This would be for the greater good imo.

I realize a lot has transpired with the way GR has communicated the sale of the items, but is it really fair to choose not to buy solely based on those grounds?

I bought the piece I wanted to support Mike, not GR.

ooh I wanna see, did you save the pics? Wonder how much I missed, didn't get to the site till just now...

I like some of those resins alot, but it's frustarting not being able to afford stuff from people you used to collect.

Same here...thought about getting a DAVE custom then relaised I was too unculutured and not wise enough about Museum's and art galleries to justify spending $200 on it...that and I was at TATE Modern's new instillation piece* when they went up.

* it's a big black box you get lost in and walk into walls...I didn't get it

I totally see what you're saying but as someone who was maybe 70/30 in favour of buying I decided to give it a miss due to Eric's low opinions of people who just wanted some clear information on what was/wasn't available and when.

i think the work speaks for itself. just because the owner of GR is a dick, doesn't mean i'll enjoy the pieces any less when they're hanging out on my shelf.

eric's original post wasn't even correct. all of the custom kokeshi in their last exhibition were for sale, immediately, through the museum gift shop. non-profit doesn't mean they can't sell stuff (in the gift shop or otherwise) ... it just means all proceeds from the sale are used to pay for museum operations. and museums do occasionally sell off "major" pieces, either to fund large acquisitions or to help if they start running out of money (happened a few times in the last year or two).

There is no reason for you to enjoy it any less, so congrats on the get.

I just made a personal choice to not support GR after those statements. My decision had nothing to do with Mike, Dave or Dehara's work in said show.

I'm curious about a few things regarding the resin colabs. Were all the heads sculpted by Le Merde or by the artist who's piece it was? Same quesition for the paint, did Le Merde paint them all or did the specific artist paint his own head? Are these all one shots or will there be more made in the future? I'm guessing if there's another group show they might do it again?

Slack,
To my knowledge Mike sculpted them all. Each head was sculpted by the coordinating artist. As per the paint applications, Mike, Dave and Dehara each painted 7 individual figures for a collective total of 21.

The mold was destroyed.
An edition of 21 or 7 per artist.

The 7 that LM painted are now gone.
Congrats Mike!

ahh, thank you, I went back and noticed it does say who painted which sets.

i think the heads were sculpted by the individual artists as well.

yeah, it wouldn't really be a true collaboration if mike sculpted all the pieces.. at least, the one's mike painted wouldn't be a collab.. pretty sure the heads were sculpted by the respective artists and then the 3 artists painted 7 sets a piece

I called GR the day of the show, trying to get some clarification, and was told by their staff that I could purchase art at the museum, but that they wouldn't have a credit card machine there, so I would have to bring a lot of cash! I asked, are you serious, do you know how much that stuff is, should I bring all that cash with me, and they said, 'yes!'

LOL!

Used, unmarked notes in a Walmart bag . . .

Not been following too closely but from an outsiders perspective the event and handling of sales sounds like a total clusterfuck . . .

Not at all. The actual event went extremely well and I have to hand it to those guys
for pulling that all together. It was 10 people doing the work of 100.
But I think those who came down to purchase items in our section
were met with frustration and confusion/mixed messages.

I'm to blame for a lot of that. I should have jumped on the museum shop
to better display everything right away, or at least remained close by
to help anyone unable to find what they came down for.

Sorry to hear there was so much confusion over when anything would go on sale.
I found out after it was too late but I should have had the exact info
on my blog from the get go. I take full responsibility for not knowing
exactly how it would all go down way ahead of time.
But thats easy for me to say now, people had to drive all day to get down there. Too late now.

My apologies to all who drove out so far thinking sales were going on that night.
I hope everyone had a good time either way. The actual event as a whole was mind blowing, I thought.

I also put a lot of strain on Giant Robot and the JANM folks over the whole "make sure you make
it clear these are works of art, not toys" thing, because I am so gung ho on
toy laws and the recent changes in govt policy etc. You can't imagine
how many moms want to buy these sharp, pointy, hand painted
things for their kids. So I am always doing my best to get that "not a toy"
message out loud and clear, and I probably caused more confusion
with the already swamped GR staff and guys working at the museum.
So I would send the blame my way for sure. The message did not get out right.
I can't speak for the upset over other blog posts but I do see where I could have
done a lot better with preparation before the doors opened.
My bad and I promise to do better next time.

Still, I must congratulate all artists involved.
The actual event and show was fantastic and I am very proud of everyone.
I had a fantastic time putting it all together.
I got to paint with Le Merde in my garage, argue with curators about
Dehara's penis, and shake hands with Sulu all in one week.

Oh and our collab head was Sun-Min's first sculpt attempt and happy she has
other creatures on the way for the future. Each artist sculpted a head and
got to paint 7 sets. The Dehara sailboat eyes...you must see in person.
Holy crap.

GR is okay in my book.

I thought they did a good job when they hosted David and Yukinori in NYC.

Later, the store shipped me half a dozen clays that I bought during and after the event.
One showed up with a broken piece and a few others had visible damage to the clear plastic boxes.

BUT, GR was willing to take them back, on their dime, and have them restored/repaired by their art restoration people.
Eric N put me in touch with Michelle, Retail Operations Manager, and everything worked out.

one more question, how do the heads on the resin colabs fit in to the body? Is there a peg?

new bengal avaible now

I cannot believe the dude won't let this sleeping dog lie, and/or concede things were just a little kooky:

After the many anonymous comments on my blog from miffed toy collectors who didn't bully their way to the front of the food line, I decided to post pictures of my cat. My cat doesn't take much shit from people. Grrrr to the toy mongers who didn't get their way. Grrrr.
(taken from E. Nakamura's blog, 3 Nov 09)

the more i read and hear about this asshat, the less i feel the need to support the company. sigh...don't get me wrong, i think the 3 artists involved are all amazing. it's just a shame the guy who organized this event is just a douche.

Doesn't the guy sell TOYS in his stores? I guess he no longer wants us to buy them from him.

I'm amazed, frankly. I met the guy at Le Merde's show in February and he seemed nothing like what he's projecting on his blog.

Couldn't agree more.

Psht, NO, he sells "art!" Hell, all of you plebs just don't get it! ART! A-R-T! Let me define it for you incase you don't feel like looking it up in between reading this board and streaming Dr. Who all night. Art: Whatever I want it to be to make me feel better then others because I was made fun of in high school for listening to The Birthday Party instead of Journey. Art.