The Future of Gaming

I just got back from a fun-filled trip to LA for some pre-E3 festivities, including the opening of The Future of Gaming exhibit at iam8bit. Gallery owners Jon M. Gibson and Amanda White teamed up industry luminaries with renowned artist to conceptualize what the future of video games might look like. There’s a great write up about the show here.

I was teamed up with Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning, whose quote really aligned with my own musings on where this technology could be headed:

“You are the game of the future, where every bit of energy exerted thru your digital daily life will be captured toward more real world incentives,” Lanning predicted. “Each beat of our heart, calorie we eat, footstep we make, and mile gained thru our day will be captured, converted, and gamified into cost saving incentives that just ‘can’t be beat.’ Our decreasing privacies increasingly offered as the willing sacrifices made at the altar of savings, incentives, and reward points. Three billion years of progress will have finally evolved us into the hairless walking coupon.”

The Hairless Walking Coupon

I really just wanted to capture the overwhelming system shock of the world that Lorne anticipates, with every movement and action inside and outside of the game world being captured and quantified. Whether it’s defeating a Level 99 dragon or eating a Burger King Whopper, everything we do will be watched, recorded, and rewarded.

Other luminaries who lent their theories to the exhibit include Megaman creator Keiji Inafune, Tim Schafer who created the Secret of Monkey Island, and video game jack-of-all-trades-and-master-of-most-of-them Seamus Blackley.

The exhibit runs through June 22nd at iam8bit’s Echo Park headquarters at 2147 Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles, CA.

Harold and Maude

I could talk for hours about “Harold and Maude”, the 1971 dark comedy about one of the most unlikely romances in cinema. It’s about embracing death to get the most out of life, and embracing life to get the most out of death. It’s about choices; living in the world prescribed for you by society, or forging your own, consequences be damned. Ultimately it’s about choosing to somersault, or to suicide. It’s one of those films you just have to see to believe, and if you haven’t watched it, you should go do so right now!
I created this piece, “Somersault Suicide”, as an exploration of those choices that Harold faces. I rarely center my figures in a composition, but for this one it seemed conceptually appropriate to highlight the two worlds he straddles as he searches for the secret to living.

“Somersault Suicide”, 2014

You can buy a print here (or a pillow if Bud Cort’s creepy visage is your idea of home decor)!

Bacon Number

Gallery1988 has been one of my biggest supporters over the years, and I couldn’t be happier to be on the roster for their 10 Year Anniversary Show, The Subtle Art of Pop Culture. For my contribution, I tried to think of something that would literally connect to all aspects of pop culture, and I was reminded of the popular parlor game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. In case you’ve lived under a rock for the last twenty years, the point of the game is to pick an actor and connect them to Kevin Bacon in six moves or less, using movies they have appeared in with other actors. The amount of steps it takes is their “Bacon Number”.

“Bacon Number” – Giclee print on canvas – 19-5/8″ x 15-5/8″ – S/N Edition of 10

What many people don’t realize is that the challenging part of this game isn’t connecting an actor in under six moves, it’s finding an actor that can only be done in OVER three moves. Everyone is so connected that most actors, living or dead, can be connected to Kevin Bacon in only one or two moves. In all my experiments, I could only find one person that took four full moves to get to and, HINT, he’s a former US President.
I even extended the game to non-human characters and could usually connect them to Kevin Bacon in only 2 moves (Kevin Bacon was in “Apollo 13” with Tom Hanks, who was in “Castaway” with Wilson the Volleyball).
See if you can figure out everyone, and leave a comment if you do!

The Subtle Art of Pop-Culture:
Gallery1988’s 10 Year Anniversary Show
Opening Reception: Friday, April 11th, 7–10pm
(on display through April 26th, 2014)
Gallery1988 (West)
7308 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
@gallery1988 / gallery1988.com

Who’s the Boss?

For Gallery 1988‘s upcoming show “We Made Them Do It” artists were asked to focus on a “guilty pleasure” in the realm of pop-culture. The exhibition aims to be a commentary on the oversaturation of pop-culture themed art shows that Gallery 1988 themselves pioneered so many years ago. I’ve always had a huge bro-crush on Tony Danza, and loved the sitcom “Who’s the Boss?” growing up, for it’s humorous challenge of gender stereotypes. I imagined Tony taking on every Nintendo boss ever to prove, once and for all, Who’s the Boss. And appropriately, despite all these other pop-culture-gallery-wannabes, Gallery 1988 is still, also, THE BOSS.

