News, updates, and thoughts from the road.
The Art, Space & Nature program at The University of Edinburgh is producing five gallery shows in five weeks at the school’s street-front Tent Gallery space, each with a different theme, and each engaging with the community and a roster of speakers and workshop leaders. This … Continue readingFive Weeks, Five Shows
This is a bit of great news, yet it’s also old news now. To my credit, at the time I was on the craziest 4-week schedule in recent memory, shooting amazing gigs for ZERO1 and Nova Jiang, clearing out and selling off everything in my … Continue readingInterview with Larry Korn
Several years ago in my hometown of San Jose, California, I came upon a curious statue along the Guadalupe Creek, behind a huge performing arts center, and further tucked away under a maple tree. This statue was one of my first encounters with any kind … Continue readingThe Little Peach Boy (Momotaro)
In our second visit to Kawaguchi’s home farm — the first was in May of this year — we enjoyed tea and a more informal chat than on our previous visit. Lately, Kawaguchi-san has spent his mornings working on finishing a book, and although he has … Continue readingYoshikazu Kawaguchi’s Natural Farm
It’s been a busy month or so… to catch everyone up, I’ve started a unique MFA program at the University of Edinburgh called “Art, Space & Nature” which works between the disciplines of art, architecture, and ecology. It’s a good match for the natural farming … Continue readingHarvesting Rice by Hand in Korea
This week, I am in the New Mexico desert, documenting Nova Jiang and Jamie O’Shea’s Cloud Vessels project. The physical centerpiece of the installation is a solar-powered atmospheric water generator, dug into the desert, a creation of Jamie’s. Later in the week, there will be … Continue readingHoles in the Desert
ZERO1 is an international showcase of art + technology that takes place in the heart of Silicon Valley, highlighting the work of around 100 artists from all over the world. This year, I’ve been hired as the official photographer and I’m looking forward to a … Continue readingZERO1 Biennial
This past week, I donated NightLight: Relationship — a large-format (120-megapixel) photograph taken in Hong Kong for the NightLight series — to the WORKS San Jose Benefit Auction. The print up for auction is a 28″ x 30″ mounted photograph which appeared last year in a … Continue readingWorks Gallery Auction
News update for the Final Straw documentary: Since returning from farms in Japan and Korea, I’ve been searching more for Japanese-style natural farms on the West coast of the U.S. — they have been very hard to find/contact — and just this week a very … Continue readingNatural Agriculture in Santa Cruz
Project Focus: navigating art, culture, and the urban neighborhood Patrick’s Role: designer Genres of Involvement: information design Download : San Jose Downtown Arts and Culture Walking Map (PDF) About the Redesign The Status Quo: Using a general multi-purpose map crammed with everything, including parking, transit, district names, … Continue readingMapping Art in San Jose
Our flight back from Seoul, South Korea caught one of those super-fast jetstreams. You know, the kind that whisk you to where you are going nearly a full hour ahead of the scheduled arrival time. It was a magical plane ride where — opposed to … Continue readingStopping (air) Traffic to Raise Money
When my dear friend Kyoko heard the words from my mouth that I loved Tonkatsu, she knew exactly where to take me after work. If you have a hankering for Tonkatsu (Japanese fried pork cutlet), most restaurants in Tokyo will serve up a fine plate … Continue readingThree Generations of Pork Cutlet Chefs
Project Focus: people, music, and the urban neighborhood Patrick’s Role: director Genres of Involvement: film, music Visit: http://cafe.naver.com/bandbowl I had the pleasure to meet these kind and talented musicians — nicknamed Rockstar and Zorba — at a rather boisterous rice planting “after party” on a natural … Continue readingBand Bowl (밴드 그릇) Music Video
Today, I head back to Silicon Valley with 227 GB of HD video and a ton (metric) of knowledge gained from the dozen or so natural farmers we interviewed while traveling 2,900 miles in Japan and South Korea. I seem to be in a “numbers” … Continue readingBy The Numbers
The last several weeks have brought a lot of travel as we made our way around to visit the most prominent natural farmers in East Asia for the “Final Straw” documentary. Due to the limited budget, we had to travel the cheapest way possible. It … Continue readingJapan/Korea Travel Map
Wrapping things up here in South Korea this week as the Final Straw shooting schedule comes to an end and the universe-best assistant, Suhee Kang arranged a lecture for me at Sanmaeul High School. A larger piece is coming soon to sociecity, but the short … Continue readingVisit and Lecture at Sanmaeul High School
This week we filmed in Osaka, Nara, and Fukuoka, and each day was full of fresh local food. In Nara, our amazing Japanese interpreter and I spent an extended weekend withYoshikazu Kawaguchi, a natural farmer who runs a free monthly farming class, including free practice … Continue readingWeek in Western Japan
We had our first meeting with a Japanese natural farmer today, and it was an amazing one. Yoshikazu Kawaguchi has written several books and is a “natural farming” icon in Japan. Today, he invited us to his home near Nara, Japan, where we talked over … Continue readingYoshikazu Kawaguchi – Day 1
We visited the “Blues Guesthouse” in the Segeomjeong neighborhood of Seoul a few days back after hearing about a rooftop vegetable garden they are starting. It’s very early spring here, so the plants are just starting to come up, but it was nice to have … Continue readingFancy Breakfast from a Rooftop Garden?
