by Dyske Suematsu • January 7, 2005
I used to think that having a child was an easy way out of the paradox of life. After all, what better way is there to give yourself a purpose in life than to have someone whose life depends on you. Even an utterly lost soul, like George W. Bush, can turn his life around by having a child. Believe it or not, now I too am an expectant father. Many of my friends did not see this coming; some even told me that I was the last person they expected to have a child. Admittedly the idea still feels rather foreign to me. It was a result of my recent take on life; to let life happen, and to experience whatever happens in full. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • November 21, 2004
Our world functions like a gigantic brain. In this analogy, each of us is a brain cell. There is no scientific evidence that we ever forget anything; we just lose access to the cell that contains a specific piece of information. Once the connection is lost, that cell is useless even if it contains a valuable piece of information. Likewise, no matter how intelligent, talented, and skilled you are, if you have no connections to anyone else, you are useless. In many cases, it is better to be connected with less to offer, than to have a lot to offer but no connections. We humans are designed to accomplish great things by connecting and collaborating with one another, just like our brains do. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • November 16, 2004
If you know something about writing music, you know how useful musical theories can be. If you are an intuitive type who never studied theories, you are likely to keep on writing the same kind of music forever. And, eventually you will feel like a one-trick pony. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • October 24, 2004
I recently came across an anthology of writing on “New Media”, and was struck by how the editor explained the conceptual basis of the content through references to Western philosophers, namely Socrates, Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Adorno. To readers schooled in Western philosophy, this sounds quite reasonable. But given the nature of the topic, i.e. “New Media”, why should he assume that his audience is Western? Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • October 12, 2004
For me, graphic design is not about personal expression. (I do that elsewhere.) It’s not about scoring high on some standard of aesthetics either. (High aesthetics is not always appropriate.) It’s about solving communication problems. My creativity lies in how I solve them. Read »
by Ken Stuart • October 7, 2004
The opinions of 250 million people cannot be split 50-50 on any substantive issue, in the absence of significant external manipulation. In fact, if you polled 250 people about a new situation (where they had not had any previous input) it would be unlikely that there would be a split of opinion even as close as 45-55. In human society, most people will agree on most things, most of the time. Read »
by Sue Nees • September 24, 2004
When I say the word Dixie, tolerance might not be the first thing that comes to your mind. After all, everyone knows that the South is full of hateful rednecks. Everyone knows that if you go to the South people will try to chase you around and hit you over the head with a bible. Everyone knows that Southern culture and bigotry go hand in hand. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • September 22, 2004
Most people perceive me as someone who simply does not understand emotions of others. This partly stems from the fact that I tend to create emotional situations. I do not like pretending, and I like to be direct, so I often say things many people would not dream of saying to someone’s face. For instance, I had brunch one day with my girlfriend and a friend I had just met recently who was a struggling artist. We finished eating and the check came. I grabbed the check to see what I owed, and my new friend said to me: “Oh, no, it’s OK, you don’t have to treat me.” Then I immediately replied: “Don’t worry; I have no intention of treating you.” Years later, my girlfriend remembered it, and told me that she could never say something like that. Such bluntness is often seen as a sign of emotional blindness, but I must defend myself here. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • September 18, 2004
A while ago, one of my friends suggested to write an essay about how I approach learning something new. It came up while we were talking about music. At the time, I had never thought about writing such a thing, but since then I realized that there is a consistent method by which I learn something new. I believe a large part of it came from my father. My approach is actually not so unique in Japan. I believe it has a basis in Zen Buddhism. If you study any form of traditional art in Japan, you’ll see it. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • September 8, 2004
At my job, we are producing a pilot for a reality TV program that teaches the art and the science of dating to those who are utterly clueless. Meanwhile, I have also been reading a series of articles about how to effectively market a creative business. Interestingly enough, I could not help noticing startling parallels between business and dating. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • July 31, 2004
By their intellectualism, the academic Left has alienated the very people they purport to help. They called them “the masses”, an entity consciously distinct from and inferior to themselves, the people who do not know how to think for themselves and are helplessly manipulated by the enemies of the Left. It is the duty of the academic elites of the Left, so they flatter themselves, that they protect and educate the ignorant masses. I believe this intellectual condescension and arrogance is partly responsible for the present popularity of the Republican Party. The masses do not want to be patronized by the intellectual elites. At last, they are speaking up against their own paternal figures. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • July 10, 2004
The people who claim that they love you, are often the same people who take it out on you when they are in a bad mood. And, you think, “Out of billions of people in the world, why do they have to choose someone they love?” I suppose in some ways it makes sense, because it can be argued that they love you because they can take it out on you. If someone gave me $1,000 dollars every month for no reason, I suppose I would “love” him. If someone picked up every piece of trash I threw up in the air, I would “love” that person too. Why not? Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • June 26, 2004
Particularly in the West, there is a belief that one’s identity should always be consistent. Having multiple personalities is considered dishonest or even mentally disturbed. The ideal of our society asserts that I should always be myself no matter who I speak with. I argue that this is a misconception born out of the Western habit of seeking unchanging essence in every matter, and that such a belief could cause unnecessary pains in our lives. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • May 24, 2004
“Quality of life” is an elusive idea. Many equate it with having money, but it does not address everything we want in our lives such as our physical and mental health. By providing us with ways to control the uncertainties of Mother Nature, technology has certainly allowed us to increase the quality of our lives in terms of survival in the practical sense of the term (subsistence). But, beyond that, what has technology done for us? I would argue that it has not done much. One of the few exceptions, I would further argue, is online dating. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • April 21, 2004
This is a how-to article, quite different from everything else on this site, but I figured what the heck. These are things I have learned through working on various green screen projects. This paper assumes that you have a basic understanding of what chroma key is. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • April 13, 2004
Just as each culture has its own distinct taste, each economic class develops its own taste as well. This is easy to see especially in food culture—many in the lower class and some in the middle class live their entire lives not knowing what foie gras is. Not all mediums of art are popular across all classes. Some are tied to a specific class, like Fine Arts is to the upper class, and film is to the middle class. This means that success in each medium of art is measured by the taste of a class it is associated with. This has certain implications for artists who hope to succeed. Read »
by Sue Nees • April 10, 2004
I used to think that it would be so cool to be able to say that to people when they asked what I did for a living. Now I realize just how loaded these four little words really are. There’s no telling how people will respond. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • April 7, 2004
Political artworks have always been problematic for me, especially those with a hierarchical structure of morals or ethics. Aside from the fact that they are visual, they demonstrate no difference from the verbal discourses of various social and political organizations. Since the art world is a small, exclusive community, one cannot help but to question the effectiveness of such political evangelism. I also would like to discuss below the validity of artist as a political position. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • March 25, 2004
In his article entitled, “Critical Thinking in Japanese L2 Writing: Rethinking Tired Constructs,” Paul Stapleton discusses what he perceives as a new movement in Japan towards a more Western way of critical thinking. Although the speculative conclusions he draws from his research may hold some truths, what drew my attention was his process of investigation that a priori implies the conclusions, allowing himself in effect to pat himself on the back for the results he achieved. Read »
by Mitsunori Koike • March 13, 2004
Mitsunori Koike is an internationally recognized stone sculptor from Matsumoto, Japan. He first began working in stone in the early 1970’s, and his work is featured in numerous collections, both public and private. This is his reflection on why he continues to make art. Read »
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