News, updates, and thoughts from the road.
From the San Jose State University “Tuesday Night Lecture” series. Suhee and Patrick talk of their decision to quit their jobs, and their subsequent decade of migratory life, making ecological films, art, and community projects. … Continue readingWatch: Tuesday Night Lecture at San Jose State University
Earlier this year I produced an art exhibition for Gomsil Forest—a real live Korean forest that Suhee and I have been friends with for some time. In preparation for the exhibition, Gomsil Forest spent an entire year creating works on canvas; these works were subsequently … Continue readingGomsil Forest & the “Gurye Contemporary Art Museum” (GCAM)
One of the country’s largest markets, Hankyu is of the first places I filmed b-roll footage (illegally) to help highlight consumerism in Japan’s major cities. Fast forward to today, and we are hanging a show here. What did we choose to display? That’s the fun part… … Continue readingExhibition and Talk at Hankyu Umeda
Just back from Paris, where I helped design, build, and curate an arts platform to augment the Nature of Cities Summit, a global conference of ecologists, urban planners, and others from academic and government roles. … Continue readingSpring 2019 Works & Events
One of Korea’s major newspapers called the exhibition “Pictures drawn by the forest … rain water, dirt, and bird shit.” Unflattering but true. Please enjoy this short film… … Continue readingShort Film on “Forest is the Artist”
A forest has its own exhibition of artwork in a Korean gallery, and the profits go back into the forest. … Continue readingForest is the Artist – Exhibition in Seoul
In a busy Japanese shopping mall, there were moments of calm, joy, and beauty. Personally however, the most beautiful moment must have been witnessing this little girl. For at least half a minute she stood there… … Continue readingA Nature Mandala: Growing Seeds in a Shopping Mall
Today one quite old, well-dressed woman stopped in her tracks and looked straight at me, asking “what are you putting in the bag?” In my limited Japanese I answered “leaves,” opening the bag to show her the bright fall color pallet inside. Her reaction… … Continue readingThe Art of Collecting Leaves
Suhee and I will be hosting a series of events with MUJI (無印良品) in Japan called With Nature. If you are in the area (Osaka/Sakai) come join us for the following events… … Continue reading‘With Nature’ Events at MUJI, Japan
We’ve just been notified that our project in Osaka, “The Branch” has received a ‘Special Commendation’ from the 2018 Nick Reeves Award from Art and Environment! This award is given annually in recognition of an outstanding contribution in the field of environmental arts… … Continue readingNick Reeves Award for Art and Environment
There are synergies between human progress and environmental wellness here in Japan, that have been accomplished nowhere else in human history. … Continue readingA Current that Trickles Through the Walls
Flower watching is an event like no other here in Japan. Every spring especially, the country goes crazy for the light pink cherry blossoms that grace so many of its streets, parks, and hillsides; so much so that office workers sometimes get off early once … Continue readingA Winter Friend, the Sazanka (山茶花)
It’s a brisk Winter morning in Osaka, and I’m jumping on a bike, headed to a warehouse down the street that is filled with used wood. A saw, square, a notebook with some scribbles and measurements, and a few other tools are in the bike’s basket. … Continue readingBuilding by Bike – Truth, Goodness, and Beauty
As a testament to an unconventional year, we spent Christmas on an overnight train from Chaingmai to Bangkok this year. Although we took the trip with our good friends Tomo and Pattarapol, and there were a few bright red Santa hats walking around the train, … Continue readingEnd of Winter Update (2017)
Suhee and I are showing “Wisdom from the Field,” a new project of handmade paper and prose, with each passage written on paper that we hand-made using the financial and business sections of newspapers… … Continue reading“Tool, Mind, Earth” at Fettes Gallery
Join us this fall as we learn from and grow with each other during this 10-week series of events where participants learn to cultivate their creativity and ecological awareness, exploring art, nature, culture, and good food on the island of Megijima! … Continue readingREALtimeFOOD in Megijima, Japan!
