Mariko Mori

Tea with Mariko
by Kay Itoi

It was an impressive little piece of performance art. Mariko Mori, arguably the most visible Japanese artist in the West today, entered the all-white, glass and plastic tea room she had specially designed for the posh apartment that serves as her Tokyo studio. Dressed in a white, simple two-piece cotton dress and socks, Mori bowed to her guest (me), seated us both on the tatami mats and slowly proceeded to perform a tea ceremony.

Since I ignored my mother's order to learn the Way of Tea as a young girl, I could not tell whether her movement was exactly in sync with the traditional cha no yu -- although some of the utensils, like a glass chawan, or tea bowl, and a lime-green plastic chashaku, or tea scoop, looked rather unorthodox.

I was there because the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, had just announced plans to present Mori's first solo museum show in Japan, to be held early next year. So I finished drinking bitter tea in three gulps (as instructed) and took my pen in hand.

Mori, who was born in 1967 and has worked in New York City for 10 years, turned her smiling face to me. To me the tea room felt uncomfortably small, though obviously the artist was at home. Relaxed and in control, she spoke slowly, taking her time considering each question and answering in a low voice.

"Mariko Mori Pure Land" will be on display at Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Jan. 19-Mar. 24, 2002. It will be curated and organized by the Tokyo museum and the Milan-based Fondazione Prada.
KAY ITOI is a critic and reporter based in Japan.

Mariko Mori (森万里子, Mori Mariko, b. 1967 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese video and photographic artist. While studying at Bunka Fashion College, she worked as a fashion model in the late 1980s. This strongly influenced her early works, such as Play with Me, in which she takes control of her role in the image, becoming an exotic, alien creature in everyday scenes. In 1989, she moved to London to study at the Chelsea College of Art and Design.

Found Here: http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/FEATURES/itoi/itoi11-20-01.asp & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariko_Mori

Mark McCandlish / Brad Sorenson - Alien Reproduction Vehicle Diagram

Mark McCandlish, who is part of the Disclosure Project, is an accomplished aerospace illustrator and has worked for many of the top aerospace corporations in the United States. His colleague, Brad Sorenson, with whom he studied, has been inside a facility at Norton Air Force Base, where he witnessed alien reproduction vehicles, or ARVs, that were fully operational and hovering. In his full testimony, you learn that the US not only has operational antigravity propulsion devices, but they have had them for many, many years, and they have been developed through the study, in part, of extraterrestrial vehicles over the past fifty years. In addition, we have the drawing from aerospace inventor Brad Sorenson of the devices that he saw, as well as a schematic of one of these alien reproduction vehicles - in some remarkable detail.

Wesley Allsbrook

Wesley Allsbrook was born and raised in the verdant piedmont region of North Carolina. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, she settled into life as a freelance illustrator. Give her a ring. She'd love to hear from you.

Interviews
The Art Department
Toro Magazine

Found Here: http://www.wesleyallsbrook.com

Vintage Octopus Pulp Covers

Welcome to Poulpe Pulps, an OCTOPIA BLOG feature. The octopus, known as poulpe in French, pulpo in Spanish, polip in Hungarian, and polypous in Classical Greek, is pluperfectly the essence of pulp.

Here you will find hard-to-locate images of science fiction, fantasy, and adventure pulp and comic covers featuring the wily octopus, courtesy of your hostess Francesca Myman.

You will find that this is a reader-driven site, and one way to make my day is to email me with information about another delectable cover you've found. The eternal gratitude of the Mistress of the Tentacled Oblivion has many, many benefits. We're not sure what they are just yet, but we're sure they exist. . . so keep the covers coming.

Found Here: http://francesca.net/pulp.html

To view a larger version, click on any image.