Sacré Nobi　サクレノビ

Masterpiece

Nobi — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:48:53 +0000

Is it presumptuous to call your own work a masterpiece? Maybe…but many artists have work of their own that they secretly admire and lament the lack of interest from others. Let’s admit it, being self-centered, attention seeking and lacking emotional control are common traits found among the artists. I think most artists, whether famous or not, have had moments when they felt overwhelming satisfaction and excitement with their creations.

This image of a piece called “Madonna of the Altar” which had been made of plaster and sugar in 1996 (or maybe it was 1997) is another “graveyard image” I recently found on the internet. I remember being almost satisfied (very Japanese way to appreciate your own work) and quite excited when it was finished. The piece used to sit in the back room of my old studio at 68 Jay Street in Brooklyn, and my neighbor who liked to call it a masterpiece often brought visitors from other part of the world just to show the piece. The piece was the culmination of series of sexually charged and sacrilegious sculptures that I made in the ’90s, and it is one of the few pieces that I still like.

In 1998, then New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani began the most aggressive crackdown on go-go joints and porn stores. Harmoney Theater, New York Dolls, the doors of the bars in Tribeca that I frequented to look for models were closed for good. In a way, it was the saddest event that took place in New York City since I had moved here.

Graveyard

Nobi — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:49:01 +0000

I don’t have many images of my sculptures since I have neither documented nor archived my work well. So it’s strange to find the images of my old pieces on the internet. Countless archives in the internet are updated at an amazing rate, but it seems there is a graveyard for old information.

I think the piece was called “Uncircumcised Penis in Water,” but I cannot remember the exact year it was made. In the early nineties, I used to ask visitors to my studio to have their body parts cast for my sculptures. Tongues, breasts, navels, penises, feet….. they all had their own stories.

A Fine Line

Nobi — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:54:04 +0000

“This is not art, this is porn.”

This has been said so many times that I’m not sure if it really matters.

Does the fact the subject in the film is a porn star make this anything less than great art?

Sacred Order

Nobi — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:13:29 +0000

Sculptor Isamu Noguchi often had mentioned that marriage and having children are not options for sculptors. I adored his idea of freedom and tried to join the ‘Order’ when I was young. I lost my path 10 years ago and am now a father of two kids. I don’t regret my choice but cannot agree more with Noguchi today.

Art is…

Nobi — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:27:33 +0000

Art is about wasting time and money. Any good artist knows this, and most people who are not artists, but believe that they know about art do not realize it.

1994

Nobi — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 01:33:45 +0000

It was a year filled with pheromones and testosterone.

いやぁ、艶艶なコマーシャルのあった年でした。

John Lautner houses

Nobi — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:49:08 +0000

John Lautner, a Frank Lloyd Wright disciple, is probably best know for Chemosphere House, the flying saucer like house that he designed in 1960. It has been a landmark architecture in Los Angeles for nearly half a century. When the decaying house was purchased and restored by well-known German publisher Benedikt Taschen in 2000, I remember Brad Pitt, an architecture buff, visited the house a few times during the restoration. I’m sure Brad Pitt would have wanted to do the same thing that Benedikt Taschen did if he had had the time to focus on such things.

The Goldstein House, another house by Lautner which was originally designed in 1963 for the first owners was later purchased by a billionaire “NBA superfan” James Goldstein in 1989. In keeping with the original design philosophy, Goldstein closely worked with Lautner till the architect’s death in 1994 to renovate and expand the original structure using new technologies which were not available when the original part had been built.

This weekend I discovered that Segel House (1983), a more recent house by John Lautner on the beach of Malibu, was for sale - an astounding thirty three and a half million dollars!

Hotdoll

Nobi — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:27:09 +0000

heehee, it’s so cutiful !!!

おっ、可愛いですねぇ。

(via: http://feeladdicted.com/)

The future meets van der Rohe

Nobi — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:18:31 +0000

Very slick - all the elements have been put in place carefully. Not bad for a car company originally out of Sweden.

車のコマーシャルなのに、ミース・ファン・デル・ローエのデザインの方が光っています。

Five-Star Prison

Nobi — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:58:09 +0000

If I were homeless in Austria, I’d commit a crime to stay here. Read more about this Boutique Prison in Austria.

素敵な監獄です。（中の様子などは、写真をクリックすると御覧になれます。）

Sacré Nobi サクレ ノビ