We just left Hiroshima, a wonderful host, and a wonderful group of around 70 people who turned out to see the film. While we were here, we paused to visit the site of the atomic bombing. It was my second time and I brought Suhee … Continue readingLet Us Choose Peace | Hiroshima, Japan
I also saw – by merit of my own faults in judgment – how big of a wall we must tear down, and how much humility we must have in order for the human race to see “value” correctly again, to see “value” with truth in it… … Continue readingThe Value Garden isn’t a Bargain Store
One way I have liked to spend spare time here in Osakako is taking naps under a tree, as you might guess. The other place is a little plaza overlooking the harbor where the big container ships come in and are loaded and unloaded. … Continue readingThe Space Between
We’ve just finished our REALtimeFOOD project, which was a 7 week long process combining art, ecology, community, and growing food in an urban setting. Suhee and I are both really happy with how it all went, and glad to see so many people inspired by … Continue readingRobert Callender Residency Begins in Osaka
There are walls of rain coming down outside and I’m sweating. Which means it’s rainy season in Japan. A quick update on a few exciting projects going on this summer here in Osaka… PART 1 – REALtimeFOOD In June and July, Suhee and I are … Continue readingSummer Update from Japan
This past weekend Suhee and I were in Kyoto. We got off the train early, and took a long few hours walk to our destination, giving ourselves time to slow things down. Just walking. Looking. Feeling. Experiencing this city. Slow pace. The destination was a … Continue readingTrue and Slow Experiences – Kyoto
The year started off in the mountains of South Korea. Generally it’s been cold here this year, but not quite as bad as the winter a few years past. That is, until we got out into the country side a bit. The image below was … Continue readingAn (end of) Winter Update from Dajeon, Korea
In Japan they have a practice of creating exquisite gilded sculptures of fish to put about the rooftops of important palaces and castles. The fish symbolize the buildings as being ‘under water’ in an allegorical sense, thus protecting them from the fires which would often … Continue readingFish Sculptures and Water Buckets
Most major cities in Japan, with the exception of the very most central and dense areas of Tokyo, rely heavily on the bicycle for basic transportation needs. Train stations often have huge parking lots, not for cars, but for bicycles. Not only this, but everything … Continue readingBikes are a Real form of Transportation
— The standard morning here offers a varied menu of sounds: chirping, click-clacking, chatter moving towards the subway station. On the days when either leaves or a dusting of snow are present along the pathways you can add to this menu, the delicate sound of … Continue readingThe Powerful Sound of a Broom
I’ve always wanted to get off at this bus stop and today I had the time, although today was also the coldest day this year at about 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 C). The scene intrigues me most because when I was in Seoul two years … Continue readingConstruction in Seoul
— At night glowing street stalls appear here selling various Korean comfort foods fried chicken pig stomach fermented cabbage soup They are unplanned improvisations added to the streets and sidewalks of otherwise pristinely ordered developments It seems they forgot something in designing the ‘new town’ … Continue readingPig Stomach
The big reddish-colored tree in the right side of this frame is a California Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). The oldest of these Redwood trees are much older than you and I. In fact, they are older than most of our recorded human history. The oldest … Continue readingThe Redwood Before Buddha
There are silent scooters running about the Streets of Shanghai. What does it mean for global pollution? … Continue readingShanghai’s Silent Motorcycles and Global Pollution
Suhee and I are headed to the San Francisco Bay Area today. In the past two months, we’ve had a great, focused time to work with the film while in residency at Jageun Jip, and in the last ten days, we’ve organized multiple small ‘rough cut’ … Continue readingChange Starts with You
A new natural farmer here in Korea was so inspired by our work with the Final Straw project, and our help in connecting him to a network of others with similar mindsets, that he sent us a huge box of vegetables from his farm this week as a thank you gift. … Continue readingA Box of Inspiration
What transpired in these past two days, was a version of humanity so hopeful, that everyone should know it exists. … Continue readingAtomic Bomb Survivors Help us See Peace
If you want to know how someone can live in a monetarily ‘poor’ urban neighborhood and have a good quality of life, there are undoubtedly some answers to be found here. … Continue readingIn Dae-dong, ‘Poor’ Neighborhood, High Quality of Life
A large swath of family portraits adorn his living room wall; six daughters and one son, he tells us, “we didn’t stop making kids until we had a son.” There’s your Korean dedication again… … Continue readingIn Dae-Dong, Life is a Wave
What acts are notable.
Who is a notable person.
If we watch as the sun slowly moves through our sky, we can see the shadows it creates. Inching along the ground, across the sea, the mountain cliffs, across our cities, walls, gardens, and across the deserts as each grain of sand casts a shadow on the next grain … Continue readingImage and Word: What is Notable?
Jageun Jip means “small house” in Korean, and it is just that; a very small house on a forested hillside overlooking the city of Daejeon. The house functions as a community library, and a newly opened residency space for writers. … Continue readingArtist Residency in Daejeon, Korea
There is a mom down the hill who dutifully takes her child outside every few hours during the day. On the rooftop of their apartment building they go, the baby fastened to her back with a cloth wrapped around her waist. … Continue readingImage and Word: Woman, Child, City
The mountain is a popular attraction for locals and foreigners alike, being that it is the tallest mountain in Seoul city, and very easily accessible by both bus and subway, either of which will bring you pretty darned close to the foot of the mountain! … Continue readingBukhansan, Seoul’s Big Mountain
A new word for me this week in Korea was “Beezza,” a word that blends two American favorites which are both well loved here; Beezza is short for beer and pizza. … Continue readingBeeza, and other Korean Word Blends