Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
giant robot time: 3.29.13 | art by: deth p. sun JAVA JR. COFFEE CREAMER Classic diner coffee pot shaped mini creamer! U-LOCK KEYCHAIN Resembles the U-lock used to lock your bike up. FINGERSTACHE TEMPORARY TATTOOS Put them on your finger and presto, mustachioed! COLD HARD CASH ICE CUBE TRAY Ice cube tray produces 6 bill like ice stacks. HONEY BUNNY JAR Bunny honey jar with applicator ears will sweeten any meal. NESTING BOWLS Each bowl has cool nest like texture. IKEY IPHONE STAND Convenient key shaped iPhone stand! HOME COOKING LID The little chimney on the holder allows steam to escape. Sean Chao makes dioramas that are cute and tell a story. It was fun to able to sit and watch Sean work the Sculpey. Chao speaks softly and is thoughtful in his explanations of his work. FACIAL RECOGNITION APRIL 6 – APRIL 24, 2013 OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 6:30-10PM Three Person Group Exhibition featuring James Kochalka, Matt Furie, and Mark Todd James Kochalka is a comic book artist, musician, and more hailing from Burlington, Vermont. His well known works include a new animated cartoon called Superfuckers. Matt Furie is well known for his illustrative character works, at times featuring super heroes and villains in a world that’s all his own. Mark Todd is an illustrator and instructor at Art Center College of Design. His works are often amalgamations of layers that often comprise his own takes on classic comics covers. All three artists are involved in some type of published work, some of which will be available at Giant Robot. MORE INFO | FACEBOOK EVENT GR2: SEASONAL CHANGES VIDEO By GIANT ROBOT NEWS Video by DJ Tony Jr. Thanks much again. >> DAVID McHANK’S PERPETUALLY TWELVE By MARTIN WONG My favorite piece of all time is still McHank’s essay about growing up in the Bay Area and not knowing how to drive when he moved to San Diego and how he had to ride bikes or take the bus to get to shows. Can you get more personal or street level than that? >> 2015 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 2062 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025
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giant robot time: 3.22.13 | art by: deth p. sun BIGFOOT THE FOREST WARLORD VINYL FIGURES Bigfoot has released some very impressive limited edition vinyl figures! DETH P. SUN VARIOUS DRAWINGS ZINE Collection of Deth P. Sun’s favorite drawings he made in 2012. DETH P. SUN BOAT PRINT Archival Ultrachrome print on Bradford Rag paper. DETH P. SUN TERRARIUM TOTE BAG Deth P. Sun’s cat character sleeping in a terrarium. TOKIDOKI KAIJU PLUSH Kaiju isn’t just vinyl figures, it can be a plush! TOKIDOKI PHONZIES PHONE CHARM Fits in your headphone jack and just looks cute. FACIAL RECOGNITION APRIL 6 – APRIL 24, 2013 OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 6:30-10PM Three Person Group Exhibition featuring James Kochalka, Matt Furie and Mark Todd James Kochalka is a comic book artist, musician, and more hailing from Burlington, Vermont. His well known works include a new animated cartoon called Superfuckers. Matt Furie is well known for his illustrative character works, at times featuring super heroes and villains in a world that’s all his own. Mark Todd is an illustrator and instructor at Art Center College of Design. His works are often amalgamations of layers that often comprise his own takes on classic comics covers. All three artists are involved in some type of published work, some of which will be available at Giant Robot. MORE INFO | FACEBOOK EVENT GR2: SEASONAL CHANGES RECEPTION By GIANT ROBOT NEWS A very special thank you to those that attended last weekend’s opening reception! See the art here. >> 2015 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 2062 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025
