Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Part 3. 7) How would it have been different if you had launched GR ten years earlier? What about if you had launched it today? Good question. If I launched it today, we’d be a different publication, I doubt we’d start as a zine, and I suppose we’d lose a lot of money initially, but I think we’d find our stride. I think our editorial style and viewpoints are more open than other publications. If we launched it ten years earlier, not sure! I was too young to even care. 8) Your readership actually has a large proportion of non-Asians, how do you think these readers got into GR? And what do you interpret it to mean for your magazine? When you were starting, did you think that GR would have such a hold on a non-Asian audience? They got into GR because we’re not an exclusive club. We come from a different background which I think helps the variation in themes and approach to a magazine. National Geographic can be read by anyone, I’d like to think that GR could have that broad appeal. The other traditional Asian American magazines perhaps not. I like to interpret it as we do editorial better. We have better stories that are more interesting. Why would a non Asian American care about “twenty top Asian American women business persons.” “5 best Asian American lawyers” “Cars that an Asian American should buy”. Etc. That’s all shit. When we started, we didn’t think about who would read GR. We wanted to make a good publication. 9) What direction do you see GR taking in the future? No plans, just to continue on and fight the good fights.
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Interview Part 2. Interview conducted by Cindy Ko. 4) What factors are important to choosing the next location of a new GR store? If we have time to handle it, that’s the first factor, but otherwise, it just has to make sense financially within the area. 5) Arguably, your largest base is in the Los Angeles area– do you see it influencing the visibility of Asian American culture in LA? How about the Asian American community overall?I’m not sure what gets through to people. But I’d like to think since we’ve been around, we’ve helped shape some people’s ideas of what Asian Americans are about. I do know that there was a time, when I was shunned by Asian American groups, clubs, and organizations. It was as if I wasn’t Asian American enough, when in my opinion, I’m hardcore Asian American. With that, I think GR does what it does, and I think it gave a voice to the folks who were ignored, like me. 6) How do you think that face of Asian American culture has changed, since the start of your magazine? I sort of answered it above. In our world, the outcasts found a niche I guess… and we did it without being part of APEX, and being associated with the many Asian American theater groups, and the many other organizations. We did it ourselves which seems to be fairly unprescendented in Asian American land. At the same time, I’m not shunning these groups, I’m just saying we were cut from a different mold and found a world for that. How we fit I suppose doesn’t really matter, we don’t really think about that.
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Interview part 1 for a school paper at Cal Tech! 1) When you were coming up with the idea of GR, what factors inspired you to create this kind of magazine? There was a lack of magazines out there with the pages of info that excited me, so the only way to fill that void was to make a magazine myself. The climate of magazines especially with an Asian American angle was small and bad, so perhaps that was another reason. Then finally, I didn’t have a job and writing jobs weren’t flowing my way, so using what I knew about photo, and using copiers, making a zine wasn’t that tough. 2) Why do you think that contemporary Asian American culture fits a magazine so well? What aspects of a magazine make it an ideal vehicle for these purposes?I’m not sure if it fits that well, or we make it fit. But for now, let’s say it fits well. I think there’s a growing interest in the culture, but at the same time, it’s never been documented well. So I’d like to think we’ve trailblazed a path for it to be documented, not just by us, but also by others. Obviously, a magazine works well, but I’m sure a television show, DVD, etc would be fine too. I think paper is a long standing and strong method.3) What sort of relationship do you think the magazine and its associated stores have with their audience? With the Asian American community as a whole?The stores display stuff the magazine writes about. Sometimes a lot, sometimes, a little, but over all, there’s a common element with the stores and the magazine, and for those who follow the magazine closely, it’s very obvious, but for those who don’t know the magazine well at all, it also works. This is all calculated. GR isn’t a private club for insiders, it’s for everyone. The stores and magazine hopefully supports part of “the culture” that we like and find interesting. We can’t support everything, so we pick and choose.
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Souther and Saelee – it’s easy! I hung out with the kids yesterday, went to Sootbulljeep for some bbq and cold noodles. The naeng myun is cold, slimy and tasty. Add some vinegar and mustard that’s provided on the tables and it’s even better. I’ve had better, but this isn’t bad at all for a place that’s known for their meat. The bbq is where it’s at. Having a gas table top grill is great, but actually having coals make a small difference. The meat and shrimp get well grilled and comes out better than the regular bbq’ers. I guess that’s why people like having BBQ’s at home. We left smelling like garlic and meat. One thing we talked about which I think is funny is the speed at which people expect art shows to get done. Some think it takes a week, some less, and I can in a way understand why. It’s about having art that may look effortless. Saelee Oh‘s work, this isn’t effortless. Cutting paper and her meticulous drawings and painting is no joke. You look at this and know, she puts in the hours. Souther is another story. If you take a look at the GRNY show you might think his work is effortless. Pen marks, simple paint strokes, tape, paper, junk, and a dream. it’s easy right? In GR-land, people in the past have said some of the funniest things that tell me that they think making GR is easy. Here’s some examples. 1) You guys just write as much as you can about a subject and print it. (That’s like saying, just draw as much as you can and you have art.) 2) You guys are irreverrent and articles are wacky. (Again, this is like saying just fuck around on a piece of wood and frame it. It’s art.) 3) This isn’t an attempt at remembering a quote: but people have submitted butt-horrible articles filled with expletives that say nothing, and then they say, it’s perfect for GR. Cussing doesn’t help articles get better. (It’s like if I made a piece of shit art piece and showed it to Souther or Saelee and said, this is just like yours. That’s a fast way to insult someone.) 4) Some turn in their school term paper and think we’d print it. (if I did an art project for school, does that mean it can go into a gallery?) Some even submit B and C papers! 5) Just because it’s Asian, we want it. We get PR people showing us a book about the Ming Dynasty trade secrets, and expect us to want to write about it. (if I cut paper and make a snowflake, is my work akin to Saelee’s? Does it even fit in the same sentence?) Art isn’t easy as it looks and making a magazine isn’t as easy as it looks, (understanding each can be as easy as it is difficult) but the hours of work and years of thinking about it...
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Video of the three armed baby. I now think the outer arm is better.
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