AIAV Fellowship part 3, The facilities at AIAV

For this post, I am going to write about the facilities here at AIAV.

Akiyoshidai International Art Village with nice day light.

This isn't comprehensive because I didn't access everything.
Apart from studio rooms, they do have dark rooms, concert halls and musical instruments :)

The main building is like a giant cube that utilized its walls as amplifiers for the open stage. There is also another open stage at the back of the main building. I was told that wild boars like to appear at the back. ;)

Open stage. Anyone?

beautiful light & shadows at AIAV

Open stage in the center. I stood here and hear the sound and echo of water dripping down the stairs. Its nice

The back of main building also double an open stage. A favorite among the wild boars I heard.

At the accommodation building, there is a nice library right next to the main kitchen. The library portal has 4 squares that draw in natural light during day. It’s quite an interesting design. The Kitchen is loaded with all the cooking utensils you will ever need. This area is where I get my wifi connections.

See that 4 pods that seems to interact with one another ? They draw in day light for the library. This is the main entrance to the accommodation building

 

 

 

 

kitchen got everything

kitchen

Studios are at the main building and over here; I can get connected via LAN. This is how I am writing these. I didn't manage to get a SIM card this trip. There are 3 main studio halls on level two and we made use of these rooms to conduct workshops. As part of my fellowship, I conducted a watercolor workshop here at the main studio 1 on level 2.

studio where I painted from.

Studio where I conducted my exchange workshop

 There is also nice gallery space in the main building where we can exhibit our works. Nights on weekends are usually quite alive with teenagers checking in, practicing their instruments.

The Gallery Space

The Amazing Team at AIAV

AIAV fellowship 2015, Mito, Part 2

As soon as settle into AIAV. I started to paint.

Painting started on day 2

The conditions haven't been ideal for the past two weeks for Plein Air but I did manage to sneak in 3 on-site sessions throughout the two weeks. Its been raining, snowing and raining . Twice, I got my feet completely soaked while walking back from Mito. 

I patron Mito almost daily but only until I met Naoya (fellow resident artist), did I realized that I have been biking the super long route there. Literally more than twice the distance... 

First snowfall at AIAV. its been mostly rain and the weather is struggling to freeze

Mentally, its a struggle to bike up and down to Mito. However, if you abandon that goal and just immerse with the nature and beauty around? You get to your destination in no time. 

There;s a nice river that runs across Mito. You get to see a bunch of ducks and cranes hanging out..chilling. 

Groceries !!!! Workout pay off. Now its time to plan the amount I can bring back ?

They sell whale meat in the groceries store here :(. I was told that this has been a tradition since Beef was scarce in the past. Poor whale :*(

A shop that lived off photography for more than 3 generation. Notice that Antique camera on the left ? 

food !!!!!

scenes I bike pass as I climb my way  back to AIAVwith Kumiko

An Auto repair shop with a distinct cute car 

Kumiko and me also pass by a love hotel in the middle of the mountain daily. Great spot for love

I patron this place soo many times before realizing there is another awesome restaurant further down the road

People at Mito takes care of their environment and her habitat. Mother nature is safe here

couldn't paint outdoors with the cold and rain and all. Complete work in the studios instead

first painting done at AIAV.. just warming up :)

Fellowship at AIAV. Art Residency at Akiyoshidai International Art Village. (Part 1)

Time flies and I have been at Akiyoshidai International Art Village for two weeks now. I reckon that it would nice of me to write a little about this place, since so little has been written about it.

AIAV is designed by Japan’s most illustrious architect, Arata Isozaki. This place is huge and was intentionally designed for music performances and the Arts.

Akiyoshidai International Art Village

Akiyoshidai International Art Village 

There’s also accommodation next to the main building and I was assigned with a comfortable room here. 

My room at Akiyoshidai International Art Village

The great thing about AIAV is its uber remote location. It is literally smacked right in the mountains of Akiyoshido. Caveat? It is seriously far away from everything.  The closest town, Mito, is half an hour of walk from AIAV. Surrounded by nature and serenity, it’s the perfect place for an art retreat; there is really no-one to disturb you here. 

See the town down hill ?That's Mito ....Getting down there is fun ... alll downhill. Coming back ? Its a great work out....

I been biking about 5km daily for lunch. The hilly roads are a great workout :P 

My trusted Japanese girlfriend, Kumiko. She is quite cranky when we go uphill, often slipping gears and scaring the shit out of me when I am struggling. Cost ? 50 yen a day. She's low maintenance. Right up my alley

This is Mito. The place where I hoard all my food from :)

The produce at Mito. Freshhhhh

AIAV is well equipped and is run by a dedicated team of more than 20 members. The centre is open 24 hours and public can reserve studios to practice their musical instruments in the middle of the nights here. As part of my fellowship, I was granted a dedicated 24/7 studio to work on my art. It is really quite amazing.

