“Make It Real: Flying Out of Miyazaki Animation” will be presented on Saturday, Aug. 10, at 2 p.m. at the Japan Foundation Los Angeles, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles.
Möwe (Mehve) is an imaginary aircraft which appears in the animated film “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.” Director Hayao Miyazaki drafted the Mehve as a “non-flying airplane.”
In 2003, artist Kazuhiko Hachiya, due to his continuous obsession with Mehve, began creating a real airplane that utilizes micro-jet engine. After years of trial and error, his airplane finally had a successful maiden flight in 2013.
In this lecture, Hachiya will talk about his airplane project that was based on the concept of Miyazaki’s animation and maneuvering the airplane. His experimental work challenges the notion between animation and reality and making the impossible possible.
Light refreshments will be provided. The event is free but registration is required. For more information, call (323) 761-7510 or visit www.jflalc.org.
Born in 1966 in Saga Prefecture, Hachiya graduated from the Faculty of Visual Communication Design and Kyushu Institute of Design (currently School of Design, Kyushu University). He started his career by working for a consulting company, then established his own company, PetWORKs Co., Ltd.
His works are often devices with special functions, such as a series of communication tools such as Inter Dis-communication Machine and PostPet, the jet-powered skateboard Air Board, as well as a personal flight system, OpenSky. Since 2010, he has been an associate professor of the Department of Inter Media Art, Tokyo University of the Arts.
On the Web: http://www.petworks.co.jp