SuperAwesome Reception

Earlier in the day was the press preview. I thank them all for coming through. Some of the press is trickling out and some were posted hours later. It was a larger group than regular and their words will hopefully help the exhibition out. From my days of writing, I’d hope that this particular job was at least fun. So many writing jobs aren’t.

The weekend began with the Donor’s Forum. It’s a special thursday opening for the folks who donate dollars to the Museum. It’s when “the elite” of the OMCA come to play. I’m a curator who makes a speech and introduce the attending artists, and then after the words are complete, we get to see the exhibition. Although the idea is to make the donors feel like they’re part of this history-making exhibition, I’m not sure if everyone understood Asian Popular culture, this subset of contemporary art, and why Giant Robot. Yet that’s where the numbers come into play. For those who don’t get it, they love to see successful numbers.

The following day was the opening night. The member’s opening began at 3pm which on a Friday, began slowly and picked up after 5pm. Families began to show up. Artists brought their parents and some of the museum staff brought their kids who zipped around from the Scion car, to the game stations. I stood outside the doors for a while, since it was cool to take in the friends who I might not see scurrying around from area to area inside. I had to thank everyone I could for showing up and giving us their support. A line formed that stretched up the steps and even further towards the entrance in front of the mural by Andrew Hem. It was an OMCA first.

I saw folks from early GR days, new friends who are tackling the art world, and many from Southern California who made a weekend road trip out of it. The support was tremendous. After it got packed, it was a great feeling of seeing friend after friend and not being able to move until the exhibition ended. In a way, I wish I could have floated just to see how the artists were doing.

I also wished there was a way to make an announcement to thank everyone who made the time to stop in. In fact, I asked far ahead of time, but that request was denied. What would I say to give my appreciation for the moment? I know that this exhibition made a tiny dent into art history. The work by these artists is being looked at a little more. The concept of what binds everyone is being pondered and contextualized. Yet, back home at GR2, I still fight for each show. It’s still an uphill battle of pushing new imagery out to the people. It’s still humbling when people don’t respond to what I think is great and deserves attention. That’s the game I’m continuing to play. It’s not paved with gold or even with concrete. It’s at times just piles of dirt hills.

I’m not sure how many of these great moments we get to experience in our lives. Time is short, and from beginning of GR until now is a quick 20 years. Just a bit ago, I lauded people who were my age and now I’m that age. Yet, it’s nice to see that I could help “Score One” for the indie kids with this exhibition. We all came together, worked hard, complained little, and selflessly created for the sake of creating. Although I don’t get too into it, the SuperAwesome is also a generational story. It’s steeped with the hopes and dreams of our parents. The stupid joys we get to have like robot toys rests on their labor and suffering. This wasn’t possible a generation ago and thankfully for many of us, our parents got to see this happen. When it’s over, we will all go back to our lives, and I hope that with this experience behind us, everything is just a tiny bit better and we’re that much closer.

For more pics ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/giantrobotmag/sets/72157644387936162/)