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  • Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

    Hey folks...

    dunno how many of you are into anime and manga but from the looks of it some of you are. I just went to Borders Bookstore in Ward the other night and they have a full gallery of local anime/manga artists work on display there in the stairways.

    Even got a website where you can buy some of the prints if you like them that much. I was really impressed with the showing and seems like the artists are all girls!

    At the top of the staircase it looks like they were featured in the MidWeek June 10th edition which is probably the midweek the weekend one. I'll look around my house when I get home to read the article.

    oh yeah the website is http://monkey-ame.com/ if anyone is interested. Doesn't show all the artwork on display at Borders though. Quite impressive!

  • #2
    Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

    I checked it out this weekend, and the stuff is very impressive. Clearly, these women have a terrific understanding of their media and the tools (some computer-type, some pen-and-ink type) and of the spirit that flows through Japanese-style animation. It's wonderful to look at, and many of the pictures capture that Japanese artistic tension between reality and artifice, between permanence and impermanence.

    I wonder, though. Would you call what they do art? There is no doubt a certain element of artistry, and as I said, these illustrations hint at something more than what is immediately apparent. I also, being a huge fan of animation in general and the American comic strip in particular, believe that a lot of what comics illustrators do can be an art, but are these illustrations themselves art? I'd love to hear what you think.
    But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
    GrouchyTeacher.com

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    • #3
      Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

      I too pondered the 'art' question when I was there.

      I'm a big fan of so-called 'lowbrow' art (The Pizz, Mark Ryden, Gary Taxali, Gary Baseman, Shag, et.al.) and this type of art is often not considered "art."

      Why?

      Haven't been able to figure that one out.

      To an extent, anything can be considered "art."

      I try to keep an open mind. It's like music. What I consider pap could be considered someone's Beethoven.

      For the most part I look at something and think about if it inspires, is there use of color (or lack thereof) and general design concepts, is this something I can relate to and if not why, what is the mindset of the artist and why are they trying to convey what they're trying to convey, is it quality (i.e. did this require some semblance of talent to do)?

      I looked at the art there and felt that while it's not really my cup of tea, it is, indeed, art, and should be enjoyed for what it is. Some of it was really good.

      I like that Border's puts up local 'art' in that stairwell and look forward to seeing what they have next. Sometimes it's swill, but more often than not it's great stuff that many of us wouldn't often see.

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      • #4
        Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

        Hey glad you all checked it out. I'm the advisor for the group and hey! I know Scrivener from highschool and saimin.

        The artists will be having a meet/greet type thing at Borders this Saturday June 25 at 3 - 4pm.

        Whether or not people think it's art is up to them. I feel that any means of expression is a good thing. I miss the days of "Strip Show" which Deb Aoki put together a few times during the early 90's. I kinda hoped to do something similar with this show. With the help of local cartoonist Jon Murakami as an example (his gallery was displayed almost a year before the current one) the artists were able to get a better idea of what was possible.

        Kudos to all for having an open mind and checking out the gallery. The artists have been getting a lot of praise for their work and even had articles in the MidWeek The Weekend and the StarBulletin in the last few weeks.

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        • #5
          Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

          Speaking of the Star-Bulletin, I noticed a new column in today's paper:

          http://starbulletin.com/2005/06/20/features/yadao.html

          Says at the bottom it runs every Monday. Don't really know what to think of the guy's picture, however...

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

            Originally posted by kimonostereo
            Whether or not people think it's art is up to them. I feel that any means of expression is a good thing.

            "Anime" will never be something I will grasp, but I would defend its right to be classified as art.


            The concept, idea or definition of "ART" quite often, is as subjective as the oft debated "actual value of a work of art"
            that is, "what is this artwork worth?"
            well, what is it worth to you?
            same thing;
            "hey; is THIS 'art' "
            well, is it art to you?
            (just as "the meaning of a piece of art". What does it mean to you?)
            It's not so much what the artist meant, or what they were trying to say, but moreso, the value could lie in its evocative powers. What does it stimulate in you? what's it make you feel, or think? Art is best when it inspires and uplifts... when it stimulates and awakens from within.

            Art is also considered, generally, the products of human creativity.

            ...further guidelines from history:
            The concept of what "art" is has been changing continuously through the centuries. Perhaps the most concise definition is its broadest;
            "art" refers to all creative human endeavors, excluding actions directly related to survival and reproduction.
            "From a wide perspective, art is simply a generic term for any product of the creative impulse, out of which sprang all other human pursuits — such as science via alchemy, and religion via shamanism."

            Art is the creation of beautiful or significant things; "art does not need to be innovative to be good"

            "ART" is also a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation; eg, "the art of conversation"... "architecture is the art of wasting space beautifully"
            Last edited by kimo55; June 20, 2005, 10:16 PM.

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            • #7
              Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

              Originally posted by kimo55
              It's not so much what the artist meant, or what they were trying to say, but moreso, the value could lie in its evocative powers. What does it stimulate in you? what's it make you feel, or think? Art is best when it inspires and uplifts... when it stimulates and awakens from within.
              While art is certainly subjective, there's more to it than its effect on its audience. I find that the act of vomitting makes me feel and think deep, meaningful things...I find the experience both inspiring and uplifting, in some ways; yet, my vomit is not art and my spewing it forth is not an artistic act.

              The intent of the artist and whether or not he or she is successful is what makes it art. In Pollock, when Jackson Pollock first spills paint on his studio floor, that initial act was not artistic and its product was not art. What it led to, though, was profoundly artistic. Intent is almost everything.

              Yet intent is not everything. If I make a copy of "Cuffy," the tortoise I see in my matchbook, I can call it art if I want, but all I've done is copy a line drawing in a matchbook. What do I need to do to make it art? That's what I'm not sure of. I know that a lot of what Andy Warhol and John Cage did was explore that line, and that's why discussions like this will pop up every so often.

