Julianna Yau’s blog

This is the last video I have of Theo Jansen’s work. It took me a while to get it ready because I had to edit the footage to under 1GB. The creature is the Animaris Ordis, and this was a sculpture that visitors to his exhibit were allowed to move around the room. The simplicity and functionality of the joints was amazing.

These are photos and video of Animaris Modularis by Theo Jansen, exhibited at Hibiya Patio in Tokyo. Content posted with permission by the artist.

Here are short videos and a handful of photos of more of Theo Jansen‘s creatures from the exhibit at Hibiya Park. These are again posted with the permission of the artist.

Animaris Rhinoceros Lignatus

Animaris Sabulosa Adolescens

Animaris Vermiculus

Animaris Vulgaris

Animaris Percipiere Rectus

Here are some of Theo Jansen’s creatures which were on display at Hibiya Patio in Tokyo. I only have photos of these (no video), and they are taken and uploaded with permission from the artist.

Unidentified species:

Animaris Currens Vaporis

Animaris Rugosus Peristhalti

Animaris Geneticus

After nearly two months since visiting the Theo Jansen exhibit in Tokyo, I’m finally getting around to posting photos and videos. These will be compiled into blog posts over the next few hours (and perhaps days), but I intend to get everything online before the week’s end.

The exhibit was phenomenal, and I’m still extremely glad I went to see it. Seeing such elegant engineering and design was as mind-boggling as when I saw the Blinkenlights display at Nuit Blanche.

Here are some photos of the exterior of the building, stuff from Jansen’s shop and trinkets from the play table. All images are posted with the permission of the artist, and more can be found on my Flickr page.

I’ve been back from Tokyo for almost two weeks and am only now finding time to blog about it. During that trip, I finally came to terms with the fact that I’ve been overextending myself for too long. In the two months before the trip, I had been struggling with having downtime in which I wasn’t doing anything—even without watching movies as part of my own historical cultural education through film. But in Tokyo, it really hit home when I was spending half my time there sleeping.

Learning to not work all the time is a difficult thing. My main purpose for going to Tokyo was visiting the Theo Jansen exhibit. The exhibit was totally worth the flight to Tokyo, but after I visited the exhibit on my third day in the city, I was asking myself “now what?”.

The city was great, but I definitely didn’t experience it properly. Having been to Hong Kong for two full summers, Tokyo for me was like a cleaner, more polite version of Hong Kong. Travelling alone, most of my time was spent in quiet contemplation (apt for Tokyo, I suppose).

Akihabara was definitely my favourite tourist destination, and I was surprised by my ability to restrain from unnecessary purchases. Thanks to the internet, I was able to confirm that much of what I wanted was available in Canada and, surprisingly, at a similar price.

I was glad to have stayed in Ueno, as it was home to places like the Tokyo National Gallery and Tokyo Sculpture Museum. What was disapointing? The Tokyo Sculpture Museum is closed from April 1, 2009 until March 2013. 2013! I hadn’t anticipated the closure, and didn’t go to the museum until April 2, only to exchange looks of shock with a group of Japanese women who also wanted to visit the museum.

Photos and video from the Theo Jansen exhibit will follow. Here are my picks of my pics, and the full set of photos can be found on Flickr (Tokyo tag or by set).

I was looking for videos of Theo Jansen‘s work to show someone, and came across this badly-shot video of his creatures’ mechanisms on display in a building. This made me a bit nervous, because that’s not how I imagined his exhibition in Tokyo at all. When I heard that his work would be at Hibiya Park, I assumed the creatures would be roaming part or all of the park, much like they are on his beach. I marvelled at the obviousness of the exhibition, and wondered how they would manage keeping the creatures relatively contained.

But that video and a fellow sculptor (whose work is amazing) confirmed that the exhibition is indeed more educational and technical than artistic and visionary.

Although I’m disappointed, I’m glad I know about this ahead of time, and I still plan to go to Tokyo. Because, after all, it’s Tokyo. In my preparation for the trip, I have come across many other attractions and contacts to visit, so the trip will still be great. I just wish their curating of Theo Jansen’s work was better.

Seriously.

Since I discovered on Wednesday that Theo Jansen’s work will be at Hibiya Park in Tokyo, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. By Friday, I had decided that I’m taking an art-pilgrimage in the spring, with Tokyo as the highlight.

Ideally, I would be going to MoMA to see Matthew Barney’s work, Utah to see the Spiral Jetty, Tokyo to see Theo Jansen’s work, stopping somewhere in Europe (London? Italy? Paris? Athens?), then back home to recover. But, realistically, funding that is an absolute nightmare.

So, I’ve decided I’m going to Tokyo for a few days in March or April. The cost isn’t as high as I feared, and although I could dip into my “savings” (aka line of credit), I would much prefer not to. I’m looking at a base $2,000 $2,500 $1,800 for travel and accommodations for a week (formerly only three days, but that’s clearly insufficient!), plus food and misc expenses.

How you can help

1. Make a straight donation of any amount. :D I prefer cash or cheque, if you can get it to me, and also accept PayPal donations:

Cheques can be sent to my studio:
Julianna Yau
141 Whitney Place, Studio #22
Kitchener, ON
N2G 1X9

2. Buy one or more of my signed notecards. They feature the following image, but with a signature where the watermark is:

Pricing (includes tax, excludes shipping):

3. Buy a sculpture

4. Drive me to the airport.

5. Drive me home from the airport.

6. Donate/lend a camcorder. (purchased)

7. Recommend a good, inexpensive camcorder that can record to flash. (purchased)

8. Offer anything else I might need!