Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
GR: Did you grow up with Army Men? Jim A: Yeah I grew up with army men. As a kid I set them all up then I’d get rocks and destroy the battlefield. The ones the dog chewed up were the injured soldiers. GR: Explain how you came up with the idea of skateboarders in the Classic Army Men style? Jim A: I saw what was already out there & I thought how cool it would be to make them based off of the old school toy soldiers that I grew up with. Keep them simple & cheap, but they had to look cool & realistic. I saw other things out there and they were sort of corny. They didn’t look realistic – the characters had mohawks & the moves looked awkward. GR: Are you a sculptor and or skateboarder? Are the original sculpts that tiny? Jim A: I am a graphic designer & an old school skateboarder, my son AJ he skates all the time. He helped me design the final designs & got me up to date on the moves that they should be doing. Hence I named ‘em after my son AJ – AJ’s Original Toy Boarders. The original sculpts are just a tad larger than the final product – this way you can get a little more detailed. GR: Was this easy to get done from your idea to complete product? Jim A: No it wasn’t easy. I wasn’t familiar with the process of making moulds , but I had a friend teach me the process. Also we wanted to get each skater to balance on his board so that they would stand upright. There was always some tweaking involved so that we could maintain the style –yet keep them balanced. GR: How did you pick their poses out of an almost an infinite amount of things that a skater does! Jim A: We originally had more designs for the first series. We found out that some were not possible with a 2 part mould. Also like mentioned before we wanted them all to be able to pose upright on their board so kick flips and certain moves just weren’t gonna work. GR: Are the boarders any particular rider? Jim A: No, no boarder in particular, just based off of my son & his friends that skate. We wanted them to have style so we based their clothing off of what kids are wearing today. Within the skateboard culture there are all sorts of styles so we wanted to cover a wide range. GR: What’s next? Jim A: Series II Skate is DONE & in the Mould Process as we speak !! We are really stoked on this series –in it there is a Girl, we had lots of demands for a girl skater. Also we put a filmer in there – you know the friend that is following behind the rider with the death lens. Series 1 Snowboard is currently being designed & after that...
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I AM FINE EISHI TAKAOKA SOLO EXHIBITION MAY 5 – MAY 30, 2012 Eishi Takaoka’s work is coming back. Although the sculptures of Eishi Takaoka all portray the same serene expression, their outwardly calm façade belies a world of bottled-up emotions. With nowhere to go, these intense feelings manifest themselves in outlandish formations that sprout out of the top of each figure’s head. The uniquely sculpted heads of Takaoka are rooted in a personal fantasy world that is fueled by the emotional ups and downs of daily life in lower-middle class Japan. He instills his frustration with life in Kagoshima and feelings of isolation into each of the pieces, which are comprised of carved wood painted with raw mineral pigments placed atop empty glass medicine bottles. Takaoka’s pieces have been seen in group shows in Tokyo and New York, one-person exhibitions at Giant Robot New York and GR2 in Los Angeles, and on the cover of novelist Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore. For this exhibition, Takaoka will create 34 sculptures at Giant Robot 2 in Los Angeles. See the exhibit. AARTING – BLANKIE DESIGNER SERIES 1 FIGURE Blankie is a great new blind box figure series from aarting. 12 different figures designed by artists from around the world. Artists include, Matucha, Miss Shelby, Cvele, Atomic1970, and more. SHINZI KATOH SERENO HELLOTOTE Shinzi Katoh creates some of the cutest products around. Four leaf clovers are extra lucky when gifted by your crush. Sprouting flowers and clovers on back side. Made of a durable canvas material. MINI TAPE ROLL ROBOTS Add this robot pattern to your mundane taping tasks. It’s sure to make your craft projects cooler. P+G DESIGN POCHI PANDA POUCH Are the contents of your purse not cute enough? Now it is! What a cute Panda Bear face on this silicone pouch. YOSHITOMO NARA LITTLE WANDERER FIGURE Drag the Little Wanderer back a bit, let it go, and it propels itself across whatever flat surface you like. Beautiful, classy design which is what to expect from Yoshitomo Nara products. TAKASHI MURAKAMI MINI TOWEL Superb mini hand towels from world renowned Supeflat artist Takashi Murakami. Made of soft terry cloth material. MOLESKINE SKETCHBOOK The cover is plain black, the blue stripe is just a piece of paper. Interior pages are heavy paper. EGGLING PETUNIA Grow your own flowers in this nature inspired planter. Just crack open and water. LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL MAY 10 – MAY 20, 2012 Surrogate Valentine: 5/12; Surrogate Valentine 2: 5/12, 5/13; Tormented: 5/12; Dragon: 5/14 PHOTOGRAPHS OF TōHOKU By MICHAEL ARIAS As previously posted on GR, I made several trips to the northern countryside of Japan in the days and weeks following the disaster of 3/11. And, though the intent of these ragtag “missions,” was primarily humanitarian, I took many photos along the way, posting them with my reports on these pages. I recently culled the most evocative of those shots for display at the 12th incarnation of...
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Here’s a very well-done working transformer model built by Japanese engineer Kenji Ishida (Twitter him @BRLab). LEGO schmego. A tip of the hat to filmmaker/multimedia journalist Katsuyuki Ueno of Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan. [youtube]pzrc_yzdt1o[/youtube]
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We all need a mini stove for the hot pot meals. They’re handy, but not as handy as having one made by iPhone. Imagine, texting, Instagram, checking email, and Words with Friends. Only 600+ of these were recovered. To have a print job like this, there must be thousands running around in China. (micgadget – iPhone Stove)
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Yes, it’s here. He’s here. The team is here.
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