The Journal of Joe The Peacock. Yay.: Art of Akira Exhibit Gets Some Great Attention

2.04.2010:

Art of Akira Exhibit Gets Some Great Attention

11:48 PM

So, my announcement and video for the Art of Akira Exhibit at ToonSeum has been getting some great attention! It was posted to Fark, Neatorama, MetaFilter and Museyon, a Museum gazette. The focus of the write-ups seems to be split between the fact that it's an inside look at the art and technical genius of Akira, and the method of fundraising on the web.

Either way, I'll take it.

This project has gone from a simple idea to a dream over the past five or so years, and it's so close now I can taste it. I was overjoyed when Joe Wos from ToonSeum signed on last year, after nearly 2 years of working to find the appropriate venue - and now here we are, a few months from launch.

This is a very big thing. Not just for me, and not just for fans of Akira - this is an incredible opportunity for me to pay tribute to some astounding artists who worked at the peak of their artistic levels to create something we will never see again. Not just in our lifetime, but ever. No studio will put eight-figure budgets together to hand-paint animation ever again, especially not at 24 frames per second across two hours - and even if they did, I highly doubt we'd ever see the level of technical detail, research and talent that went into Akira.

When I consider the idea that a young art or animation student could walk into this exhibit and see how it used to be done, and marvel at the level of detail and focus that each and every frame of animation had, I'm overjoyed. Everything is so rushed these days... Corners are cut, and no one puts in the extra effort on anything - only what must be done to bring things to fruition.

Anyway, it's on its way - and thank you to all of you who have been spreading the word. Please help me spread it further by passing along the Art of Akira Exhibit site!

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