Tag Archives: artifacts

Japan Cottage Musings

Creative Life Archive into a Grain Barn / Japan Cottage Musings

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Recently my “whole life archive” from 4X+ years of creativity arrived after a trans-Pacific journey to my home is Tsuchida, Okayama, Japan… so, I made a little video spiel – or tried to rather – while sort-ganizing the artifacts the “kura” (grain barn). However, the video was out of focus and the sound well, non-existent (guess i don’t know how to use this new gear… sigh).

This clip (which i didn’t know was filming) of puttering around in schleppy work clothes (and a fine hand-crafted hat) exists… so, here’s a little clip mixed with still photos of putzing around my life’s worth of books, records, scrapbooks, tools, trinkets and whatnot and finding some interesting things (while trying not to be overwhelmed by all the memories and dauntingness of it all).

No narrative per se, just an excuse to play you a song and say hello… carry on.

I was *clearly* saying something fascinating here :) – probably about Kerouac, scrapbooks, artifacts, vinyl etc and likely say “personal archeology” & ”intrepid” + mention stash of amusing hats, lounge wear and of course, smoking jackets but, you will just hafta trust me (or don’t, that’s cool).

Importantly this song: pal George H. wrote music and sings/plays (but says its not “finished” so don’t tell him unless you wanna tell him you LOVE it) – the words are mine from escapades in NYC 1990ish. Anyhow, thanks for coming along for this flashback. 

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Personal Musings

Diary: Getting a handle on the Kura “sort-ganizing” project

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Round-up from the kura barn/mixed-media-creative-studio-in-process…

this is the key to the main (of 3) mighty heavy doors to the get into the kura barn. if this key gets stuck inside, well we’re hosed. it looks simply but its a deliberate puzzle to open the vault

Next up, going to attempt to carry up a big shelf cabinet – then, hopefully can squeeze in another bookcase and start unloading the huge stash of records and books into something more manageable. [Update: done]

In the meanwhile, here’s a few odds and ends of items which maybe didn’t get floated out there, just to, well… float em out, round em up for your amusement along the way. Progress and all. Annotations in-line with evidence.

so much Tintin stuff! including many “bootleg” remixes – seen here with sea capn’s black globe and brass latern
K. Foster painting, property of R. Scales (still smelled like DTES stank)
Ryoko having dress-up fun with old scouting sash and camp hat of pins and fringe (yes she thinks i’m adorably weird)
explaining the Ryoko what lederhosen are and why i have a fancy pair
still life of fringe suede jacket and sea capn’s globe and latern with Walt Whitman-esque wooden statue in the background
yup, another view of the beloved suitcases – while they are lovely, tis truly the contents which are important, so much to be revealed
clothing sash mostly organized – winter items, hockey.soccer jersey, costumes/specialty wear, the bins of hats and scarves in there too and then a blue bag of kinda things in limbo (my indoor closet is rather limited
Of course, must get the stereo set up but, there’s a little broken plug connector thingy snapped off inside of the speaker connector place. Not quite sure how to resolve but… One revolution at a time. This is a great little Onkyo set-up repatriated to its origin land – need a new CD deck to match / and figure out the mixing board for other projects
a rack of jackets! including US forest service, a Saskatchewan hockey team, a corduroy Inuit, camel air emergency fancy clothes (used for lobbying efforts) so on – seen with Vancouver collage on easel and a load of media and board games
hard to tell from this snap but in these boxes is an epicly eccentric and varied record collection – will share as i get to it but oh wow, we’ll have fun
a few books set aside for another look or sudden service
yet another panorama of the project in process – so much done, so much to do
which is better: the handmade Mavilli hat (with ear flaps), the curlig sweater (with patches), or the moustache/sideburns combo

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Personal Musings, Post'd (cards + letters)

Postcards for Positivity

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Just trying to send out some positivity out into the world / analog style.

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Personal Musings

Uncovering artifacts from Tottori

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Uncovering artifacts from my first time in Japan in 1992, living in Tottori, working at the mushroom farm, quitting that lousy job then roaming around by thumb from Shikoku to Nagano etc. / maps, brochures, postcards, visa applications, a few business cards, various phone cards etc.

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Personal Musings

Diary: Suitcases sorted with scraps and books

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Update: each of these majestic suitcases now carries a specific subset of collections, ergo:

one has dossiers and scraps and supplies for making more scrapbooks

another, completed large form scrap books; another has all smaller sized journals, notebooks, diaries etc

next contains “paper point collages“ from various presentations and talks over the years

yet another contains little valuable trinkets from here and there and you

then there are a couple of classic typewriters in cases

a big blue bin filled with percussion odds and ends

another blue bin filled with collections of collections (pins, patches, playing cards, glasses, cameras,…)

another big stack of letter writing supplies with stationery, postcards, paper sets etc.

another satchel bulging with empty notebooks awaiting their turn for scribbles…

And this is just one shelf of many many shelves – below the shelf is boxes of photos, letters, childhood artifacts and the like.

