I’m actually reviewing two large new pieces here: episodic.ichicon.megabot.01 by Ichibot Nishi, and International Love Machine by Juria Yoshikawa. However, the two have been placed so closely (the ichibots are actually partly INSIDE the Love Machine) that it is impossible to view either in isolation, so I will look at them together as well as separately.

Juria loves big dynamic works, and this one is no exception. ILM is a riot of swirling pastel, partially transparent colors; the bright cheerful colors give it a much different feel than Juria’s recent pieces. (Correction here: this originally continued “that surrounded the BiW tower”, but it was Andres Watanabe that built the tower wraps. My comment about the cheerfulness of the current installation stands.) Some of the shapes are sculpted prims, and I experienced rez delays the first time I viewed it; if the big prims just look like uninteresting spheres and cylinders, be patient. I recommend trying different times of day.

Ichibot’s megabots are a whimsical take on robots; their blocky shape reminded me of Spongebob Squarepants, and the acrobatic balancing of the robots seems totally at odds with their solid looking and presumably massive bodies. Pink bodies, green glowing eyes, and teeth that reminded me of computer keys add to the unlikely nature of the megabots.

Together, I felt that the playful nature of the two works reinforced each other; I really enjoyed seeing the megabots against the backdrop of the Love Machine. Perhaps the lesson here is that all you need is Love, even if you’re a robot.

Posted by Shirley Marquez on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 9:35 pm.