Last Month, Thinking About My Own Public Art Practice, I Toyed With The Idea Of Inserting English Into

Last month, thinking about my own public art practice, I toyed with the idea of inserting English into the lives of my students like I've done with art. I wanted English to be something they bumped into around their homes, rather than just a subject that existed purely within the school building. From those thoughts, I came up with a fairly conventional scavenger hunt. Through English clues posted in the school, students search for 14 clues spread out over Kawaura (an area of 119 square km/46 square miles). We're in the third week of the hunt, and just more than half of the clues have been found.

For prizes, I made mix CDs. To emphasize the international nature of English, I chose musicians I liked from a variety of countries, including some where English is not the native language. In Japanese I explained the main phrase or general meaning of each song. Also, it turned out that three of the singers on the mix (Janis Ian and Tegan and Sara Quin) are queer and two more are rumored to be (Elly Jackson of La Roux, and Janelle Monae), so I made sure to include a note about that as well.

Font: 806 Typography by Leonard Posavec (a cool, Croatian teen)

I've officially submitted my re-contracting papers, electing not to stay for a third year on the JET program.  At the same time, I've printed out applications for four art residencies in Greece and am preparing to contact a public art organization in Bristol, England about a paid internship with them. After that, the plan's to resettle in a mid-to-small-sized American city with a good creative scene and a job that gives me the free time I need to realize various dreams. I am excited about all of this.

A business card I whipped up for an international festival I'm presenting at at this weekend.

The sixth piece in a new photo series I’m doing on group identity. 

More info at the project site.

Two weeks ago I went hiking with friends at Mt. Kirishima (霧島山), a mountain range in southern Kyushu. During the hike, my camera fell and opened, exposing all my shots of the elevated mountain lake and huge crater we'd hiked to. Despite that, I'm happy with what survived. I'm really enjoying the Minolta since switching to Lomography film.  

The fifth piece in a new photo series I’m doing on group identity. 

More info at the project site.