It was one man’s mission to illustrate an image, one a day, based on every NES game ever made. Unfortunately, he fell a bit short, but the results are impressive nonetheless.

That man is Aussie artist Campbell Whyte, whose original plan was to create 789 illustrations, ]]>

It was one man’s mission to illustrate an image, one a day, based on every NES game ever made. Unfortunately, he fell a bit short, but the results are impressive nonetheless.

That man is Aussie artist Campbell Whyte, whose original plan was to create 789 illustrations, again one a day, each about every single Nintendo Entertainment System game released in Australia (by the way, in the US, we got 785, in case you were wondering).

But after about a year, Whyte got a book deal, so he had to scrap his project. The above represents everything he was able to crank out, which is 375. Oh, and if you want to purchase one of the drawings, it might be available via his Etsy shop.

Remember that episode of Seinfeld, in which Constanza tries to haul a Frogger arcade cabinet across NYC traffic? Well, someone decided to make a game out of that scenario. Somewhat.

Fifth Avenue Frogger is much like the 80s original, except all the vehicles are patterned after 5th Avenue’s traffic. ]]>

Remember that episode of Seinfeld, in which Constanza tries to haul a Frogger arcade cabinet across NYC traffic? Well, someone decided to make a game out of that scenario. Somewhat.

Fifth Avenue Frogger is much like the 80s original, except all the vehicles are patterned after 5th Avenue’s traffic. Also, you play the game right alongside the street itself.

And that’s because there aren’t any arcade lefts in Manhattan? Nope; it’s basically an attempt to get the Smithsonian’s video exhibit, going on right now.

Which seems somewhat silly since the exhibit itself sucks according to everyone who has gone, so it’s hardly a shock to know that they have no idea what the hell to do with augmented reality updated classic.

Whereas Zelda vs. Jesus is just a book looking for funding via Kickstarter, George Washington vs. Adolf Hitler, on the back of dinosaurs, is just fine art. Very fine art.

The piece you see above is by Jude Buffum, noted pixel pusher in the ]]>

Whereas Zelda vs. Jesus is just a book looking for funding via Kickstarter, George Washington vs. Adolf Hitler, on the back of dinosaurs, is just fine art. Very fine art.

The piece you see above is by Jude Buffum, noted pixel pusher in the world of game inspired fine arts. It’s part of an exhibition that opens tonight at the I Am 8-Bit art gallery, in LA.

Kotaku has other examples, including two additional pieces from Buffum, including Abe Lincoln vs. Wilhelm the 2nd plus Teddy Roosevelt vs Josef Stalin.

Oh, and to further ruin your day, here’s another fake screenshot to a game that doesn’t exist, for a 2D Game of Thrones fighter, as highlighted by Gamefreaks. Enjoy…

Courtesy of outsider art magazine Juxtapoz, bathe yourself in the radiation of this awesome Simpsons mural painted in ravaged Chernobyl. Street artist Combo, who previously rampaged through Paris wheatpasting up murals that combined trenchant political commentary with Disney characters, traveled to the blasted-out ]]>

Courtesy of outsider art magazine Juxtapoz, bathe yourself in the radiation of this awesome Simpsons mural painted in ravaged Chernobyl. Street artist Combo, who previously rampaged through Paris wheatpasting up murals that combined trenchant political commentary with Disney characters, traveled to the blasted-out wasteland of Chernobyl to create art on the walls there. Naturally, he decided to pay tribute to America’s favorite nuclear family with this note-perfect Simpsons piece. The reactor overload in 1986 is still considered to be the worst nuclear accident in history, and the Exclusion Zone around the area is a haunted, bizarre wilderness. I want to go there!

Who are we to argue with such a bold statement, that the Nintendo classic, Super Mario Bros, is history’s greatest example of surrealist craftsmanship? Especially when PBS says so? Okay, someone on their YouTube channel, but still!

As the video above remind us all, and quite effectively, the game ]]>

Who are we to argue with such a bold statement, that the Nintendo classic, Super Mario Bros, is history’s greatest example of surrealist craftsmanship? Especially when PBS says so? Okay, someone on their YouTube channel, but still!

As the video above remind us all, and quite effectively, the game is filled to the brim with batsh*t insanity. Though, truth of the matter of is, many games before it was just the same.

