#1 Los Angeles, USA

Mechanical Flipbook artists Wendy Marvel and Mark Arnon Rosen hosted the event “HANDCRAFT FlipBooks”, an exhibit of new works, hands on workshops, and a retrospective into their creative process.

Over 200 guests attended the festive one-night event at 800 Main, a five story 12,000 foot venue in Venice, California. The Artists team showcased 7 new pieces that were constructed from flipbooks built into aged and obsolete aerospace hardware. All of the artists' new works were created with the recently released Leica T camera, provided by Leica.

Guests of all ages were encouraged to participate as over 25 volunteers guided them through two workshops. The "Flipbook Workshop" enabled participants to construct their own “FlipBooKits”, a DIY miniature movie machine (the consumer version created from Mark and Wendy’s original art concept.)

The “Whirligig Kinetoscope” was a special video/photo booth where guests starred in their own custom flipbook animation. Props and costumes were provided, inviting guests to transform themselves into a giant octopus, a large headed woodpecker, or a big-bad wolf riding a tricycle. The resulting animations were transformed into flipbook art using special FlipBooKit software and printed on site by the tech-artist volunteers.

Other entertainment included:

• Live Band "Ooks of Hazard” (7 Ukeleles, an Accordion, and a Box).
• Nitro-Pop (super-frozen novelty popcorn that creates the illusion of breathing smoke like a dragon).
• “Cake-walks” - similar to musical chairs, guests were invited to hold hands and walk around a circle with 1-24 numbers on the floor.
  When the band stopped playing, the participant standing on the number that was called out won a cake.
  15 cakes were given to the lucky winners throughout the evening.
• Charity - Proceeds from FlipBooKit sales helped raise over $1000 in donations to “CRASHSPACE” a local community educational organization.

A grand time was had by all at the very joyful and creative event.