New web and blog

I have my web site set up.

www.hiroshi-hayakawa.com 

Please click on the above URL and visit this new site. There are tons more stuff I have posted there. Thanks!!!
Hiroshi

Kirigami Animal kit available!

My publisher Sterling recently released a new edition of Kirigami Animal kit based on my book Kirigami Menagerie. It is an exclusive edition only sold at Barnes and Noble book stores and their online store. Here is the link. This kit includes the book Kirigami Menagerie, pre-cut templates of all 38 animals and one almost completed giraffe. For some atrange reason the price of the kit is less than the price of the book...

Vista Interna in action

Here is the link to a compilation video clip of my sculptures Vista Interna # 1 ~ #6 in action with a better resolution. A low resolution video clip is below. And this is the Columbus Dispatch newspaper exhibit review.

My show

I had my gallery show opening yesterday and I just came back home after surviving this month's Gallery Hop night. I saw a TON of people, talking to them about my new work. It was a lot of work but fun. Now I can take a little breather, so I figured I should post the images of my new pieces. These are the ones I am currently exhibiting at Sherrie Gallerie in Columbus, OH. The show will run through July 31st.
Here is my artist statement for this show.

Artist Statement
My new series titled, "Vista Interna" communicates certain desires and the sense of secrets that go with the act of voyeurism. These kinetic sculptures come to life by the hand of the audience and this interactivity is essential to make the viewing experience complete. Each piece displays a different scene inside, but they are always about a drama between a hand and red balls. There are many layers of meanings to each piece. However, I would like to leave the interpretations to each audience. This body of work attempts to tap into an intermediate zone where art and toy, reality and illusion and materials and spirit meet.

This is the frontal exterior view of the piece called "Vista Interna #1". It is an interactive sculpture to be activated by a viewer with the turn of a crank which is located in the back.
And here is the interior view through a peephole. The mechanical hand pushes down the black string which is connected to the red ball hanging on the outside. So when the finger moves, the ball moves too.
There are total 6 pieces and they are very similar in terms of exterior designs. They all use hand crank vintage phonograph motors as power sources. The switches on the backs are for the lights inside the boxes.

Here is "Vista Interna #2". Fingers tap on the floor and the red ball swings back and forth.

"Vista Interna #3". 2 inside fingers move and the red ball swings over them back and forth like a pendulum.

"Vista Interna #4". The fingers travel left and right back and forth over the red balls.

"Vista Interna #5". All 5 fingers move and gently rock the red balls cradled in the hand.

And "Vista Interna #6". 4 fingers in the back move up and down while the 2 red balls in the foreground dance around going back and forth across the floor.

Free Kirigami Turkey!

My publisher Lark Books uploaded a kirigami Turkey I recently designed for Thanksgiving along with my interview on their craft website. Here is the link. You can download the template of my turkey for free, color it any way you like and make your own unique bird to decorate your dinner table.

Peepshow #8

Here is a quick snapshot of my new piece Peepshow #8. It is the smallest box I have ever designed: 17"x 14"x14". I also made it as light as possible by using thinner wood panels and adding extra support mterials around the corners. As far as the mechanism goes, this is probably the most well-designed of all the Peepshow pieces. It uses 4 gears and 1 cam to produce 2 movements generated by 1 electric motor.
I haven't documented the interior view of this piece yet. I will upload it when I have a chance.

Peepshow #5 in action

This was the first piece that moved my kinetic sculptures into a slightly different direction than I had initially envisioned. I started to enjoy so much freedom when working on this kind of work. I also felt that I was going back to the kind of things I had been interested in many years back when I was younger and it just felt "right" to work on this sculpture. The movement of the arm is a little clumsy, but I am happy about the overall design of this room.