With one of the farmers suddenly too busy to meet with us, a broken camera body, and malfunctioning lens, it hasn’t been all roses the past week out here. Luckily, we’ve been able to get some other interviews and Suhee knew a very kind (and … Continue readingDumulmeori Farm
It’s a particularly windy afternoon in Seoul, but other than that very sunny, pleasant, and bustling with activity along the streets and along the sidewalks. Suddenly, undulating along with the steady gusts of wind, a long and deep siren sounds. It’s the kind of sound you can’t … Continue readingCivil Defense Drill in Seoul
Took an afternoon to visit Namdaemun Market today to capture footage of this amazingly huge, amazingly busy outdoor marketplace. On the way back, I curiously stopped in at the grocery store in Shinsegae, one of the major department stores in Seoul (along with Hyundai and … Continue readingUpscale Grocery Service in Seoul
Our sleeping experience on the farm in Hongcheon was a unique one in that we were in a very traditional house. Many Koreans sleep on the floor, and this night provided no exception, but the truly unique thing was in how the heating is provided. … Continue readingTraditional Korean Heating System
Just returned to Seoul this afternoon from a beautiful mountainside farm in Hongcheon, a few hours outside of Seoul (by train and bus). The owner of the farm, Gaeguri, is not only a natural farmer, but an author on the topic as well. He was also one … Continue readingOur First Farm Visit in Korea
This morning offered a good opportunity to capture a bit of early-morning Seoul, but not for long. It’s been all rain and wind since 10am or so. Not necessarily a bad thing as I’ve been doing some reading and planning for our farm stays. Tomorrow … Continue readingLate Night Dubokki
After dinner in Seoul’s “Chinatown” and a coffee at local shop “Ism,” Suhee showed me to the room which she is very kindly letting me use. The air here in Seoul was cool, and very very still last night, and in the older Dongnimmun neighborhood where … Continue readingArrival in Seoul
The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity, mostly centered around planning out this trip to Korea and Japan for the Final Straw project, but other highlights were: Lunch meeting with San Jose Director of Transportation, Hans Larsen (article coming to sociecity shortly, … Continue readingFinal Straw: The Future of Food Begins
When I’m feeling a compulsion to take high-resolution landscape shots, I find little need for a camera body that shoots 30, 50, 100 or whatever insane amount of megapixels. That, and I love to shoot these scenes with a light and bright 50mm prime lens. … Continue readingHaving Fun With 120 Megapixels
These new images are part of a series documenting natural open space near urban developments around the world. The first three are from Hiroshima, Japan; San Francisco, California; and Gangwon, South Korea (where I was filming a documentary last month, more on that later). The … Continue readingYour Future…
I noticed a bunch of cherry blossoms while in San Francisco last weekend, seems a few months early for spring yet, but I guess that Hanami (Japanese flower viewing, often accompanied by large amounts of alcohol) is upon us already! The photo below was taken … Continue readingEarly Cherry Blossoms
This is part of the bigger Project Transport Me study of transportation mechanisms. Exploring some new ways of juxtaposing transportation lately… this one compares aerial views of the areas outside major train stations with illustrated overlays of people, buildings, and vehicles from the opposite frame. … Continue readingTransport Me | Satellite
A bottle of Hendrik’s Gin we finished off last night after nearly being killed. Talk about still life…
Was working from a cafe this afternoon and caught a pretty rad condensation (vapor) trail running through the sky around sunset. This one is about 7 frames stitched together, in the neighborhood of 120-megapixels after the crop.
Fellow San Jose Arts Commissioner, Kaela Bernal forwarded me a note from the American Association of Museums this afternoon which pointed out a primary need to break down barriers, change mindsets, and also, most importantly to take risks. The note got me to thinking more … Continue readingFailure is the Recipe for Success in Art
A little late, but this photo just turned up while importing an old card. Hopefully it brings the same feeling of post-Christmas cheer to you as it did me. I had just finished taking in the Maurizio Cattelan exhibition at the Guggenheim in NYC, when I … Continue readingPost-Holiday Cheer
There are these great signs on the freeway during those special moments (St. Patrick’s Day, New Year’s Eve) when there seem to be an abundance of drunken assholes driving cars. The signs say clearly “Report Drunk Drivers: Call 911,” which of course, is in and … Continue readingHelp Protect Us From Ourselves – Report Cell Phone Users
Took a visit to New York City last month and was fortunate to photo document Eyebeam‘s Open Studio event for them. The place is officially an “art and technology” center, and although the projects all have some kind of technology slant to them, it’s really quite unbelievable the … Continue readingEyebeam Art + Technology Center Open Studios
I was in San Francisco earlier this week visiting SFAI and happened to catch the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market as they were just setting up (aka, the perfect time because no one is there). I scored some amaaazing organic Asian pears. I mean, amazing. Wow. … Continue readingAsian Pears and Rice
I’m beginning a new “public service” project today, staging photographs and illustrated ads to help make people aware of the reality behind current laws, specifically how the government enjoys trying to protect us from ourselves. This first ad is for a “car driver helmet law” … Continue readingMake it a Law – Help Protect Us From Ourselves
A very dry and windy night last night, leaves all over the place, a few tree branches, enough to take out the power for the night. Which of course, always provides a nice opportunity for night photos! I took out the Mamiyaflex for this one.