''Giant Robot'' is a website and former bimonthly magazine focusing on Asian and

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

, founded in Southern California in 1994. It was one of the earliest American publications to feature prominent Asian film stars such as

Chow Yun-fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility, encompassing action to melodrama and comedy and historical drama, his accolades include three Hong Kong Film Awar ...

and

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean Martial arts, martial artist and actor. With a Jet Li filmography, film career spanning more than forty years, Li is re ...

, as well as Asian musicians from indie and

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

bands. Its coverage later expanded into art, design, Asian-American issues, travel, and much more.

Publication history

Eric Nakamura (BA '93) and Martin Wong (BA '90) had met when they were both undergraduate students at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA), where they bonded over their shared interest in punk music and Asian pop culture. ''Giant Robot'', named after the Japanese TV series

Giant Robo is a Japanese manga series by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. The manga, which was first published in 1967, spawned a live-action ''tokusatsu'' television series of the same name, as well as a series of original video animations called '' Giant Robo: ...

, was initially created as a small,

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

-minded magazine that featured Asian pop culture and Asian-American alternative culture, including such varied subject matter as history, art, music, film, books, toys, technology, food, and

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

. The publication grew from its original format—a small, photocopied

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

, folded and stapled by hand—to its eventual full-color format. In the early days, Wong and Nakamura independently approached bookstores and music shops to ask if they would carry the magazine. In 2003, the magazine could be found at

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchising, franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when ...

, Virgin Store,

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

, and UCLA Ackerman Union, amongst other location. In 2004, there were 60,000 copies in circulation annually. ''Giant Robot'' briefly had an in-magazine zine insert titled ''Giant Power.'' Nakamura and Wong are featured on the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

release of the collection of animated short films ''

The Animatrix is a 2003 adult animated science fiction anthology film produced by the Wachowskis. The anime compiles nine animated short films, detailing the backstory of ''The Matrix'' film series, in addition to providing side stories that expand the uni ...

'', discussing

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

in the ''Making of the Animatrix'' documentary. The last issue of the magazine, #68, was released in February 2011, featuring the work of

Luke Chueh Luke Chueh (; born March 7, 1973) is a Chinese Americans, Chinese-American lowbrow (art movement), lowbrow, pop surrealist, painter. His works is a juxtaposition of the cute with the macabre, including various self-portraits reimagining himself ...

on the cover. Also in 2011, ''Giant Robot'' launched its new website and updated content, including articles, video, and products daily.

''Giant Robot'' store

Tired of always redirecting customers to third-party sellers for items that they featured in the magazine, they began a mail-order service to sell those Asian products directly to the readers. In the late 1990s, ''Giant Robot'' expanded its endeavor to an online retail store, selling artist goods, designer vinyl dolls, minifigures, plush dolls, stationeries, art, T-shirts, and many creative goods. The success of the commercial website enabled the establishment of a brick-and-mortar retail store in 2001, first in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and later in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. A third store, called GR2, was opened in Los Angeles, and features work by young contemporary artists. ''Giant Robot'' further expanded to a fourth store in New York City, and a fifth in Silverlake. The GR2, San Francisco, and New York locations feature monthly art exhibitions from up-and-coming and established artists. As of 2009, the Silverlake store has closed. The New York store closed in 2010 and the San Francisco store closed in 2011. ''Giant Robot'' had an association with Lost Weekend Video in the Mission District of San Francisco, where they opened a

pop-up shop Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to latch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

; Lost Weeked Video closed in 2018. As of 2024, GR2 Gallery and the Giant Robot Store are located in Los Angeles. Their first art show featured works by artist

David Choe David Choe (born April 22, 1976) is an American artist, musician, actor, and former journalist and podcast host from Los Angeles. Choe's work appears in a wide variety of urban culture and entertainment contexts. He has illustrated and written ...

