Twentythree

Sometimes you find crazy things on the streets of Japan, but this is just insane.

Photographers and videographers are naturally drawn to the scenery of Japan, where modern streetscapes merge with traditional architecture, and quiet patches of nature contrast with hordes of pedestrians at busy intersections.

For one filmmaker this landscape of contrasts and contradictions provided the perfect setting for an unusual film project, involving hundreds of naked computer-generated bodies.

Called Time for Sushi, words really can’t do justice to the absurdity of the short video, so let’s take a moment to view the clip. If you’re a fan of “The Ministry of Silly Walks” from Monty Python, this will be a visual treat you’ll never forget.

If you’re asking yourself, “What on Earth did my eyes just see?”, let’s recap the highlights from the clip.

▼ Yep – you really did see a group of naked figures walking through Tokyo,
proudly owning gaits and postures that some would call “glitches” in the CGI world.

▼ They used public transport and overtook crossings like zombies in the apocalypse.

▼ Unlike flesh-eating zombies though,
these plump-bodied beings showed an insatiable yearning for the sea.

Once under the water, the motley crew cooled off in the company of fish and sea turtles, floating about freely in the ocean, in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city.

Created by Los Angeles-based filmmaker David Lewandowski, Time for Sushi is actually the third video to feature the distinctive computer-generated bodies.

Back in 2011, Lewandowski shot this short clip titled “Going to the Store“.

This was followed two years later by the equally crazy “Late for Meeting“.

Four years after his last installment, Time for Sushi finally came to town, with the lone naked character now joined by hundreds of like-bodied friends in a new locale across the Pacific.

Along with the latest video came news of a range of related merchandise now available to purchase online, with items like towels, chess sets and illustrated body pillows featuring the unusual cast of characters.

☁️👀 抱き枕 body pillows start shipping worldwide today 🙂 goingtothe.store https://t.co/VKgks7hdnt

—
David Lewandowski (@badmocap) June 28, 2017

Characters like these, which would usually be deleted in the conventional world of 3DCG films, have finally found a place where they can roam free and celebrate their different bodies and looks.

Now that they’ve even got their own range of merchandise, it looks like these rubber beings are definitely here to stay. Let’s hope it’s not too long before we see them in action again!

Source: YouTube/David Lewandowski via Ufunk
Images: YouTube/David Lewandowski

Hundreds of origami components make up each of these beautiful “Trees of Cranes.”

While some artistic disciplines allow for wild, random expression, origami isn’t really one of them. To turn flat pieces of paper into three-dimensional art, the folds an origami master makes must be extremely precise.

Bonsai, also, is a meticulous aesthetic pursuit, largely due to the small scale of the plants, which necessitates minute adjustments to achieve the desired effects in how the branches grow. But what if you were to somehow combine bonsai and origami?

You’d get something enchantingly beautiful, like this.

Japanese artist Naoki Onogawa is particularly fond of the paper cranes which are so symbolic of origami. His passion has led him to create works he refers to as Tsuru no Ki (“Trees of Cranes”), in which a frame resembling the branches of a bonsai tree are covered with crane-shaped “leaves.”

There’s no visual trickery going on here. Onogawa folds each crane individually, by hand, from a 13-millimeter (0.5-inch) square sheet of paper.

One he’s stockpiled an astonishing amount, it’s time to start adding them to the frame. While his pieces that use green, red, or pink cranes may look the most like actual miniature trees, his Tsuru no Ki in other colors are equally striking, with a contemporary vibe that gives them their own unique appeal.

Onogawa says his hope is for people to feel “peace and harmony with nature” when they look at his creations, and indeed, there’s something mysteriously soothing about them. On the other hand, with hundreds of cranes required for each piece, representing a huge time investment, it’s hard to watch this video of him ostensibly burning a pile of unusable cranes without feeling some strong pangs of regret and anxiety.

Here’s hoping they’re all actually tiny little phoenixes, and will be reborn in the flames.

Related: Naoki Onogawa website, Instagram
Source: Bored Panda
Featured image: Instagram/naokionogawa