Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

Ray Potes from Hamburger Eyes stopped in today to check out his prints. They’re gigantic and it’s part of a grid of photos being displayed in his section. Glad to see his curated images so large. I’m not sure how Hamburger Eyes is viewed everywhere, or if it’s viewed, but knowing the commitment to the craft of photography and taking it to the world of zines is amazing. Ray Potes and his crew do a lot for the world of photography. I’m proud of have them as part of this exhibition and it was great to see Ray for more than a few minutes since the LA Art Book Fair. I’ll see him again soon on April 18th.

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Meanwhile, David Choe just about finished his mural. It’s amazing how people tried to get in by “delivering food”. Did you really think you’d get into the doors? Security stopped some strangers from getting in. This piece shows a lot of maturity of David Choe. Can a face be obscured? Does each line need to represent something? Can it be abstraction? The work slowly changes in a great way. Not everything needs to be literal and clear. Glad to work with him again. Meanwhile catch him on ViceTV.

OMCA will be diligently working onwards for the SuperAwesome exhibition.

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I’m visiting the Oakland Museum of CA exhibition for the preparation SuperAwesome Art and Giant Robot. This might be the 6th or 7th visit now and counting and it’s looking great. I took a few pics of what’s going on including the already well documented mural by artist Andrew Hem who conducted great media appearances as well. The mural is huge and fitting for the space. It’s a rest spot at the entrance of the museum and people are already interacting with it. Great job Andrew! I’m glad to have him on board for it. See the extra photos for the details including his “giant robot” nod.

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I’m at one end of the exhibition space that actually has more to the sides than I can show. There are some rooms that are getting cut off, including the entry way that contains Giant Robot highlights, the room with the Scion Famicar, a room with my personal collection of “stuff”, Adrian Tomine’s room, and so much more. But this photo tells a lot about how large the space really is. It’s 8000 square feet.

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There’s David Choe painting. He’s quick. In a blink of an eye, he can cover a wall, then like Kaiser Soze, poof he’s gone. As many of you know, I’ve known him for ages and it’s almost like old times. The music: Explosions in the Sky, and he’s off painting.

The exhibition is coming together with the efforts of everyone involved and there are many of them. I can’t begin to thank the folks who helped, there’s just too many, but there’s still another few weeks of serious installing that’ll be happening. I’ll be on board to help.

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KENDAMA NIGHT at Giant Robot 2 April 2 Wedneday 6-8pm (and we’ll keep going later) Come spend time with KROM KENDAMA professionals Matthew Ballard and Thorkild May, who is visiting from Denmark. KROM KENDAMA is perhaps the greatest kendama maker in the world and you’ll have to chance to meet their representatives. For any information about Giant Robot or Kendama Night, please contact Eric Nakamura (eric@giantrobot.com) Giant Robot 2 is at 2062 Sawtelle Blvd LA, CA 90025 310.445.9276 www.gr2.net
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It was just a couple of weeks ago that I was having lunch with my friend Joe, telling him that I bought a ticket to his band’s upcoming show with the Descendents. He asked if I was bringing my daughter Eloise and I said no way! I’d want to be in front where it’s packed with all these big sweaty gross guys. And then he said something like, “No, I’ll get you onstage where all the families and friends of the bands hang out. Wendy can come, too! I’ll put them on the list.”

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First of all, thanks to Eric for making this 20th anniversary of Giant Robot talk happen. Can’t believe it was 20 years ago that we cranked out the first stapled-and-folded issue of Giant Robot and 4 years ago that the final glossy mag hit the newsstands. Coming back actually was a double homecoming for me since not only has the world gone on without the magazine for that long but the Giant Robot shop and gallery have soldiered on just fine without me! (Occasional blogging not withstanding.) So it was especially cool for me to be back on Sawtelle with Eric and so many collaborators and friends in attendance. Of course, the event was a lot of fun. Eric and I have always made a great team not only making a kick-ass DIY magazine about Asian popular culture, but also giving talks about it. As usual, we shared stories about making the mag and pushing Asian culture, but this time we were able to point out friends in the audience who contributed words, photography, artwork, eyeballs, ad sales, and other forms of support from 1994-2010. There was no need to encourage the crowd to apply the DIY aesthetic or punk rock spirit to what they love–as we used to do at colleges, museum, and other venues–because everyone in attendance was already an expert at that. Even the little kids who showed up, my 6-year-old daughter included. I’d do a lousy job trying to recount what we talked about since we started off with an outline but went almost entirely freestyle. You’re better off listening to the podcast anyway. But I have been thinking a lot about what we didn’t get around to saying… How do I view the magazine in retrospect? How does making the mag echo in my life today? The first thing that entered my mind when skimming back issues in preparation for the talk was that the topics of our articles were not obvious one. Especially in the early editions. Of course, underground, independent, and imported music, movies, and art were a lot less accessible back then but perhaps more importantly Asian culture was simply not cool in any way. We taste-tasted Asian hot sauces and canned coffee (with GWAR and ALL, respectively) before foodie culture existed. We wrote awesome articles about the Yellow Power Movement, Manzanar, and even rice cookers when Asians in America were written off as nerds. Mixing everyday Asian American culture with ripping punk bands, radical skateboarders, Hong Kong movies at their peak, and up-and-coming artists was natural to us but unheard of for the mainstream, and predated the global shift from West to East. Art, design, entertainment, and business were based in Europe when we started but today everyone knows that the present and future depends on Asia for inspiration and growth. Don’t even get me started about Asian pop culture. We will never take credit for making the shift happen but our loyal readers were definitely on top of it. So...
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