Shirokuro

This new Japanese restaurant in New York's East Village looks amazing. Called Shirokuro, which means white-black in Japanese, the entire restaurant--including the wood floor planks, the bricks on the wall, and the traditional Japanese decor--is rendered in black lines on white ground, as though it is a page in a sketchbook...or an A-ha video! I bet it is a bit disorienting being there, perceiving the 3D world as though it is 2D!

Their website says:
"At Shirokuro, we didn’t just want to create a traditional Japanese omakase restaurant. Our vision was to offer something unique: a place where art and food intersect in a living, breathing sketchbook. Inspired by the precision and emotion of hand-drawn artwork, we chose not to use wallpaper or printed graphics, but instead hand-drew every single line."

If you are in or planning to be in New York City, drop by and slyly hum "Take on me..." while enjoying your agedashi tofu.

https://shirokuronyc.com/

The Alternative Christmas Tree 2021

Happy Birthday, Tori

Today is the birthday of unique singer-songwriter Tori Amos and to celebrate, here are some videos of a few of her songs that have haunted me over the years: "Spark," "Winter," and "Silent All These Years."

Happy Birthday, Tori!

http://toriamos.com/

Snowflakes 2014

BEAUTY: Mixed Media--Matthew Cox

Just when one thinks that one has possibly seen it all when it comes to art, along comes an artist who puts together materials and ideas in a very fresh and unique way. Who would have ever thought of embroidering x-rays? Matthew Cox, that's who.

What makes this concept work so well is not only the juxtaposition between the materials themselves (the sleek, plastic-y feel of an x-ray and the soft, satin-y feel of embroidery thread), but also the collision of a sense of something institutional, medical, colorless, hard, even of a sense of death, with a sense of vivid life, color, texture, and nature.


Top to bottom: Laughing Skeleton; Lips; Skull With Earrings; Wrapped Wrist; Foot In Seeded Grass

http://matthewcoxartist.com/