: 80's

Showing posts with label 80's. Show all posts

14.1.08

Rosemarie Fiore

rose.marie.fiore

The following is from an interview with artist Rosemarie Fiore. I saw her work when she did a large scale piece in Kansas City (Where I went to undergrad) involving a tilt-a-whirl. But it is her works about gaming that are of interest to us in the context of this course... Involving her interests in games she comments:

"I am a gamer. It’s in my blood. As a child, I used to follow my brother to the arcades and play all the games. My brother was truly amazing, he could play Galaga for an hour straight on one quarter and still can. I love the rhythm of playing games, the adrenaline rush, the excitement and the flashing lights and sounds of the arcade. I get lost. It’s akin to creating art. It’s a beautiful experience."

"I love the old games because of their simplicity and music. There is an art to making a simple game. I think my favorite game is Asteriods because when I play it, I feel like I am really floating in space."

In regards to these photographic prints she comments:

These photographs are long exposures taken while playing video war games of the 80's created by Atari, Centuri and Taito. The photographs were shot from video game screens while I played the games. By recording each second of an entire game on one frame of film, I captured complex patterns not normally seen by the eye.

9.1.08

Paul B. Davis (Beige)

A founding member of the Beige collective, Paul is a nerd and a gentleman trapped inside the body of a 29-year-old from St. Louis who's lived in London for three years. Like most creative types, he has a range of projects on the go, including some Vice-related music bits. He also teaches Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, London. Did you know he once released a record called "Enter The Mystical Faggot"?

Vice: When you get up in the morning, how do you decide whether to do art or music?
Paul: Usually I get worried about which one I'm sucking at. I worry that I do too many things not that well, rather than doing one thing really well, which is easier for a career. So I guess it depends if I need to finish a music project or if I have an idea for an art piece, then I'll do that. It's best when the two come together.

Like with your acclaimed album, The 8-Bit Construction Set?
Exactly. With The 8-Bit Construction Set I was able to merge conceptual stuff with a usable tool because there were weird art bits on the record. So I'd get emails back from DJs saying it's great – Mixmaster Mike was playing it – and then I'd get an email from a museum saying they wanted to exhibit it. In terms of the art/music thing, that did both.

Sounds smart. Where did you go study?
I went to Oberlin in Ohio. Basically all the people that I still collaborate with now went there. Two of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were in my class, Brian and Karen. I saw Brian last time I was in Chicago and he showed me his tour bus and he was excited because the previous group that had used that bus was Journey.

Video art and computer art – what's the difference?
The market for video art is 20 years ahead in terms of artist recognition and sales. When we were exhibiting our first shows, if we said it was new media art or computer art, no one cared. But if we called it video art, using the computer game as a readymade, then they'd love it.

What's with the B?
The B stands for Benjamin. There are so many Paul Davises and the B is for Google searches.

video interview:

text based interview via VICE

8.1.08

Retro Gaming Makes a Comeback... In the Low Budget Documentary Scene At Least...

These are 3 newer documentaries about the retro gaming scene. I only had the opportunity to see the King of Kong, which, came out this Summer. Depending on how we’re doing on time later on in the course, we will be checking it out after its release on the 29th of this month.

King of Kong: