Modcult

Modified subway station ad. Seen here.

Ship Breakers, BLDGBLOG-style

2chan FTW! o_0

In 2004, an anonymous user posted in a 2channel thread for single men to bemoan their woes. According to his account, he had been sitting next to a young woman on the train when a drunken man entered the car and began bothering the other passengers, most of whom were female. When the drunk began to badger a particular woman, the poster took the risk of telling the man to stop bothering the passengers. The two struggled for a short time while the other passengers used this distraction to summon the conductor, who took control of the situation.

Never having done such a thing in his life, the poster was amazed to find the woman thanking him deeply for saving her from harassment. The young woman requested his address, telling him that she wanted to express her appreciation for his act, before they parted ways. The poster, upon returning home, shared his experience with other posters in the thread and was eventually nicknamed “Densha Otoko” (Train_Man).

A few days later, TrainMan received a package from the woman: an expensive set of cups and saucers made by Hermès. Flabbergasted, the man turned to the 2channelers for advice; he was soon convinced that the tea set was too expensive to be a mere thank-you gift. Following the advice and suggestions of the other posters, TrainMan eventually contacted the woman.

As Train_Man had never been on a date before, he consistently posted updates on his situation, asking for advice on everything from restaurant choices to what clothing to wear. After an enjoyable first date, they began meeting regularly. Following the 2channelers’ collective advice, he got a haircut, updated his wardrobe, and began to emerge from his shell. After several dates, his demeanor had changed for the better and this culminated a few months later in his confessing his love for her. She reciprocated, and when the 2channelers were informed, there was a mass celebration; posts began flowing in congratulating the new couple, and extravagant Shift JIS art pictures were posted. Because 2ch has an enormous impact on net culture in Japan, this story quickly spread throughout the media.

Somehow, if this was big on English-language blogs, I totally missed it. In Japan, it was a national craze. The story was made into a television series.

The archived ascii art is pretty cool too.

Margret Eicher has revamped the old tradition of the gobelins tapestry (which dates back to the 15th century but keeps receiving some attention from contemporary artists) except that instead of hand-embroidered tapestries, sewed by skilled craftsmen/craftswomen, the tapestries are refined industrial products, woven by a computer. Scenes depicted in the Gobelins were usually inspired from famous paintings or religious art. Eicher remained truthful to this inspiration and uses the pillars of modern days religion and visual culture -TV series, video game and luxury- to set the scene of her tapestries.