June 27 to July 10, 2010

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Real may be seinen manga, but it definitely requires a mature readership. As mentioned above, and unlike Inoue’s widely successful Slam Dunk, the drama of moving forward in life colors the frames of every page.

NATURE’S TOOLBOX : call for entries

ART WORKS FOR CHANGE INVITES VIDEO ARTISTS TO SUBMIT SHORT VIDEO ARTWORK
FOR CONSIDERATION FOR EXHIBITION IN CHINA AND JAPAN, 2010

Art Works for Change (www.artworksforchange.org), in cooperation with the United Nations Environ-
ment Programme is pleased to announce a call for entries for “Nature’s Toolbox,” an art installation to
be exhibited at the United Nations Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, from July 4-31, 2010. In addition, the
work may be shown in Nagoya, Japan, as part of the United Nations COP10 meeting on biodiversity in
October 2010.

We will be creating a multi-screen digital media installation addressing the theme of urban biomimicry
and biodiversity, incorporating state-of-the-art technologies.


WHAT IS BIOMIMICRY?

Biomimicry (from “bios,” meaning life, and “mimesis,” meaning
to imitate) is a new discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and
imitates these designs and processes to solve human design prob-
lems. Studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell is an example.
Think of it as “innovation inspired by nature.”

The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already
solved many of the problems humans are grappling with. Animals,
plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have
found what works, what is appropriate, and most important, what
lasts here on Earth. This is the real significance of biomimicry:
Over the past 3.8 billion years, nature’s designs provide the secret
to survival for humans and other species.

http://biomimicryinstitute.org/about-us/what-is-biomimicry.html


VIDEO CRITERIA
1. Up to 3 minutes in duration.
2. Visually compelling video artwork
3. Tell a simple story about an urban creature (a plant, animal, microbe, fungus, insect) and show
 how it teaches us lessons for solving humans’ pressing problems — environmental, social, food,
 shelter, water, etc. Include an urban context.
4. The story can be reality-based, visionary or science fiction
5. We want to stress the importance of what we lose if these “critters” disappear
6. Animation and entertainment are encouraged
7. We discourage the usage of words or language. Music or abstract sound is acceptable.

For guidance, visit the website of the Biomimicry Institute (http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/) or their
Ask Nature database (http://www.AskNature.org/), which provides hundreds of examples of how nature
inspires design solutions.

For more information on Art Works for Change and its programs, visit www.artworksforchange.org

Every year fans and industry insiders alike wonder whether Comic-Con’s days in San Diego are numbered. VARIETY reports that San Diego has made a big move to keep the Con right where it is.

On Friday, April 9 at 7:00pm, a meeting aptly titled Mecha Mania: Four Decades of Slam-Bang Sci-Fi Robot Anime will take place at Viz Cinema.

Overall, I like it. I like it a lot. On a sunny day, the monorail ride across the bay to the Tokyo Big Site is worth it alone. During my ride, I not only witnessed a cutesy pop concert, but also some Tokyo drifting.

"Animation on the radio; it's like photosynthesis on the moon."

Now while I haven’t perused any complete episodes, the extended trailers that debuted last week suggest a human drama that shouldn’t disappoint.

When I was a kid, I loved going to visit my cousins in Seattle. They were avid comic collectors and I would spend hours carefully thumbing through issues of Spiderman, Fantastic Four and other plastic-sleeved titles. Perhaps this is why I enjoy the trend of motion comics as promotion. It speaks to childhood nostalgia while cutting through the clutter. Clever marketing campaigns engage audiences in unexpected ways that connect, often with a nod and a wink, to the property’s intrinsic nature. Or to poorly paraphrase Marshall McLuhen; the medium can be a major part of the message. Motion comics are a great way of exciting prospective viewers about an upcoming film or television show, even if the property is not animated. And they provide increased opportunities for graphic designers, artists to collaborate with studios and directors.

I'm in Tokyo and getting ready to head over to the Tokyo International Anime Fair!