Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Part 14 of this mess. 14. “World domination” This sounds ridiculous in this context, but I’ve heard some people say this phrase, so I’ll down step it an infinite amount just so it makes some sense. (at least to me) People have said you’re “taking over the world.” It’s of course overstated, but in the end, it may actually make some sense in the right context. This is the new GRSF. We moved to 618 Shrader. Right next door. Back in the day, junior high, high school, and even in my Japanese school, then to UCLA, I felt like an outsider. I’m Asian American and a regular dude, but for some reason, I didn’t fit into either categories. I felt like I was friends with the outcasts. I have no idea why while walking down Bruin walk, which is the central main drag on the UCLA campus Asian American groups would pass out flyers to Asian American kids. I could clearly see them, passing them to a guy, then a girl, then when I walked up, no flyer. The hand holding the paper went back in. This happened a lot. Did I have a sign on me saying, No? Was it because I didn’t wear the right clothes or had the sidewall haircut? When I did get a flyer, I remember the person asking, “who did I know?” I told them some random names, my parents, my dog, nothing worked. What he wanted to hear were “popular” kids names. The guys who ran the frats, the lowered car clubs, or threw the big parties. I didn’t know them. I took some of that energy when Giant Robot got started and eventually that was the many reasons why we got started. Overtime, we found that there was a lot of folks with these same experiences. So in effect, it’s nice to think that we were able to create an outlet for people “like us.” The main lesson I can cite here is that although World Domination is a Hitlerian word, it’s what happened with GR in a microcosm. The World ends up being the world we created. Domination, not sure how that works, but I suppose it can mean, we’re good at the niche world we’re in. There was no audience for GR, so we created one, there were no stores like GR so we made that too, and so forth. Now, years later, there’s more than one magazine with similar interests, there’s more than one store that’s something like ours, and so forth. Although taking credit feels selfish, although I’m sure many would try and take it anyway, it’s fun to see what we created expanding, even when it’s not ours. This includes artists who grow thanks to some of our help, writers who get bigger gigs (is that possible?), and people who are making better for themselves thanks to an article we wrote or even an article written about us.
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Part 14 of this mess.
14. "World domination"
This sounds ridiculous in this context, but I've heard some people say this phrase, so I'll down step it an infinite amount just so it makes some sense. (at least to me)
People have said you're "taking over the world." It's of course overstated, but in the end, it may actually make some sense in the right context.
Continue reading
14. "World domination"
This sounds ridiculous in this context, but I've heard some people say this phrase, so I'll down step it an infinite amount just so it makes some sense. (at least to me)
People have said you're "taking over the world." It's of course overstated, but in the end, it may actually make some sense in the right context.
This is the new GRSF.We moved to 618...
[nggallery id=73] Eishi Takaoka River at GRSF, May 27 – June 21 Reception: Saturday, May 27, 6:30 pm – 10:00 pm GRSF is pleased to present rivers, the first San Francisco solo exhibition of Eishi Takaoka, a young sculptor based out of Kagoshima, Japan. Takaoka has participated in group shows in Tokyo and New York, as well as one-person exhibitions at Giant Robot New York and GR2 in Los Angeles. The exhibition will consist of over 100 works comprised primarily of intricately carved wood heads painted with raw mineral pigments placed atop empty glass medicine bottles. Although these sculptures all portray the same serene expression, their outwardly calm façade belies a world of bottled-up emotions. With nowhere else to go, these intense feelings manifest themselves in outlandish formations that sprout out the top of each figure’s head. Takaoka’s unique work is rooted in a personal fantasy world that is fueled by the emotional ups and downs of daily life in lower-middle class Japan. Heavily influenced by the expressive songs of the Japanese punk rock group Eastern Youth, Takaoka releases his frustration with life in Kagoshima and feelings of isolation into each of his sculptures. GRSF is located at 622 Shrader Street in the Upper Haight. 415-976-4773. (Monday – Friday 11:30 – 8:00, Saturday 11:00 – 8:00, Sunday 12:00 – 7:00)
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Lastly wanted to throw up some quick Eishi show shots here in SF. If you’re in the bay, come on down.
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