Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
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
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It’s like a scene from the movie, Children of Men but in Japan. In a 1000 years, children are running on empty, there’s very few born. Studies by academics from Sendai say: “Japanese researchers have now warned of a doomsday scenario if it carries on this way with the last child to be born there in 3011 and the Japanese people potentially disappearing a few generations later.” There’s plenty of reasons, from costs and perhaps changing priorities. (MSNBC – Japan Kids)
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[youtube]2G1O7scAYE8[/youtube] As dumb as can be. Ferrari, a symbol of opulence, penis size or lack there of, ego and even waste, is behind a publicity stunt of driving on the Great Wall. How they got to even do this, is a travesty, but then doing donuts and leaving skid marks that aren’t all removable, is a bit time failure and a lack of respect. Why doesn’t this happen in Italy? Colosseum? Parthenon? (CNN – Ferrari Fail)
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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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(Art by spoon+fork.) Andrea Conti wanted to give me a handjob as usual, but I was done with it. I think those anti-horny jail chemicals were completely out of my system. I still wanted to jump on Mrs. Angrywall and I was mad at her for having that much control over me. I guess I was mad at all women. We were standing in the back of the walk-in van. “Let’s not,” I told Andrea. “It’s all right. I held on to my zipper and pushed her hand away. “What!” She nearly dropped the sack of money from the hamburger stand’s receipts. “Everything’s okay. Just, you know, we’ll unload the food each week, I’ll give you the money, and that’s just fine.” “What’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just. . .that’s how it’s going to be.” “You don’t like it anymore?” Her eyes were shining. Christ, it was like trying to break up with someone. “I’m gonna be honest,” I said. “This just doesn’t do it for me anymore. I’m tired of bunting when I step up to the plate, you know what I mean?” “All guys are like this, aren’t they? Deep down inside you only want to score, isn’t that right? You just want to fuck!” “Not all the time, but some of the time, yes, definitely. I do have to get laid every once in a while.” “Maybe I could suck you.” “That’s nice, but it’s not going to do it, either.” “I’ll give you what you want, then,” Andrea said slowly. “But you have to wrap it and I don’t want to do it in the van.” “Where we gonna do it?” “How about one of the hotel rooms?” “Here?” I said, nearly choking. “Yeah, here. What, are you scared or something, now? You only want to talk about fucking?” “Naw, it’s just that, I don’t know if they’ll let me.” “Go ask the dot for a key. She won’t give a shit. You know what they do in her country?” “Don’t call her a ‘dot,’” I warned. “I’ll call her whatever the fuck I want!” She crossed her arms. “Wait here.” “I’ll wait, but not too long.” I rubbed my ears as I walked to the office. I wondered if I could look into Mrs. Angrywall’s eyes and ask for a room key just like that. Sure, she was going to ask what for. I couldn’t lie to her, but maybe I should tell her that I’d clean the room up after, too. Every potentially good situation always had something tough to overcome. “Man Has to Be His Own Savior“ talked about it endlessly. Mao had the Long March. The American autoworkers nearly starved to get their right to a 40-hour workweek. I could ask Mrs. Angrywall for a room key to get laid. “You look positively gloomy, Sean.” Mrs. Angrywall was reading through Auto Exchange, the free weekly newsletter of used cars. “It’s a sunny day out, so chin up.” “Are you looking to...
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