We Made Them Do It
Opening Friday, July 26th 7-10pm
(on display through August 15th, 2013)

Gallery 1988 (WEST)
7308 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Tribe Magazine 16 Interview

The latest issue of Tribe magazine (Issue 16) features an interview with yours truly, starting on page 12. After May 28th, 2013, you may need to click this link instead.

Not Penny’s Boat

For Gallery 1988‘s upcoming “The Official Bad Robot Experience”, they asked artists to contribute work inspired by the films and television shows produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions. I have to admit I was a pretty big LOST nerd; it was probably the last show I ever watched when it actually aired each week. I chose to illustrate what many fans would agree is probably the most heart-wrenching scene in the entire six years of the series. If you haven’t watched the show, I won’t say anymore as to not spoil it entirely.

Not Penny’s Boat
Giclee print on canvas  •  19.75″ x 9″  •  S/N Edition of 25

The Official Bad Robot Art Experience
April 26 – May 18, 2013

Opening Reception: Friday, April 26th, 7-10PM

Gallery 1988 West
7308 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Hours: Wed – Sun: 11AM – 6PM
Monday & Tuesday: Closed
(323)937-7088

Legends of the Hidden Temple

This Friday, April 19th, is the opening reception for iam8bit‘s exhibition “It’s the ShizNick!”, remembering the good ol’ days of the network (Nickelodeon) that ruled our youth. For my contribution I decided to go a little more obscure and focus on the Jeopardy-meets-Indiana-Jones gameshow “Legends of the Hidden Temple”. The show had sort of a real-life video game feel to it anyway, so it was a natural fit for my 8-bit illustration style.

Olmec Coming!
Giclee print on canvas  •  19.75″ x 9″  •  S/N Edition of 25

The opening reception will feature (in addition to art by over 60 artists):
Live tunes by DJ Lance (from Yo Gabba Gabba!)
A very cool photo playset (hmm…)
25 ft wide “Animated GIF Theatre”
And of course… SLIME!

It’s the ShizNick!
Remembering the Good Ol’ Days of the Network that Ruled Our Youth!
April 19th–May 5th, 2013

Opening Reception: Friday, April 19th, 2013, 7–11pm
iam8bit
2147 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Janet Reno’s Dance Dance Party

For Gallery 1988‘s second annual “Is This Thing On?” exhibition, they asked artists to pay tribute to long-running sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. Though I’m more a fan of the early years, I really enjoyed the more recent “Janet Reno’s Dance Party” sketch with Will Ferrell and, in one episode, the former Attorney General herself. For my contribution, I imagined their epic dance-off as a DDR-style video game.

Janet Reno’s Dance Dance Party
Giclee print on canvas  •  19.75″ x 9″  •  S/N Edition of 25

Is This Thing On #2 Too: A Tribute to SNL
March 29th–April 20th, 2013
Gallery 1988: West
7308 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Press Paws

Press Paws is a charity art show I recently contributed to, taking place on February 9th at Gallery Nucleus. The theme is “Saving Animals with Art and Video Games”, and all proceeds raised at the event go to What’s Up Dog! LA, a volunteer animal rescue.

For my contribution, instead of picking an existing “pet” from a video game, I decided to combine my favorite dog breed (Boston Terrier) with one of my favorite games growing up, Double Dragon. When I was younger, I always thought the villain Abobo looked kind of like a Rottweiler…

Double Doggin’
Giclee print on canvas / 15.75″ x 11.75″ / Edition of 25

Hitman Trilogy

I recently had the pleasure of working on a piece of tribute art for the upcoming Square Enix Hitman Trilogy. If you’re unfamiliar with the Hitman video games, you play as Agent 47, an infallible assassin-for-hire who must eliminate his targets using clever methods to avoid detection. The Hitman Trilogy boxed set will come with the first 3 games, remastered in HD, and an exclusive “art book” featuring 22 pieces of never before seen reinterpretations of classic moments from the those games. I was asked to illustrate the Anathema mission, in which you must assassinate Don Guillani, a Sicilian Mafia boss. As he is an avid golfer, one of the ways you can dispose of him without raising the alarms that a gunshot would, is to use his own golf club to do the deed.

The Hitman Trilogy HD will be released on January 29, 2013 for Playstation 3 and XBox 360.