Azuma Makoto
Azuma Makoto has been in the flower business since 2002, and is an owner of the haute-couture floral shop, “JARDINS des FLEURS” in Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo. In addition to the flower shop business, Azuma began to explore the expressive potential of flowers and plants in 2005. He invented the genre of the ”Botanical sculpture,” which is one of his formative expressions. Following a solo exhibition in New York, his audacious works have been repeatedly shown in Europe and the U.S. While launching the experimental botanical lab AMKK in 2009, he went on to exhibit his works at art museums, galleries, and public spaces all over the world. In recent years, Azuma has been focusing on projects that explore the connections between human beings and flowers. He continues to pursue the beauty of plants from his distinctive point of view. Check his Instagram
3 words to describe Nature?
God. Origin of Life. Womb
3 things Nature taught you?
Awe*
Coexistence
Cycle (Cycle of life)
*Awe refers to a feeling a person has when he/she is in fear of something which is much bigger than himself/herself and he/she can’t compete with, such as God, nature and the universe.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Amazon (Belém in Amazon)
Yakushima Island
Xishuangbanna
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
A swell
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
A breath
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
A beat
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Hope and despair
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Fear and excitement
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Peace of mind and presence
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was little, I used to play at the mountain called “Miyajidake Mountain” which was located behind my home until sunset. The lessons I learned from this experience have become such precious time for me. I am so happy that I could spend my childhood with this experience where I was able to perceive not only sensibility and instinct as a human being but also my view of life and death* and my view of life as something transient and empty** through nature.
There is no doubt that this childhood experience has a great influence on how I make my living now by interacting with flowers and plants.
*one’s view of life and death means a point of view which a person bases off of when he/she makes a decision and takes action about the acts of living and dying. It is a way of thinking regarding life and death.
**a view of life as something transient and empty means a mindset that everything is impermanence.
Andrew Zuckerman
Andrew Zuckerman is a photographer, filmmaker, creative director, and curator. In 2019 he co-founded The Slowdown, a media company focused on culture, nature, and the future. Much of his work is concerned with the intersection of nature and technology. His immersive investigation of the natural world has produced multiple books and exhibitions collected in three volumes Creature(2007), Bird(2009), and Flower(2012). A year-long curatorial residency at Chamber Gallery NY, spanning four exhibitions of design and art that bring nature into the living environment, and an installation for the windows of Barneys NY commissioned by Dries Van Noten are invitations to the public to consider nature in new ways. Most recently, he worked with the California Academy of Sciences as their 2016 Osher Fellow creating a body of work about the Twilight Zone, a relatively unexplored depth of the oceans.
Andrew’s precise and determined images create unique correlation points between the viewer and the subject. His works, often at life scale, have been exhibited and acquired by public institutions and private collections. Andrew’s ongoing portrait practice utilizes both photography and filmed interview formats to examine human perspectives. With the support of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he released Wisdom in 2008 as a book, a feature-length documentary film, and a global traveling exhibition. Over 50 individuals from across disciplines participated in the project, including Nelson Mandela, Andrew Wyeth, Jane Goodall, and Madeline Albright. Following Wisdom, Zuckerman expanded this series to musicians including Iggy Pop, Ornette Coleman, Yoko Ono, and Herbie Hancock for the Music film and book. Andrew’s narrative film work includes directing High Falls, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded Best Short Film at the Woodstock Film Festival the same year as well as producing a feature documentary on the musician Bill Withers, Still Bill, which premiered at the 2009 SXSW film festival. Zuckerman’s books have been translated into numerous languages and published in 18 international editions.
Andrew has collaborated extensively for many brands as a photographer, filmmaker, interviewer, and creative director. Designed by Apple in California, a book released in 2016, was the result of a multiyear commission exploring 20 years of Apple design. From 2008-2017 Andrew served as Executive Creative Director of Creature Pictures, a boutique production company he founded, which worked on numerous media projects for Apple. In May 2019 Andrew co-founded The Slowdown, a multi-platform media company to explore culture, nature, and the future.
Andrew donates time and resources to a number of not-for-profits, having created media for One, the ACLU, Starving Artist, Red, and United Way. He currently serves on the board of the Children’s Museum of Arts in New York City. Andrew lives in New York City with his wife and three children.
3 words to describe Nature?
Living. Self. Interdependence.
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Rhythm
To slow down
3 most treasured Nature spots?
My body
The Hudson Valley
New York City
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Connected
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Protected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Cautious
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Reset
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Anxious
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Curious
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I have vivid memories of long walks through the grassy fields, under the buzzing power lines in suburban Maryland, wondering what it was like before the houses were built and the foreboding steel structures were needed to keep them on life support. I’ve always been interested in that intersection of industry and nature.