If Eric Nakamura were a robot, he would be a transformer.
The UCLA alumnus, local entrepreneur, independent publisher and toy connoisseur of sorts is celebrating the 15th anniversary of his Asian American pop culture magazine, Giant Robot, with a biennale exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum.
What started off as a photocopied and hand-folded magazine for the then-undergraduate East Asian Studies student flourished into an international publication with retail outlets in California and New York, regular art exhibitions, and the pioneer of the growing hybrid community of Asian and Asian American popular art and culture.
Nakamura is not only credited for starting the first media outlet for this emerging culture but also for giving the young artists and their untraditional mediums a commercial space, a significant following and an artistic community.
“When the magazine first came out, no one was paying attention to that kinda thing,” said Rob Sato, an illustrator and painter from Sacramento at the opening reception. “There was only one place to go to fill that hole in for people.”
Sato was one of over 50 young contemporary artists with works featured at the biennale, which is in its second phase from Oct. 24-Jan. 24.
The community of artists and its followers that Giant Robot has led knows no boundaries of countries or genre, as exemplified by Nakamura’s curated group show.
“Giant Robot means a community … kind of a virtual one … not based on location,” said Stella Lai, a painter from Hong Kong whose work was featured at the exhibit on Saturday.
Lai had known about Giant Robot since she moved to San Francisco for college and had since been a follower until she was featured on the cover of the magazine in April of this year.
“For me, it’s a great promotion. I was in the magazine and on the cover … and I have people calling me from Australia wanting to do work and collaborate,” Lai said.
The over-1,000 crowd at the reception was also able to play artisan video games created by some of Giant Robot’s artists along with the developers.
Nakamura is also credited for revitalizing the historic Japanese American street of Sawtelle Boulevard, just minutes from UCLA and Westwood.
“Giant Robot became the catalyst for transforming Sawtelle Boulevard into hip street with restaurants, bars, clubbing and, of course, the Giant Robot store and a place of bubbling night life,” said George Takei, the opening speaker of the event, most known for his role as Mr. Sulu on the television series “Star Trek.”
The area on Sawtelle Boulevard and Olympic Avenue is lined with Giant Robot establishments.
“I swear, when I was a student, (Sawtelle) wasn’t a UCLA place or a hangout,” said Nakamura. “I grew up in the area … and I do know for a fact that it is different after we opened because that part of the block was really dead, and after all the businesses across the street were all failing … now they’re really strong.”