Pop Culture Through The Lens Of Nostalgia: The Evolution Of 8-Bit Art

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Beginning with early Atari and Nintendo video games, the 8-bit aesthetic has been a part of our culture for over 30 years. As it moved through the generations, 8-bit earned its independence from its video game roots.

Is it really nostalgia if the creators of the 8-bit work didn’t originally experience what we are supposed to be feeling nostalgic about? That’s what comes to mind as I watch PBS Off Book latest episode: The Evolution of 8-Bit Art. 

Beginning with early Atari and Nintendo video games, the 8-bit aesthetic has been a part of our culture for over 30 years. As it moved through the generations, 8-bit earned its independence from its video game roots. The idea of 8-bit now stands for a refreshing level of simplicity and minimalism, is capable of sonic and visual beauty, and points to the layer of technology that suffuses our modern lives. No longer just nostalgia art, contemporary 8-bit artists and chiptunes musicians have elevated the form to new levels of creativity and cultural reflection.

For complete credits visit (and subscribe to) the PBS Off Book YouTube channel. 

Previously:

Tattoos: Pop Portraits, Japanese Traditional, American Eclectic
Art In The Era Of The Internet: The Impact Of Kickstarter, Creative Commons & Creators Project
Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium
Off Book Series One: The Complete Series

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

The Vast World Of Lego Art

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LEGO blocks are one of the most beloved toys in the world, playing a role in many a person's childhood. But for some creators, LEGO has evolved from toy to art form. In this episode, we talk to three LEGO artists who have made beautiful mosaics, amazing stop-motion videos, thoughtful sculptures, and have turned these tiny building blocks into a true artistic medium.

I love LEGO, the games, the fantastic advertising campaigns, and of course all the various kits. Enough LEGO pieces have been created to total about 62 for every person on earth. And some of those pieces are being used to create art. 

LEGO blocks are one of the most beloved toys in the world, playing a role in many a person’s childhood. But for some creators, LEGO has evolved from toy to art form. In this episode, PBS’ Off Book talks to three LEGO artists who have made beautiful mosaics, amazing stop-motion videos, thoughtful sculptures, and have turned these tiny building blocks into a true artistic medium.

Featuring: 

Sean Kenney
Alex Kobbs
Nathan Sawaya

Previously:

Tattoos: Pop Portraits, Japanese Traditional, American Eclectic
Art In The Era Of The Internet: The Impact Of Kickstarter, Creative Commons & Creators Project
Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium
Off Book Series One: The Complete Series

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

Three Points Of View On Fandom, Fan Fiction & Fan Art

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Clive Thompson on the Importance of Fan Fiction, Wired.com

Paracosms are the fantasy worlds that many dreamy, imaginative kids like to invent when they’re young. Some of history’s most creative adults had engaged in “worldplay” as children. The Brontë siblings, in one famous example, concocted paracosms so elaborate that they documented them with meticulous maps, drawings, and hundreds of pages of encyclopedic writing.

It now appears that, like the Brontës, kids who engage in paracosmic play are more likely to be creative as adults. In 2002 researchers Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein conducted an elegant study. They polled recipients of MacArthur genius grants — which reward those who’ve been particularly creative in areas as diverse as law, chemistry, and architecture — to see if they’d created paracosms as children. Amazingly, the MacArthur fellows were twice as likely as “normal” nongeniuses to have done so. Some fields were particularly rife with worldplayers: Fully 46 percent of the recipients polled in the social sciences had created paracosms in their youth.

Why would worldplay make you more creative in your career? Probably because, as the Root-Bernsteins point out, it requires practical creativity. Fleshing out a universe demands not just imagination but an attention to detail, consistency, rule sets, and logic. You have to grapple with constraints — just as when you’re problem-solving at work.

Damien Walter: Fandom matters, the guardian.co.uk

It is the emerging culture of fandom, empowered by the internet and social media, that explains the phenomenal success of crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter. The platform’s most high profile success stories – The Order of the Stick’s $1m fundraiser, for example – tell only a part of the story. More informative perhaps is author Chuck Wendig, who raised just under $7,000 for the latest instalment in his Atlanta Burns series through crowdfunding. Wendig isn’t a superstar (yet) and doesn’t have a huge established readership (also yet). But what he has gained is the warm regard of a fandom through his Terribleminds blog. Every fan who buys a piece of Wendig gets to feel a real sense of ownership, far more than if they had just walked into a shop and paid for the book itself. In a very real sense Kickstarter makes fans as important as creators, because it is the fans who directly empower the artist to make the art.