Making great progress and today’s task is hauling up a sturdy shelving cabinet to start offloading records and books / hopefully can get the stereo set up although there’s a little bit of a problem with a broken speaker connector part.
~
Could really use a few elves to enjoy the process with > making sure to keep my pace slow to not “crash” > It’s all quite exciting (oh by the way, yesterday all the clothes and costumes etc. mostly got sorted, folded, stashed)

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Personal Musings

Diary: Unpacking the Kura, day one (collections of collections, vinyl, books, suitcases, typewriters…)

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Note: Heading into the barn to play with artifacts. if no update in 3 days, send snacks & tea (we’ve brought enough to last til then) :)

Notes from the kura barn (day one):

As I opened up dozens of boxes today to kind of do a “rough sort“ and see what I’m dealing with, so many thoughts and emotions flooding back – However, work to do with intent of pulling out a few artifacts for upcoming Jack Kerouac workshop (oh yeah, don’t cancel don’t cancel everything proceed normally etc. etc.)…

Anyhow, I collect collections and, in various cigar boxes, shoeboxes, and satchels of different kinds I have assortments of:

* playing cards (despite the fact that I don’t know how to shuffle or any card games)
* pins of all sorts
* lighters and coasters from all around the world
* belt buckles and belts (many of these used on old suitcases)
* felt pennants and other classic Vancouver odds and ends including expo 86 artifacts
* dozens of amusing hats – also scarves and hats and more hats
* cassette tapes (primarily ones from garage band from decades ago
* CDs (commercial as well as from people who said “dude you got to hear my band“ and gave me said CD)
* plenty of vinyl (oh my!) / Many of which I never had a chance to listen to as I ordered them and they were drop shipped to various friends and brothers’ house
* suitcases filled with hitchhiking signs, presentation “paper point“ collages, and dozens of scrapbooks, journals, diaries, notebooks, sketches… dozens

Overall, I have about six-eight of my old-timey suitcases, two typewriters, all sorts of fun outfits (we’ll see what still fits after I do a lot of laundry as most is a bit musty) and then dossiers of travel ephemera from various trips as well as the already constructed “static montage” story boards that I create for various trips.
In other words, have enough projects to keep me going for a while.

Plus loads of art supplies and office supplies and stationery supplies.
Also a stereo and a bunch of recording gear and another 2/3 of the boxes I haven’t opened yet.

And then of course there is art, both originals and prints and posters… Took the time to unroll some posters and start to flatten them out, then re-organized all the framed art into big boxes with similar pieces as we start to hang up stuff all over the house and barn etc. etc. (we don’t have near enough wall space but that’s another story, we can swap out exhibits if you know what I mean).

Continue reading Diary: Unpacking the Kura, day one (collections of collections, vinyl, books, suitcases, typewriters…) →

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Personal Musings

Diary: 40+ years of projects into a “kura” grain barn

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Big day (Thursday March 19) here at Tsuchida cottage as my life archives completes a long journey by a ship and truck from a storage locker in Victoria, Canada to port in Vancouver to port in Kobe and here by truck.

40+ years of scrap books, journals, diaries, book reports, certificates, art projects, school report cards, letters, photos and of course dozens of my paintings, all my various artifacts from talks/spiels/prezos, hitchhiking signs, “important papers”, art supplies, recording equipment, plus boxes of books and crates of records, and of course dozens of amusing hats.

The email thread with the company is about 70 communiqués, quite a bit of paperwork for customs clearance etc. etc. If all goes well, everything will be offloaded and instantly “sort-ganized” into a magnificent olden “kura” grain barn.

The kura barn recently got a good organization and clean-up and it’s going to turn into something very special… A mixed media art studio/archive… It’s gonna work out great!

Need to get a little bit more electricity/light in there and there’s only a little bit of dry rot in a few places but generally dry and solid. Going to be a great place for listening/recording music, reading books and making projects.

You may well especially enjoy the mighty wood beams and construction of this structure.

Anyhow, first coffee, breakfast and pants and of course, I’ve made a little map/plan for the moving crew, what I’m saying is “wish me luck“ it’s a big one. Continue reading Diary: 40+ years of projects into a “kura” grain barn →

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Writing Life

Quote: G. Snyder (Wildness)

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“Civilizations east and west have long been on a collision course with wild nature, and now the developed nations in particular have the witless power to destroy not only individual creatures but whole species, whole processes, of the earth. We need a civilization that can live fully and creatively together with wildness.”

Gary Snyder in Etiquette of Freedom / Practice of the Wild

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Kinfolk + Pals

Collage of Pals and Experience by Kris Krug including #DRO420

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Collage of Pals and Experience by Kris Krug including #DRO420

My pal KK made a photo /ephemera collage (which he does from time to time) and is a form we both dig. To share with you – and make sure doesn’t get disappeared in some folder somewhere – sharing here for goodness at shares extra artifacts from DRO420, our wedding and his trip around Japan making pals in April 2019.

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Writing Life

Quote: J. Garcia, re: J. Kerouac

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More Jack #Kerouac riffs – this one from the mighty Jerry Garcia

 “I can’t separate who I am now from what I got from Kerouac. I don’t know if I would ever have had the courage or the vision to do something outside with my life – or even suspected the possibilities existed – if it weren’t for Kerouac opening those doors.”

Jerry Garcia, remembering Jack Kerouac who was born in Lowell, MA on March 12, 1922

PS Remember Jack Kerouac’s “on the road“ scroll is coming to Kobe in May with my workshop kicking things off on April 29.

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