Studio 1 for me to use 24/7 a day :) wonderful 

Laser Art work at night by Japanese Artist Kazuhiko Miwa

AIAV isn't all deserted. There are people here when there are events and music competition/ concerts.

A peek at someone's practice :)

drum-sets public can access to for their sessions in the studios :)

How did I get the residency? Well, I simply applied for their open call and was accepted for the 2015 fellowship. http://aiav.jp/english/artist-in-residence

Subsequently, I also applied for a grant under National Art Council and acquired some subsidies for my air ticket. To be honest, I was quite surprised to have gotten the residency. Most residencies tend to bias towards ‘pure conceptual’ art.

How to get to AIAV?
It’s far from Tokyo. I first arrived in Tokyo NRT on a delayed plane.. from there, I took an hour bus ride to Haneda Airport and caught my 1 hour domestic flight to Yamaguchi UBE. 

Narita to Haneda

I love good old Boeing planes. Beautiful bird. From Haneda to UBE

From here, I hop onto a 30 minute bus that took me to Shin Yamaguchi Train station. (850 yen) Here’s where the adventure begins. No one really speaks any English at Yamaguchi and the bus intervals are like a few hours apart. Taxi from Yamaguchi to Akiyoshido is expensive too…though I did prepare to spend on the taxi, I thought it would be interesting to experience the distance I can go with public commute. Bear in mind, I have two luggage with me, a total of 40 kg to hoard around. In the end, I managed to board a bus that took me right to Akiyoshido cave and transit into a short cab ride (1000 yen) to AIAV. It was an interesting experience and I have no clue what the bus driver said and was glad that he let me onto the bus with my two huge luggage. Special thanks to the lady working at the Train Station. She told the bus driver where I would go and helped me get to Akiyoshido Cave. I didn’t get a sim card this trip due to the flight delay.. but it all worked out without google. Phewww

Lucky bus ride . I was the only passenger on this more than 1 hour of non stop riding :)

hehehe, manage to drag this onto the bus all the way to Akiyoshido Cave !!! Yesss

Final leg to AIAV. A cab ride with a Taxi driver who knows AIAV. 2km and 1000 yen later ? I made it.
Total travel time from Singapore was more than 16 hours. 

I passed out for more than 12 hours straight when I got to AIAV :) My residency is from Dec 12 until Dec 28.

Notes from Chien Chung Wei's DVD

Notes from Chien Chung Wei's DVD

Chien Chung-Wei is a rising star in the watercolor world.  

His wife, Jasmine Huang is also a superb watercolorist.
I recently got a hold of Chung-wei’s DVD and here are some my notes & observations from his Masterclass through the DVD. I highly recommend this DVD. There are much more in the DVD that I won’t share here   Go buy the DVD and support the Artist please.

DVD's URL is here:
http://www.boutiquedesartistes.fr/dvd-master-class-aquarelle-sur-le-motif-avec-chien-chung-wei.html?___store=en&___from_store=fr

Notes from his DVD

• Only started plein-air 2 years ago. Developed his skills in-studio for the longest time.
• Mentioned that in-door techniques can complement Plein-air.
• Uber fast painter. He does this by pre-mixing a big mix of his paint (both warm /cool) before attempt. His painting movements makes me anxious. (laughs)

Mixing enough before he paints. He paints fast

• His strength lies in design. Simplifying what’s in front. In short, he’s a highly effective painter.

Complete within 1-2 hours. 

• He terms the mid-tone area as the rainbow color zone ( he deploys the greatest ranges in color temperature shift here, I guess))
• Paints in limited palette. Does not hold green on his palette. Instead, his wells have more blues.

No greens but more blues

• Design his composition and plan his road map extensively when he sketches with the pencil

"Taking the line out for a walk " - Chien Chung Wei

• Block out the darks with his graphite first. He uses line weight to plan as well
• He emphasized that "the line is out for a walk" whenever he draws. This is his personal expression of finding rhythm, shapes and composition.
• He blocks out the mid-tone and the dark while reserving the light shapes. Typically, he completes the mid-tones and dark by means of pigment concentration. Very little usage of glazes. Rather, he allocates layering to the details. Quite similar to Alla-prima in oils. He reminded me of Ong Kim Seng's approach. Dark first. 
• Switches brushes a lot. Typically paints with a bunch of them in his hands. He memtioned that smaller brushes are crucial for the darks (my guess- concentration of pigment)
• Very daring and confident with his scratches. Even brings out a palette knive and carve straight at the paper.

Visit his website for more of his beautiful work :) If you know mandarin, you can follow him on his facebook account. He regularly share interesting stories and philosophies behind his work.

http://chienchungwei.com/

https://www.facebook.com/hibariprince?fref=ts

His wife, Jasmine's facebook
https://www.facebook.com/hsiaohui.huang.79?fref=ts