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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited:
Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited and Weta Workshop Limited are pleased to jointly present Hong Kong's first Dr Grordbort's Exceptional Exhibition, which will be open to the public free of charge from now to May 2010 at The Arcade, Cyberport. Over 150 pieces of artworks will be showcased.
The exhibition will feature the fictitious universe of Dr Grordbort's with a collection of art paintings, sculptures and Raygun props, specially designed and created by Weta Workshop Artist and Designer Mr Greg Broadmore. The exhibition is fusing pop culture of a bygone era that never happened before, with the innovative imaginations of an amusing artist, to evoke a sense of wonderment, humour and fun for all to enjoy.
Mr Broadmore was the lead conceptual designer on the film District 9, and has also worked on many other Hollywood blockbusters such as King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, Black Sheep and I, Robot, etc. Mr Broadmore created and designed the Dr Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators, which have been developed as an original line of art collectibles. The Rayguns: Dr Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators are a line of 1:1 scale antique styled, sci-fi hand weapon props. With charming, 1900s contraption styling and finish, the rayguns evoke the nostalgia of a lost age of exploration and discovery.
"As a Creative Digital Community of Hong Kong, Cyberport always wants to bring the newest and the best creative ideas to inspire local industry practitioners," said the Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, Mr Herman Lam.
"It is indeed Cyberport's great pleasure to work together with Weta - a cutting-edge visual effects company from New Zealand which has always dedicated their efforts to producing works of the highest standards. I am sure there is something that the local industry and the general public can learn through the appreciation of the artworks made by Greg at the exhibition," Mr Lam added.
Dr Grordbort's universe began as a series of nine acrylic paintings of rayguns that Mr Broadmore created in his spare time while working on King Kong. Dr Grordbort and his universe was the product of Mr Broadmore's lifetime love of science fiction. As a new venture opportunity for Weta Workshop, its CEO Mr Richard Taylor and Mr Broadmore decided to transform the paintings into art objects or collectibles. At present, the Dr Grordbort's series comprises of two books published by Dark Horse Comics, several raygun collectibles, hundreds of illustrations, digital paintings and sculptures, and the potential of a motion picture in the near future.
"We are very excited to be able to bring our exhibition to Cyberport. We see this as the best place in Hong Kong to launch the exhibition since Cyberport is the city's Creative Digital Community. Our relationship with Cyberport has always been quite close and this has given Weta a chance to know the Hong Kong public better. We hope the exhibition will be able to inspire creativity and encourage people to pursue their passion for digital entertainment," said Mr Richard Taylor.
On top of the exhibition, Asia's first official Weta Collectibles Shop now opens in Cyberport. The shop sells limited edition of fine art collectibles and merchandises by the Academy Award-winning Weta artists, including items from blockbusters, such as The Lord of the Rings, District 9, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Dr Grordbort's Rayguns, etc.
Furthermore, a global online design competition organised by renowned New Zealand cloud computing giant, InterGrid, Dr Grordbort's Venusian Characters Design Competition, launches today in association with the Exhibition. Supported by Cyberport's world-class digital environment, the spectacular competition targets to attract two million contestants from around the world through the web interface developed by Frenzoo Limited, a successful Cyberport IncuTrain Programme graduate.
The grand prize winner will be awarded a trip to New Zealand to meet Mr Richard Taylor and the award-winning team at Weta Workshop, plus a variety of Dr Grordbort's merchandises will be provided by Weta as other prizes.
Last but not the least, Cyberport is planning to hold a charity auction whereby selected items will be placed online for bidding. All proceeds from the auction will go to Habitat for Humanity China in support of the Sichuan earthquake project. This is to echo with Weta's support for the Sichuan earthquake through their exhibition held at the Sichuan Provincial Museum in Chengdu, China in December last year.
For more information, please visit: exhibition.cyberport.hk.
Ends/Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:12
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