              This is why I'm intrigued by these Japanese-style drawings. First of all, the majority of what I saw at Borders was done on a computer, a "medium" I still haven't embraced as an artistic tool. Secondly, if the artists embrace a certain style, that's totally fine, but if they only really move around within the accepted conventions of that form, are they artists or just fans? Faithful and dead-on hand-painted reproductions of the Mona Lisa are not art, are they? What about paintings exactly like the Mona Lisa, but with slightly different faces and backgrounds?

              I'm not saying this manga-style work is not art. I consider manga itself to be an art form, but I'm not sure if these really good creations are themselves art.
              But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
              GrouchyTeacher.com

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

                Originally posted by scrivener
                the act of vomitting makes me feel and think deep, meaningful things...
                that sentence is making me feel something deep inside, too.
                woops. pardon me...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

                  Originally posted by scrivener
                  The intent of the artist and whether or not he or she is successful is what makes it art.

                  statement is interesting... but invokes a variation of an age old zen koan:

                  If an 'artist' creates a work of "art", but lacking intent, that is, haphazardly and with no plan or direction or image of its outcome, AND... if this work of art remains sitting in her or his warehouse, unseen... IS it 'successful' and therefore (or also) can it or can it not be called ART?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

                    Originally posted by kimo55
                    If an 'artist' creates a work of "art", but lacking intent, that is, haphazardly and with no plan or direction or image of its outcome, AND... if this work of art remains sitting in her or his warehouse, unseen... IS it 'successful' and therefore (or also) can it or can it not be called ART?
                    I say that if his intended audience was himself, he's made art. If his intended audience was anyone else, he hasn't. Fifteen years or so ago, the artist who painted the cover of the phone books in Hawaii painted a double rainbow, but he got the color scheme wrong; everyone who pays attention knows that the outer rainbow is a reflections of the inner rainbow, so the colors are in reverse order. When asked about this, the artist explained that it was his artistic vision of the rainbow, and not meant to be realistic. Now, that's normally an acceptable answer, but this guy's audience was the people of Hawaii, a place with so many rainbows he'd have to have a good reason to paint it wrongly. Based on his answer, I'd say his reason was complete ignorance, and that's not an artistic purpose. Did he make art? Yes. Was it successful? No way.

                    Audience is critical. Intent is critical. It's not art if one of these is missing.
                    But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                    GrouchyTeacher.com

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

                      Originally posted by scrivener
                      I say that if his intended audience was himself, he's made art. If his intended audience was anyone else, he hasn't.

                      Audience is critical. Intent is critical. It's not art if one of these is missing.
                      What if.... he was a curmudgeonly self-loathing antisocial hermit, hated people, despised himself, and... one winter long ago... whipped up a few beautiful lansdscapes, and maybe a couple abstract pieces... scoffed at them upon completion, saying "no one, not even I, now do, or would ever want this", and holed them away, only to be unearthed decades later, and now, they are on view in a Museum to much laudatory attention, and far and wide, all and sundry exclaim" "wuh-hoh. great art, dude."....
                      hmmmm?
                      what say you.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

                        Originally posted by scrivener
                        I say that if his intended audience was himself, he's made art. If his intended audience was anyone else, he hasn't.


                        today's news show that a chimp/monkey created some art, (abstract, yes of course), and his art sold for i think it was 25k. now... since we don't know his intent or who he painted it for, is it "art" also?
                        and since art is known generally as the product of human creative endeavors, and he is a chimp... welllll....

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

                          I hear what both of you are saying and I have to side with Kimo. Art is an expression of life or how one veiws it and who are we to tell the artist that what he envision and made out of his own sweat and hard work that it is not good art just because the rainbow in his art looks off. That is being to overly critical I think. I thought that the idea of art is freedom, even if you copy from someone elses drawings and redo it and add different backrounds. We don't have to be perfectionist just scribbling down a line of junk and dabing it with color we have created something. I have taken art from Elementry up to highschool and was critized for these things and asked to change some things in my drawings which I made to get the grade. Sure I did but than again it wasn't mine any more it felt like I layed down the fountain of someone elses ideals of what they thought should be than rather what I envisioned. For one thing I love Manga it is a different style in art, but it is art and good art, not the best. These are just my ideals...
                          A Warrior does not give up on what he loves he finds the love in what he does.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Anime Art Gallery at Borders Bookstore Ward Center

                            Originally posted by Pedro
                            I hear what both of you are saying and I have to side with Kimo. Art is an expression of life or how one veiws it and who are we to tell the artist that what he envision and made out of his own sweat and hard work that it is not good art just because the rainbow in his art looks off.


                            yea.
                            At age 15, I attended the Honolulu Academy of Art for a while for art classes. Being colorblind, my rendition of a cardinal, oil on canvas, was a little off. But the teacher was cool about that. as I recall, (and it was centuries ago..) the method, framing, technique, how to work with oil, etc... was what they wanted to teach us; How to mechanically get our vision onto the medium. Not so much "oh, no. That's not a Cardinal. That bird doesn't have yellow stripes with chartreuse gradient shading!"
                            No, they just wanted us to express ourselves and nothing was wrong as far as the actual image or end result.
                            Main thing I remember was; don't hold back. Don't be afraid of internal or external criticism. paint yer subject as you feel and see it.
                            So what if i had an unrealistic psychedelic Cardinal? It is my vision. and it wasn't meant to serve as an illustration in the Audubon's Definitive Reference Book of Ornithology.
                            Last edited by kimo55; June 21, 2005, 11:13 AM.

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