Fan Art: An Explosion of Creativity, PBS Off Book

The fan art community is one of the most creative and active online. Taking pop culture stories and icons as its starting point, the fan community extends those characters into new adventures, unexpected relationships, bizarre remixes, and even as the source material for beautiful art.

“A lot of people who are into fan art are very talented, and I think one of the appealing parts is that it gives you motivation to perfect your craft of either writing or drawing if there’s an audience for it.” - Brad O’Farrell
The fan art community is one of the most creative and active online. Taking pop culture stories and icons as its starting point, the fan community extends those characters into new adventures, unexpected relationships, bizarre remixes, and even as the source material for beautiful art. Limited only by the imagination of the artist, the fan art world is full of surprises and brilliance.


Featuring:

Brad O’Farrell
Adam Juresko
Jonah Block
Sam Spratt
Fred Seibert

 

Previously:

Tattoos: Pop Portraits, Japanese Traditional, American Eclectic
Art In The Era Of The Internet: The Impact Of Kickstarter, Creative Commons & Creators Project
Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium
Off Book Series One: The Complete Series

 

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

Creative Collaboration Lessons From A NY City Ballet Pas De Deux

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I discovered the work of filmmaker Galen Summer earlier this week and amongst his works I found this gem: a Pas De Deux as seen from the dancer’s perspective, filmed on stage at the New York City Ballet. 

A Pas De Deux as seen from the dancer's perspective. Filmed on stage at the New York City Ballet. Director + Editor: Galen Summer Producer: Kristin Sloan Director of Photography: Hillary Spera Sound Mixer: Guillermo Pena Tapia www.unionhz.tv www.galensummer.com

Director + Editor: Galen Summer
Producer: Kristin Sloan
Director of Photography: Hillary Spera
Sound Mixer: Guillermo Pena Tapia
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, , , ,

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

Is Instagram the Best Thing to Ever Happen to Photography?

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I’ve never been one to feel compelled to take photographs. I am amazed at how many people experience life by looking at things through their phones. Even though I completely understand the lure of ‘the second screen’ my aversion probably comes from spending so many years trying to convince people to experience the arts and find myself now at concerts or plays with people trying to take pictures instead of being engaged. People work very hard at capturing the moment rather than having the moment. 

Having said that, eventually I too was seduced by Instagram. It started when I saw what some of my friends and colleagues were doing with it, some of them artists and some not, but all every now and then capturing really engaging photographs. So I joined the service simply to see what my friends were doing. But since it was there I found myself also taking photographs. Thinking about it now I realize that in my case it is not about taking good or funny pictures, but for me it is instead a really quick way to document something that has given me pause during my day to day. Things that made me stop during my perpetual daily rush now get photographed instead of documented in a notebook, which is easier and faster. 

Instagram had interesting origins, and was sold for a ton of money to Facebook, but is it the best thing to happen to photography? The wonderful folks at PBS Idea Channel make the case in their latest episode. What do you think?

With its ability to make boring cellphone photos look "vintage" and "artsy", Instagram has exploded worldwide. Derided by its detractors as a tool for making bad photos worse, we take an alternate view and argue that Instagram is the greatest thing to ever happen to photography.

With its ability to make boring cellphone photos look “vintage” and “artsy”, Instagram has exploded worldwide. Derided by its detractors as a tool for making bad photos worse, we take an alternate view and argue that Instagram is the greatest thing to ever happen to photography. Its simple filters and social networking features are training cellphone photographers everywhere to think creatively about their photos. Plus, the app is turning its worldwide user base into an army of photojournalists capturing striking images of the people and events around them. As the old photography adage goes, “The best camera is the one you have with you.”

Hosted by Mike Rugnetta
Made by Kornhaber Brown 

Previously on the Idea Channel:

Is “Texts From Hillary” Art?
Authenticity In Pop Music: Computer Generated Miku Hatsune vs. Marketing Generated Lana Del Rey
Super Mario Brothers Is The World’s Greatest Piece Of Surrealist Art

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.