Curated with local artists, Giant Robot partnered with the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) for the event “Art Konbini” on May 25th. Giant Robot began as a small magazine that featured Asian pop culture in 1994 and has since grown to having two locations in Sawtelle where they sell art and feature local artists at their GR2 Gallery. This time, they partnered with JANM to bring the artists they collaborate with to a larger scale event.
Konbini is the Japanese abbreviated term for convenience store: a place known to have everything you need from food to office supplies. Instead, this konbini included all types of art from prints of illustrations, keychains, cups, and t-shirts to coasters and tote bags from over 25 artists. It also featured a speaker event showcasing artist Felicia Chiao and Eric Nakamura, the founder of Giant Robot.
The speaker event included an audience Q&A section. Sheela Yuan, an attendee and an illustrator herself, reflected on her takeaways from the panel.
“[Chiao] said that she struggled with [staying creative and avoiding burnout] but the way to work through it is to live life,” said Yuan. “Inspiration for work for her always comes to her through her life experiences and she said that even if you feel like you’re not making art that’s good enough bad art is still art and that’s an accomplishment in and of itself.”
Chiao’s art is known for its whimsical nature with soft edges, warm colors, and characters with cute smiles. Hearing Chiao’s process, Yuan explains this event allowed her to find Chiao’s art more relatable.
“As an artist myself it made me realize we really do all go through the same struggles and process in creating,” she explained.
At its core, the “Art Konbini” brought people together and allowed artists to share their work and journey with their audience directly. The panel was accompanied by booths set around JANM’s Aratani Central Hall as if it was a mini fair or convention.
In an interview with Annenberg Media, Nakamura discussed the process of collaborating with an institution like JANM.
“It’s been really easy. I think this is one of the first things I asked for when they wanted to do a public program with [their] exhibition,” said Nakamura. “This is something I have gotten to do at our shop – our gallery. Usually it’s like maybe 10 vendors at the most and so it’s nice to have like 30 vendors… I would like to have more if I could but for now this is amazing. I really love this, it’s really fun.”
Attendees ranged from children and their families to aspiring artists. The event brought the excitement of sharing art as a community. Among the various vendors present, Kaylynn Kim and Christian Leon Guerrero co-hosted a booth with their prints, collaborative pieces, pins, and even live portraits.
“We’ve been participating in Giant Robot events for [the] past few years,” Kim described. “And I think it all started from the Post-it Show and then becoming regular artists and then eventually Nakamura started “Konbini” and eventually it came to JANM.”
As for Leon Guerrero, he explained, “I’m from the Bay Area and so they did a museum show in Oakland about a decade ago and I was still in school then. And that’s how I found them.”
To Nakamura, the Giant Robot community is fostered through the artists who participate.
“I would say [the artists] make it consistent because it’s all the artists I work with and they make it feel like home for me,” he said. “Working with the artists I work with, they make it so familiar that this doesn’t feel very different, and it’s very comfortable.”
When choosing artists to work with and showcase at Giant Robot, Nakamura narrows it down to two key things: their personality and their art. He explains that while he, of course, needs to like the art someone creates, it also comes down to the artist’s vibe that he gets to know over time.
“There’s so much variation between people but I think the common thread there is a similar temperament, a similar vibe,” said Nakamura. “No matter how different they are I think everyone here kind of gets along and I think that is kind of key.”
Not only do events by Giant Robot allow artists to put their work out there to a greater capacity than just showcasing their talents online, but it gives creators an opportunity to support one another as well. Creating events in spaces larger than just the GR2 gallery allows Giant Robot and their collaborators to bring the joy of art to more people than just those visiting Sawtelle, continuing to foster the artistic community built by Nakamura and his team.
“An event like this is just celebrating people who make stuff or do things and people that want to get out there,” said Nakamura. “I am trying to celebrate that. And maybe it’s from, at least Giant Robot’s viewpoint, that’s kind of the key thing to know.”
