“Nett” (Nice) lettering with double-t ligature. In Berlin-Mitte last winter.
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Lunar New Year dumpling recipe
For a late Lunar New Year celebration, I was asked to teach a small crowd to make Chinese dumplings, stuffed with gingery pork and vegetables. More impressions of the evening on The Convivialist, where Jillian has also shared my family’s dumpling recipe for one and all to cook. Let us know how your dumplings turn out!
Photo courtesy of The Convivialist.
Integration dinner
For the Lunar New Year of 2013, Berlin-based artist Kate Hers Rhee asked to collaborate on one of her Integrationsstammtisch projects, a series of performative “integration dinners” responding to the ongoing debate over the integration of immigrants into Germany and Berlin.
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What does integration actually mean? Is it simply speaking the language or assimilating into the local culture entirely? In Kate’s experimental art events, guests with very different levels of German aptitude, from native speakers to recent immigrants, pledge to speak only German as they cook and eat a multicultural meal together, rather than defaulting to the most common shared language, English, as often happens in Berlin.
For the second event in the series, fellow guest collaborator Tina Han and I were invited to mark the Lunar New Year of the Snake by teaching the guests to make Chinese dumplings. It was my first time teaching a cooking class and also my first time teaching in German. Each guest had a different level of experience with Chinese cooking and different level of German; one guest could barely string together a sentence and had a gluten allergy to boot. Yet somehow we made a delicious dinner and held a spirited discussion about language and integration.
Photos of our dumplings courtesy of The Convivialist blog.
Red hooks
Newest addition to my studio, just installed today. Found at the Boxhagener Platz flea market by Anke, danke!
Illustrations of Japanese treats on a menu
At a soba restaurant with bar in Nara, Japan, someone skilled with a brush has illustrated the specials menu with ink illustrations
Cat delivery logo
Trucks and motor scooters from this delivery service can be seen all over Kyoto. It has, hands down, the cutest logo I have ever seen in my life. Ever. Who wouldn’t want their stuff delivered by a company that will handle it as carefully as a cat carrying its kittens?
Illustration-map: a path in Gion
This charming hybrid of an illustration and a map is posted as a sign in Kyoto’s historic Gion district, at the foot of a mountain that draws many tourists with its historic temple. The map calls attention to a small, steep path leading up a hillside away from the street, where handicrafts and food are sold.
Under construction. Thank you for your patience.
Sign at train station construction site in Kyoto. More visual research from Kyoto and environs coming soon!
In New Haven for City-Wide Open Studios
Since June, I’ve been working on graphic design for the 15th anniversary of New Haven’s fantastic City-Wide Open Studios festival. I was telecommuting from Berlin, but now I’m actually in New Haven for the event’s first week. Last night’s opening was packed with great art and artists and afterwards, the nighttime light installations outside, organized by L.A.M.P, were lovely. Today I peeked into some memorable studios in Westville, East Rock, Hamden, and Wooster Square. I’ll share some photos soon.
If you’re anywhere near New Haven, make the trip to meet some artists! Different studios are open every weekend through the 21st: www.cwos.org.
UPDATE: A few inspiring first impressions from City-Wide Open Studios are up on my Flickr page: flic.kr/s/aHsjCoeKHb
Crystal Open Studios
For the fifteenth annual City-Wide Open Studios festival in New Haven, the organizers at Artspace asked me to help them implement an event-wide theme for the first time. To celebrate Open Studios’ crystal anniversary, they chose the theme crystal.
To convey Artspace’s vision of crystals as a metaphor for art, artists, and the events — which reflect, refract, and shine new light on the diversity of New Haven, I photographed dozens of real crystals and combined them in colorful collages.
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Artists and the greater community responded to the new imagery for Open Studios and we had a wonderful event. You can see some of what I saw there in this this Flickr album.
