full – with the equivalent action a baby would use to express its situation.

 

As well as exploring aesthetics and psychology, the project looks at how consumer behaviour might be changed through the use of "soft power" that makes them think about their products differently. 

"I gave these boring items a kind of playfulness so people would maintain their products and potentially keep them longer," said Shin. Read More

Tianjin Binhai Library Concept by MVRDV, Dezeen.com