''Giant Robot'' events

In 2007, ''Giant Robot'' published its 50th issue and celebrated with an art exhibition at the

Japanese American National Museum The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affi ...

titled, "Giant Robot Biennale: 50 Issues." Subsequent exhibitions took place at the museum in 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2024. In 2010, ''Giant Robot'' presented Zen Garage at the

featuring the Scion xb Famicom Car designed by Nakamura. On September 22, 2012, Nakamura curated Giant Robot Biennale 3 at the Japanese American National Museum. The opening night brought in over 1500 people. The exhibition features the works of Rob Sato, Deth P. Sun, Ako Castuera, Eishi Takaoka, Saelee Oh, Sean Chao, Albert Reyes, and Zach Gage. Using figures designed by Uglydoll creator David Horvath, Nakamura curated Project Remix, a custom vinyl show with over 80 artists from seven countries—including the rare combination of both established customizers and fine artists. Special additions to the exhibition include an original piece from Japanese painter Masakatsu Sashie, as well as arcade machines running Jeni Yang and Beau Blyth’s new indie video game, Catburger. On April 19, 2014, Eric Nakamura and Carin Adams curated SuperAwesome: Art and Giant Robot at Oakland Museum of California. Artists Included: Ako Castuera, Sean Chao,

, Hamburger Eyes, Andrew Hem,

James Jean James Jean (born 1979) is a Taiwanese-American visual artist working primarily in painting and drawing. He lives and works in Los Angeles, where he moved from New York City, New York in 2003. Early life Jean was born in Taiwan and raised in New J ...

, Kozyndan, Masakatsu Sashie,

Shizu Saldamando Shizu Saldamando (born 1978 in San Francisco, CA), is an American visual artist. Her work merges painting and collage (often using origami paper) in portraits that often deal with social constructs of identity and subcultures. Saldamando also works ...

, Rob Sato, Amy Sol, Deth P Sun, and

Adrian Tomine Adrian Tomine (; born May 31, 1974) is an American cartoonist. He is best known for his ongoing comic book series ''Optic Nerve'' and his illustrations in ''The New Yorker''. Early life Adrian Tomine was born May 31, 1974, in Sacramento, Califo ...

. The exhibition ran until June 27, 2014. On April 18, 2015, Eric Nakamura curated Samurai! at Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts. The exhibition features samurai armor and contemporary art. Artists include: Murals by Andrew Hem, Mari Inukai, and

Audrey Kawasaki Audrey Kawasaki (born March 31, 1982) is a Los Angeles-based painter, known for her distinctive portrayals of young, adolescent women. Her works are oil paintings painted directly onto wood panels, and her style has been described as a fusion of A ...

. On view:

Miya Ando Miya Ando (born 1973) is an American visual artist recognized for her paintings, sculptures, and installation artworks that address concepts of temporality, interdependence, and impermanence. Ando's artworks have been exhibited in museums, galler ...

, Esao Andrews, Shawn Cheng, Josh Cochran, Moira Hahn, Jed Henry, James Jean, kozyndan, Mu Pan, Ferris Plock, Stan Sakai, Masakatsu Sashie, Rob Sato, Yuko Shimizu, Katsuya Terada, and Kent Williams. The exhibition ran until September 6, 2015.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Giant Robot'' official website

''Giant Robot Store'' official website

Eric Nakamura interview
on ''Notebook on Cities and Culture''
Eric Nakamura interview with Left Field Project

YouTube video Vans interviews Eric Nakamura

YouTube video The Hundreds interviews Eric Nakamura

YouTube video Ken Tanaka interviews Eric Nakamura

Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong , The Treatment
''

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

''
Giants among robots: An interview with Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong
'' Walker Museum''.
Eric Nakamura interview
''Nylon'' magazine

G4TV.com

Rafu Shimpo
Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong interview
''OC Register''
Eric Nakamura interview
''Neon Forest Gallery''
Eric Nakamura interview and photos
''Discover Nikkei''
Eric Nakamura interview and photos
''The Fox is Black''
LA Weekly – Giant Robot Biennale 3

Japanese American National Museum – Giant Robot Biennale 3
Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Asian-American magazines Defunct magazines published in the United States Entertainment magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1994 Magazines disestablished in 2011 Magazines published in California 1994 establishments in California