The title of the first Grappa release, "Designer Ecology", jumped out at me when I was looking over this small booklet I picked up in Tokyo called "Designer's Week". It accompanied a collection of art exhibits going on in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. The highlight of this particular year was a container exhibit. I desperately wanted to see the containers because I had read in Brian Eno's diary a description of him preparing for something very similar. By the way, while I have not finished Eno's diary I highly recommend it. Very entertaining reading.
Anyway, K. and I didn't get to see the container portion of the exhibit because it was in a remote section of Tokyo and we were none too skilled at moving about. We did however get to see some furniture by Swedish design students which was solid though I can't tell you anything about it now. But luckily I picked up the book describing the events which features a sketch of a naked man peeing on some flowers while standing on a large box labeled "EXHIBIT". Inside there are sketches describing the events. The sketch depicting the music event features one man farting while dancing and the other coving his nose. Typical Japanese brilliance. Endearing without being overly cute.
I've made the book sound ridiculous but it is actually quite insightful and well designed. If our stupid AGFA scanner had OS X drivers I'd scan it and share the best pages (the maps are really well done). Unfortunately, AGFA has decided that the scanner bought last year is now a $100 paper weight and would you please by another.
So back to "designer ecology". There are descriptions (in English) of each container in the exhibit along with a snapshot of the artist. Some of the installations are sponsored by the likes of Adobe, Peugeot, the Italian Trade Commission, etc. But others are left solely to designers. Those descriptions are the most terse and interesting. An example:
"We will change the space into another type of space with geometric figures made up of surfaces, vertical lines, and different levels."
Yes you will. Rereading them I'm not sure why I found them so amusing. At any rate, one of the descriptions (which of course I can't find now) mentioned ecology and I liked the idea of designing an ecology. It is a very Japanese idea which is reflected throughout the culture. Describing a shrine, rock garden or bonsai as a "designed ecology" was not something that occurred to me while in Japan but now it makes perfect sense.
The ecology was not something I had considered humans intentionally controlling. Destroying it sure, but not designing it. Designing implies thoughtfully planning out our peaceful existence within an ecosystem. This is not something we do so well here. But, if you've got a container . . . now your in business.
So I put it in a lyric then named the track and eventually chose that track title as the title of the album. Then when I was looking for something for the cover it dawned on me how much the Fushimi Inari shrine was a "designed ecology". I took more photos there than anywhere else. I was just dumbfounded by the size and beauty of the place as well as the significance it clearly had to the people there. Japan is inspiring.