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TOKYO ~ Two years ago this week explosions and meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Genpatsu in northeastern Japan created this nation’s worst man-disaster. The ability to perform heavy duty repair work in the highly radioactive environs of a damaged nuclear reactor was one of the first obstacles that nuclear engineers faced at Fukushima Daiichi. To outside observers of Japan, the answer seemed simple: send in Japan vaunted robots. But the myth of Japanese robot supremacy was blown to bits by Fukushima Daiichi. Yes, Japan had talking robots, robot children, sexy fembots, robot pets and manufacturing robots, but it hadn’t produced machines mobile, powerful or agile enough to be of any use in a real world disaster scenario. So, the Japanese ate some humble pie and called Boston-based iRobot, maker of the vacuuming robot Roomba, which sent Japan its PackBot and Warrior robots which became the first robots to enter and inspect Fukushima’s Daiichi’s damaged reactors. [youtube]j7r29YxICBw[/youtube] But since Fukushima Daiichi, Japan has indeed stepped up its robotics game. Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Honda, Panasonic, and Toyota have all boosted funding and investments of their proprietary bot expertise, and the Japanese government has also increased support toward university robotics laboratories and private-public partnerships. So, if the triple meltdowns had a silver lining, it was the Japanese robotics industry’s new focus away from cute machines and toward capable ones. Akihabara News has a great article by Reno J. Tibke of how Fukushima sparked Japan’s robot renaissance. ~Rachel Roh
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OITA ~ “Skull Reaper Eiji” (transliterated as “Skull Reaper A-ji” by the Western press) was elected to the city council in this city on the southernmost Japanese island of Kyushu back in February promising local folks educational reform and improved social welfare facilities. He managed to garner only 2,828 votes, but that was enough to win him a seat. Eiji, 44, was supposed to attend his first council meeting this week, but his tight-assed council colleagues sucker-punched him by barring him from the meetings until he removed his wrestling mask. The Skull Reaper is the third masked politician elected to public office in Japan. [TIME ~ Politician Banned for Wearing Wrestling Mask] [youtube]Qid_vhLZPQ4[/youtube]
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giant robot time: 3.15.13 | art by: jen corace SEASONAL CHANGES MARCH 16 – APRIL 3, 2013 OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 6:30-10PM Four Person Group Exhibition featuring Hellen Jo, Jen Corace, Deth P. Sun, and Gosha Levochkin. Hellen Jo works in animation in Los Angeles, and displays a style that’s partially influenced by manga, perhaps something like Taiyo Matsumoto. Jen Corace hails from Providence, RI and her works often capture emotion with a small town feel. Deth P. Sun is a Giant Robot friend who’s consistently shown at Giant Robot and many extending exhibitions. Gosha Levochkin is a Los Angeles artist who works mostly in watercolor and captures creatures in fantastical scenes. MORE INFO | PREVIEW IMAGES | FACEBOOK EVENT ANDROID VINYL FIGURE LUCKY CAT SERIES Lucky cats meet Android figures. FULUTO MINI SERIES BLIND BOX FIGURE KusoVinyl & TobyHK skull-faced rabbit figures are awesome. D-CLIPS DOG & CAT Dog and cat paperclips from Japan! TOTORO PLAYING CARD SET Relive My Neighbor Totoro scenes while you play your favorite card games. TOY BOARDERS SKATE FIGURE (SERIES 2) Awesome take on the classic toy soldiers your Dad played with. ERASER PACK SUSHI Keshigomu eraser packs featuring all sorts of realistic objects. GIANT ROBOT TAPE ROBOT T-SHIRT This shirt will have everyone touching your chest all day, asking, “Is that tape?” Director JJ Abrams rocking the GR Tape Robot T-shirt on location: THRASH LAB PROFILES X GIANT ROBOT ARTIST SERIES VIDEOS We’re partnering up with Thrash Lab and set up a series of Artist Profiles. They’ll appear at 9:30am PST. Luke Chueh is an LA hero. He made it work, his way. Pay attention to Luke Chueh. GR2: GAME NIGHT 13 VIDEO By GIANT ROBOT NEWS DJ Tony Jr, is a guest at GR2 shows, and he’s been shooting video using his point and shoot. He also composes music and he dropped a beat that fits this piece just right. >> GAME NIGHT 13! PHOTOS By GIANT ROBOT NEWS Hotline Miami and Tuning, two games by Cactus Soderstrom at GR2! >> SHOW REVIEW: CARSICK CARS AT THE REDWOOD BAR; ZINE REVIEWS: COMETBUS, RADON, MOSHPIT, PERPETUALLY 12 By MARTIN WONG On Sunday night, the Maybe Mars crew from Beijing made a stop in Downtown L.A.’s Redwood Bar with their flagship band Carsick Cars. >> 2015 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 2062 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025
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