* Friday, June 8 Saturday, August 4, 2001, Stanmore, Australia
Silicon Pulp animation gallery is celebrating Katsuhiro Otomo's anime opus, AKIRA, with Akira! Akira! Akira!, an exhibition of rarely seen artwork, merchandise, manga and more. Produced in 1988 and based on his cyber-active manga classic of the same name, Otomo's groundbreaking film is the best known and arguably still the best anime to emerge from Japan. The two-hour epic took over one billion yen, 2,200 shots and 160,000 animation cels to make - more than twice the number used in most Hollywood feature-length animation at the time. Akira! Akira! Akira! features over 50 original cel artworks, plus posters, uncut card sets, lobby cards, comics & book editions, and a wide assortment of related merchandising, including such rarities as an original program & flyer from opening night in Japan '88, a set of German & Spanish lobby cards and a Thai theatre poster. The exhibition will also feature an Akira-inspired installation by Italian artist Ludovica Gioscia on the theme of telekinesis - the ability to move objects through force of will alone. By combining the film's soundtrack with digital footage projected on a plasma screen, the installation transforms simple movements into telekinetic exercises. For more information, contact Jan Begg or Steve Lucas; Silicon Pulp Animation Gallery, 176 Parramatta Road, Stanmore NSW 2048 Australia; Tel./Fax: ++61 2 9560-9176; E-mail: anigal@siliconpulp.com.au; or Web: www.siliconpulp.com.au/akiramed.htm.
