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.
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
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
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
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.
Opening Tuesday, December 4th, Gallery 1988 presents A Tribute to Judd Apatow, an art show inspired by the comedic producer. Best of all, Judd will be hosting the event, and if you’re able to attend (RSVP at gallery1988melrose@gmail.com) you might just see some other familiar faces.
For my contribution, I chose the infamous dodgeball scene from Freaks and Geeks. Sometimes I’ll try and reference specific games and/or genres in my work. When I decided to illustrate Freaks and Geeks, I tried to think if there were any games from the 80s that had to do with high school and bullies, since that’s an integral part of the show. I kept coming back to River City Ransom for the NES, and when I realized the same company, using the same graphic style, made the game Super Dodge Ball, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
“Smear Weir” Giclee print on canvas • 19.75″ x 9″ • S/N Edition of 25
A Tribute to Judd Apatow
December 4–30, 2012
Opening Reception:
Tuesday, December 4th, 7–10pm
Hosted by Judd Apatow
Awhile back I was commissioned to do some illustration work for a rather peculiar video game for the SONY Vita called Frobisher Says. The brainchild of Richard Hogg and indie developer Honeyslug, Frobisher Says involves playing through a fast-paced sequence of minigames at the command of the titular character. It’s hard to explain, so I suggest watching the appropriately bizarre commercial for the game here:
The first one involves running through Frobisher’s Mansion and finding friends from your Playstation network and leading them to Frobisher’s hot tub.
The second one is a slot machine game, with an unusual twist… I won’t spoil it for you!
The last one, my favorite, is called “Stir My Soups”, and involves rotating the thumb joysticks in the required (usually alternate) direction as Frobisher’s crazy eyes spin around and around.
The game was originally only available in Europe, but I just found out it will be available in the US as of October 23rd! And best of all, it’s free! So if you have a Vita, make sure to grab your free copy.
“Welcome folks to another episode of Jurassic President, the reality combat game show of the FUTURE, pitting contestants from the PAST, in a battle for the PRESENT. Where the greatest men that ever lived, former Presidents of these United Corporations of AmeriCo™, battle the most evil leaders throughout history. Using the most dangerous weapon known to man… DINOSAURS!!!”
Jurassic President, Episode 1 – American History Rex
For the upcoming show, So You Created a Wormhole, a time travel-themed art show at i am 8bit, I created a short story called “Jurassic President” along with a series of art works to illustrate it.
Jurassic President, Episode 16 – High Score and Seven Years Ago
Jurassic President, Episode 26 – Stalin For Time
This show is in conjunction with the release of “So You Created a Wormhole: The Time Traveler’s Guide to Time Travel” by Phil Hornshaw and Nick Hurwitch, and will run from April 13th to the 29th.
So You Created a Wormhole
Opening reception Friday, April 13th
7pm to 11pm i am 8bit gallery
2147 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Two illustrations I did were among those Chosen for American Illustration 31. The first piece was for an article called “A Memory of Webs Past” about a web crawler that is archiving the entire Internet. It was art directed by Michael Solita and Mark Montgomery at IEEE Spectrum Magazine.
The second piece was for an article called “The Bicycle Diaries”, a writer’s attempt to (just barely) survive bicycling to work in Philadelphia. It was art directed by Jesse Southerland at Philadelphia Magazine.
I have a piece in Giant Robot’s “Diversions” exhibition, currently on display at GR2. It’s called “Hylia Macrocosmica”, and it was inspired by the work of Jacob Boehme and others who created mystical, alchemical diagrams in the 1600s. At almost 20″ square, it’s one of the largest pieces I’ve done.
Jude Buffum 