Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Sion Sono’s epic films showed this weekend at Cinefamily in LA. Here’s a shot of Sion Sono below. Unknown to a most of the sold out crowd was the fact that we brought in some extra fun in the form of food trucks. Lomo Arigato brought in the Japanese Peruvian food. I saw some of the folks munching down. Out in the patio was James Chong and Jesse Fillingham. The next day featured Mandoline Grill, Mari Inukai and Albert Reyes! Lomo Arigato! This pic rocks. Jesse and James brought their wares. These guys are great.
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Brian Rush and Sean Chao. Brian Rush is known for blinking in photos, he does it here. Sean Chao said that Brian’s work is a great influence to him, so it’s great to see Brian come through.
A GR cake! Chinese cake with strawberries in it. It was great.
Talk explains some of his pieces.
Leopard print is back!
Tons of pics after the jump!
Button Making with Busy Beaver Button Co’s Christen Carter is a crowd pleaser. Anyone who walked into GR2 was stoked into making buttons. How often do you walk into a shop and get to make something so complete as a button? Some drew and some collaged and created wearable art. Buttons are a ubiquitous accessory these days that a) spreads a message and/or b) compliments attire and makes people happy. Here’s a photo set of the event. That’s Christen Carter operating the 2 1/4 inch button maker. It takes just a moment and the results, super cool. This little dude is named Connor. He walked in, drew two button in a minute and left with a smile. Check out them baby teeth. After he left, I realized, this was Justin Chon from the Twilight movies. I met him a while ago for an instant. He was also in Crossing Over. Take a look at the screen cap of the GR Sticker right next to him. Yes, I guess we’re cosmically connected, perhaps by an art director. Some came super prepped up with photo clips and more to turn into buttons. [nggallery id=19]
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Sean Chao is an Art Center graduate, who lives and works in Los Angeles but is originally from Taiwan. When I first saw his works, I was captivated by the exciting and energetic sculptures which sparked everyone’s imagination. What’s going on in there? Who are these tiny people? The pieces are microcosms of his world, yet at the same time, they’re mini installations. Each piece takes you inside much like a terrarium, except you get to dream up a story with his “tiny people”. You’ll get lost in his sometimes-fairytale and oftentimes-idyllic pieces. His works are exciting and pure, and along with Inés Estrada, we’re excited to have him in Blithe Spirits at Giant Robot 2. Sean Chao; Preview Images from Blithe Spirits. GR: Can you talk a little about the world you create? Where is it coming from and why does it have it’s forms? SC: The world and the characters I created are base on my imagination, and they are inspired and influenced by interesting things and fun experiences that happen around me. The mischievous characters were sort of created accidentally, It all started from a random drawing I did on a photograph. Eventually I developed the character from the drawing and I made a sculpture out of it. GR: Is there general narrative? SC: There is always a narrative idea behind each piece of my works. I usually tell a story of daily experiences and show snapshots of regular interactions. These situations may be looked at as simple everyday occurrences, but I expand on those and add more to make it an interesting narrative Sometimes the story can get a little bizarre and psychedelic, but most of the works are simple ideas that people can relate to. GR: There seems to be a color palate for them. Why those colors? SC: The colors just came natural to me. Most of my works are involved with humor and warm feelings, so the color choices I make are directly related to those emotions. GR: Did your instructors at Art Center have an opinion on what you were making? SC: When I was in the school my instructors encouraged me to create works with my own sense of style. I believe their teaching completely changed my attitude and respect to art. Without the education, I will most likely still be working in an art related field, but I might not be creating art of my own. GR: How did you get into sculpting? SC: I was always very fascinated with sculpting since I was very young. We used to have a sandbox at my elementary school, and I would stay after classes and play in the sand until sunset every day. I remember once I was building a small city in the sand box. I went next to the pond to scoop water for the river in my sand city, and all of a sudden I fell right into the pond. I also tripped over the roots of a banyan tree. I was soaked, but it didn’t stop me...
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Inés Estrada is an artist from Mexico City. Her works display a strong array of color and at the same time possesses a gentleness. She has an indie spirit and with her boyfriend Roi, they are Cafe Con Leche. They make zines and keep their creative energies flowing. She’s part of Blithe Spirits exhibition at Giant Robot 2 along with Sean Chao (who’s words will make it here soon). We’re proud to publish a few words with her and hope you get to know her, a bit about Mexico City, and her works a little better. Hopefully one day soon, we’ll get to meet her. Cafe Con Leche and Inés Estrada. Preview Images from Blithe Spirits. GR: Not a lot of people in the US know about artists from Mexico, can you talk about your area and what your art community is like? IE: I live in Mexico City, which is the biggest city in the world. It is pretty crazy and there’s always something happening. Though there are people doing things here, it mostly seems like we’re all isolated. The art scene in Mexico is really spread out, so I have a couple of artist friends, but most of them live in other states. That’s what I would consider my art community… and all my friends from other countries. I think most of the popular Mexican artists in Mexico do graffiti or come from a street art background. That’s what’s really hip here right now, and there’s a bunch of people doing really great stuff in the medium. I’m more of an indoor, small notebook cartoonist kind of person, so I don’t interact with them as much as I’d like. GR: Is there an audience for comics and zines in Mexico? IE: Comics in Mexico are mostly seen as “garbage literature”, like something only kids or construction workers should read. So, that said, there isn’t a really big audience for alternative comics, and I think it’s mostly because people don’t know they even exist. Manga has become quite popular in the last decade, but there’s still a lot left for other kind of comics to be introduced. GR: Your work often has people in them, can you talk about what they are doing? IE: I think most of the people I draw are usually in a state of contemplation. I don’t usually know beforehand what do I want to paint or if I want to say something with it, so this reply is something I came up with right now. You could see them doing something different and it could be possible too. GR: It seems like there’s some fantasy, but can you explain a bit about the people who sit and often have things growing from them? IE: Most of the characters I draw, I picture them in my head as little gods. This little gods all exist by themselves in their own universe and at the same time are all related and live intertwined. The things growing could be sprouting...
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