#8 Thought of you

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

Created by Ryan Woodward, Thought of You is a 3 minute dance animation that sweep many people off their feet when it was first released in September 2010. This video revived a huge amount of positive response from viewer and also winning numerous awards in different film festivals. It is also a big part of Ryan Woodward's exhibition, which showcase Woodward's conte works. This film is drawn traditionally with conte, which is rare as most animation recently are all digital drawn.

There is no story to this animation, viewers are free to interprate the meaning of this film. Woodward wrote in his site "rather than creating a narrative animated piece that communicates a well defined story, this piece allows for each individual who views it to  to experience something unique and personal that touches their own sensibilities." In his exhibition, Woodward showcased interpretations from different viewers.

I think Thought of You is a true piece of artwork. It allows the viewer to be part of the work and rise different emotion within each viewer. Thought of You means something different for each individual audience. I believe an artwork should not tell what the audience should think, but help the audience think. I also think this is why Thought of you speaks to so many people, because it does not target a certain group of audience.

Visit Ryan Woodward's project at http://conteanimated.com/

#7 Q10

Recently I've finish watching a Japanese Drama name Q10, although not being a fan of love-themed dramas, I found myself taking a liking to this particular drama. The story begins with high school student Fukai Heita (Satoh Takeru) found and activated a robot name Q10 (Maeda Atsuko). Q10 (pronounced as Kyuuto) is a robot in a girl model and is still at learning stage. This 9-episode drama follow the adventure of these two and their classmates and teachers. Q10 have a theme that would become reality in the future - relationship between human and robots. As the story progress, Fukai face many dilemmas and begins rise many philosophical questions.

To be honest, story with a similar premises is not uncommon, but that made Q10 stood out for me is how realistic it is. The story was shown in a calm yet touching way. There was no emotion forced to the audience, everything seemed very natural. Which I think is appropriate because when one day robot is living among us, they would not come with a 'BANG!', but instead they will just blend in with the rest of the society. The problems that they will bring are not just wars and political matters, but something smaller yet affects us much stronger.

What also make Q10 interesting is the classmates, in Fukai's class, there is a hidden rocker, otaku, poor loner, star chaser and many more interesting characters. Each of them struggle against problems with society because who they are. They are show a large amount of character development though out the series. Although being the supporting characters, all of them are interesting in their own way and it's not hard to find connection between ourself and one of the characters.

Q10 says a lot about technology, but I think what really made Q10 what is it is how it talks about life and our generation. In conclusion, I think Q10 is a interesting drama and it's story might become reailty in the near future.

#6 Minecraft

Minecraft is a game that do not have striking visuals, beautiful character design, deep story plot and gorgeous cut scenes. It is a simple block building game.

The objective of Minecraft is simple - to survive in a world with monster running around by collecting materials and building shelter. The game's creator, Markus Alexej Persson, created the first version of Minecraft in less then 10 days. But such a a simple game does great on sales, with over 1,520,000 units sold on March 7, 2011.

I'm very glad that a game like Minecraft managed to made it big. Minecraft give a large amount of freedom to the player and allow them to use their creativity, contradictory to the linear story line often seen in recent games. Playing Minecraft feels like as if you are playing a digital version of lego, our favorite childhood toy. There is no complexity to this game, in fact, it goes against everything a game need to be successful. Yet in the end this game proved itself with the number of sales and award. To me, this is a message to the entertainment industry. You do not need a huge advertisement campaign to do good in sale. Having impressive graphic does not necessarily mean it is a good game.

#5 Decorated gas tanks

(Tomisato, Chiba prefecture)

This is not a giant genetically mutated watermelon, it’s a gas tank.

In Japan, gas company decided to spice up their gas tanks into something more colourful, for instance, chickens. (It is actually call Tokkikki, the mascots of Niigata prefectural). I really enjoy looking at these gas tanks. These gas companies are spendingextra money to decorate their gas tanks to make them look friendly. In a way it's promoting their company (and in attempt to beautify the usage of gas), but it does make the environment looks better and friendlier.I think these decorated gas tanks is a fun and cute idea and I'd love to see them outside of Japan. Imagin driving down the 401 and see a giant soccer ball. Priceless.

(Ouchi dolls, Yamaguchi prefecture)

 (Nicotan (mascot of Shibata Gas), Niigata prefecture)

Photo source: http://pinktentacle.com/2011/03/decorated-gas-tanks/

#4 Bubble Tree

It's a bubble, it's a house.

Ever want to be part of nature but still be like at home? Well, Pierre Stephane Dumas wants that, and have that.

French designer Pierre Stephane Dumas designed this tent in hoping to create a place where people can be with nature as close as possible but still be at the comfort of home. These structure call Bubble tree are tent made with transparent material so people in it can see everything around it while being inside the tent. Want to be close but not too close to nature? Instead of the Crystal Room, you can have the Bubble Room, which the bottom half is covered to give privacy to the user.

To me, this is like the "easy way out" for morden people to become one with nature. You wish to be close to nature, but not pay the price (ie: mosquito bites, uncomfortable environment etc). Nevertheless, I still think this is a brilliant idea. If I have the money, I would want one of these. Waking up to the full view of Alps? Yes please.

Visit Bubble Tree's website at http://bubbletree.fr/bbtree/racine/default.asp

#3 My Little Pony...?

Do you love My Little Pony? Or Lady Gaga? Well, have both.

This is a collection by Mari Kasurinen, a Finnish artist who became famous because of her "My Little" series. She takes the children merchandise My Little Pony and turn them in to pop culture icons. From Star wars to Micheal Jackson. Mari Kasurinen says in an interview that she wants to "express her concern for today’s materialism and individualism." What does these dolls say to you and to society? Is this Lady Gaga, or a pony? I thought these dolls are really fascinating. They are not just customized dolls, but a representation of our popular culture. Idols and movie characters are becoming the toy of this generation. They are more of an icon than a person.

Check Mari Kasurinen at marikasurinen.com