FAQ
Q1. I read your About page and this sounds interesting, but heavy. Do I have to be interested in "big issues" in order to join?
A1. The only requirements for joining are curiosity and a willingness to try even if you feel you are "not good" at something. Working together at Third Space Tokyo is likely to lead to critical engagement with the world, but the focus of workshops, etc., will be on developing skills to move from fuzzy internal images and feelings to something external that can be shared with others.
Q2. Why are you focusing on age five and up?
A2. In Tokyo, I have seen how parents of toddlers tend to demonstrate increasing anxiety about their child's ability to read and write as that child approaches age six, the starting age here for elementary school. This is a problem from my point of view because this is the beginning of the devaluing of image-based communication. Based on experience with my younger daughter and her friends, I believe that validating a quick, icon-style of drawing can help a child to become a confident communicator at a time when writing still tends to be slow and frustrating. I want Third Space Tokyo to come in at the point where parents are beginning to wonder if they should start guiding their child away from time spent drawing in favor of activities that seem more directly related to adult life. The "and up" part means what it says. There is no upper age limit on Third Space Tokyo workshops. The skills being cultivated have lifelong relevance.
Q3. Why "Third Space"?
A3. "Third" is a word that tends to be used by academics when they want to indicate "neither this nor that; related to both, but different." One example familiar to expat families living in Tokyo is "third culture kids." TCKs grow up in locations where the dominant culture does not match that of either parent. They tend to develop their own "third culture." Inspiration for "Third Space Tokyo" more directly comes from (appropriately) three sources: Sociologist Ray Oldenburg's concept of "third places"; Homi Bhabha's postcolonial theory of "third spaces"; and art educator Brent Wilson's ideas about "third sites" where adults and children collaboratively produce visual culture. Third Space Tokyo will have similarities to elements already in the Tokyo landscape -- art schools, maker spaces, and multicultural living events -- but it will not be the same as any of them. We will be making room for new vocabulary, new identities, and new visions to emerge.
A1. The only requirements for joining are curiosity and a willingness to try even if you feel you are "not good" at something. Working together at Third Space Tokyo is likely to lead to critical engagement with the world, but the focus of workshops, etc., will be on developing skills to move from fuzzy internal images and feelings to something external that can be shared with others.
Q2. Why are you focusing on age five and up?
A2. In Tokyo, I have seen how parents of toddlers tend to demonstrate increasing anxiety about their child's ability to read and write as that child approaches age six, the starting age here for elementary school. This is a problem from my point of view because this is the beginning of the devaluing of image-based communication. Based on experience with my younger daughter and her friends, I believe that validating a quick, icon-style of drawing can help a child to become a confident communicator at a time when writing still tends to be slow and frustrating. I want Third Space Tokyo to come in at the point where parents are beginning to wonder if they should start guiding their child away from time spent drawing in favor of activities that seem more directly related to adult life. The "and up" part means what it says. There is no upper age limit on Third Space Tokyo workshops. The skills being cultivated have lifelong relevance.
Q3. Why "Third Space"?
A3. "Third" is a word that tends to be used by academics when they want to indicate "neither this nor that; related to both, but different." One example familiar to expat families living in Tokyo is "third culture kids." TCKs grow up in locations where the dominant culture does not match that of either parent. They tend to develop their own "third culture." Inspiration for "Third Space Tokyo" more directly comes from (appropriately) three sources: Sociologist Ray Oldenburg's concept of "third places"; Homi Bhabha's postcolonial theory of "third spaces"; and art educator Brent Wilson's ideas about "third sites" where adults and children collaboratively produce visual culture. Third Space Tokyo will have similarities to elements already in the Tokyo landscape -- art schools, maker spaces, and multicultural living events -- but it will not be the same as any of them. We will be making room for new vocabulary, new identities, and new visions to emerge.