Anjin 1600 - David Blandy
25 January 2013

​MOCA London will screen Blandy's animation ANJIN 1600: Episode 1, based on the real life journey of British explorer William Adams who is credited as being the first Englishman to arrive in Japan, landing in 1600 and dubbed by the locals as Anjin. In Blandy's version, a mix of Manga, Star Wars and boys own adventure stories, the lead character Anjin even has a striking resemblance to the artist, down to his black rimmed glasses. Blandy "reimagines William Adam's journey to, and his time in, Japan as an epic space adventure. Fusing 16th century history, Homer's Odyssey and anime plot devices, Anjin 1600 results in a complex meditation on cultural tourism and identity."

MOCA London will also show Blandy's film at the London Art Fair, at the Business Design Centre in Islington, from 16-20 January, as part of the SUBLET project organized by ASLIN (Artist-Led Initiatives Support Network - www.alisn.org) where they are renting a stall and subletting it to other organizations.
Blandy will also be showing his Mobile Suit Academy, an exhibition of new work at Peckham Space (Camberwell College of Arts, 89 Peckham High Street, London SE15 5RS) where he will transform the gallery into a futuristic environment evoking the interior of a star ship travelling through distant galaxies (January18 - March, 24). Mobile Suits is a term used in Manga referring to the large wearable exoskeletons worn by characters on epic adventures.
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ANJIN 1600: Episode 1 (2012) 9 mins 48 secs (Edition of 5)
Director and Producer David Blandy
Illustration Inko
Artistic Supervision
Claire Barrett
Voice of Anjin James A. Holland & Aymeric Forgit
Voice of Oracle Gemma Cuthbert
Narrator/Shogun Hiroki Takahashi
Translation and Casting Inko
Music Direction James A. Holland
With thanks to Exeter Phoenix, Animate Projects and Arts Council England
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www.davidblandy.co.uk

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