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by Michelle Forshner
August, 2006
Hitler never saw it coming. The
four-picture progression cleverly relives the epic ending of Bionic
Commando when Master-D (we all know it was Hitler) is destroyed.
Ah, what a moment-- now preserved eternally in all its 8-bit splendor. |
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8 Bit
Justice |
Mastermind of pixilated pop art,
Chris Olan AKA 8-Bit Artist, has made a name for himself in the
realm of video game-inspired art. COIN-OP TV and RetroBlast take
an inside look at Olan’s talents and inspiration. |
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How long have you been pursuing art, and how did you develop this
unique style?
“I’ve been painting for a little over a year now. My
birthday was coming up, and my friend, an artist, asked me what
I wanted. I told her I wanted a Mega Man piece done, but unfortunately,
she got busy and couldn’t do it for me. I wanted the piece
so much, I just decided to do it myself. I fell in love with how
the sprite came out using just paints. After that, it is all I ever
wanted to paint.”
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What motivates you to paint?
“My inspiration is of course both the NES and my childhood.
I have such fond memories of it growing up. The wonderful and colorful
characters of the NES is what really influenced my painting. I love
capturing a moment of a game on canvas and having people get taken
back to that time when they didn’t have a care in the world
and their biggest worry was trying to save the princess.”
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How would you describe your style?
“I've had people call my art lots of things: Pixelism, Pop
Art, Neo-Dada Art and of course, Crap. I guess one could call it
Pop Art since the NES is a pop icon, but I don't worry about a certain
style or anything. If someone came up to me and asked me what I
painted, I just smile and say, ‘I paint squares.’"
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Do you think the relationship between art and video games will develop
further in the future?
“Absolutely. No matter how cool the gameplay or how well the
game is done, if you don't have cool stuff to look at or have characters
that don't stick in your head the game won't be as successful as
it can be. The early NES games like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus;
they had such memorable characters, scenes, backgrounds, etc. It
just enhanced the experience and that won't ever leave video games.”
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Do you think retro gaming and style is making a comeback? Is it
gaining popularity?
“I think retro gaming is making a comeback, I mean, just look
at all the different type of Nintendo shirts Hot Topic has! It has
steadily been gaining popularity for while, although it is tough
to say exactly why. My personal reason would be that games nowadays
are much too complicated. I don't want to pop in Madden 2006 and
be the QB and have to control my head, set my feet, and make sure
I don't over throw and stuff like that or else my throw won’t
be completed. I think it takes the fun out of it. I want to play
Tecmo Bowl, be Bo Jackson and just have 25 rushing TD's in one game.”
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