Case in point: what the hell is Pac-Man, and why is he being chased by ghosts, edible ones no less? It’s just simply that Super Mario had so much weirdness AND was so fun to play. The ultra catchy music I believe also played a huge part.

To help promote the Vinyl Thoughts art show (which opens today in Dallas), graffiti artists Edertron Onerski and Kid NES decided to create a Super Mario themed mural. They also dressed up as Wario and Waluigi while doing so, and did a little dancing as well.

G. I. Joe is also part of the package as well, FYI. There’s not much else to say. Like I said, it mixes all the aforementioned elements in a museum quality package.

Via Kotaku…

What I love the most is how the above reminds me ]]>

G. I. Joe is also part of the package as well, FYI. There’s not much else to say. Like I said, it mixes all the aforementioned elements in a museum quality package.

Via Kotaku…

What I love the most is how the above reminds me of the work of Matthew Barney (yes, in addition to liking video games, I’m way into pretentious video art). It just sucks how to see the whole thing, one must literally trek to a museum, in DC. At The Curator’s Office to be exact…

Here’s their description of the entire thing, which is 8 minutes long in total:

The artist is a self-avowed video game fanatic and was highly influenced by video games from his youth, such as Super Mario Brothers and Street Fighter. Monaghan plucks and alters the characters and environments from these games to create a new narrative. Succinctly describing the film, the artist says, “Sacrifice of the Mushroom Kings depicts a lamb and a bull’s journey through my own version of Super Mario’s Mushroom Kingdom. The film combines elements from iconic video games with a myriad of references, such as Wall Street, the Metropolitan Club, Bizet’s Carmen, and hair products. Taking a comparative mythology approach to certain aspects of contemporary culture, the film aims to mediate basic oppositions such as good and evil, life and death, and reality and fantasy.

Well, it still sounds neat to me. It should be noted that the description can applied to virtually 65% of every YouTube clip that is put together by some 11 year old Super Mario lovin’ dork. Which is why I love the art world so much, quite honestly.

Artist Hong Yi specializes in all sorts of “unconventional” art. But, unlike your average performance art-type, she’s actually talented. Check out this video of her painting Chinese icon/former Rockets center Yao Ming with a basketball. It’s amazing.

This girl is crazy talented at painting, but did we really need ]]>

Artist Hong Yi specializes in all sorts of “unconventional” art. But, unlike your average performance art-type, she’s actually talented. Check out this video of her painting Chinese icon/former Rockets center Yao Ming with a basketball. It’s amazing.

This girl is crazy talented at painting, but did we really need the poorly acted intro? She knew what she was doing with that basketball from the get-go. That quick sales pitch from the cameraman did nothing to sway her intentions. Suspicious.

Watch a Girl Use Just a Basketball to Paint a Portrait of Yao Ming [Gizmodo]

Note: When in the presence of a painting valued at $30 million, avoid rubbing your butt and/or peeing on it. If only that were advice were included in the latest Miss Manners column. According to Denver police, 36-year-old Carmen Tisch drunkenly leaned against an iconic Clyfford Still painting, punched it, ]]>

Note: When in the presence of a painting valued at $30 million, avoid rubbing your butt and/or peeing on it. If only that were advice were included in the latest Miss Manners column.

How a urine-and-butt-rubbingless 1957-J-No. 2. would look

Tisch faces charges of criminal mischief for her actions against the “1957-J-No. 2.” painting at the Clyfford Still Museum. Her actions may also leave her liable as the damages to the painting cold cost in the ballpark of $10,000.

Police say Tisch punched and attacked the painting with her pants down. Officials were unclear on what spurred on the attack.

Fortunately for Tisch, her attempt to urinate on the painting failed, leaving that off the list of charges.

Honestly, I don’t know why magazines spend millions of dollars on exclusive celebrity interviews when they could interview a woman like Carmen Tisch for free. I’d much rather know why she decided to drunkenly rub her ass on a random painting than what Casey Anthony is up to. Was she so trashed that she thought the painting called her a jive turkey? Inquiring minds want to know!

Denver woman arrested for punching, damaging $30 million Clyfford Still painting [Denver Post]

Artist draw from their surroundings and experiences, so if Van Gogh was around today, he’d probably be painting Super Mario fire flowers and stuff like that. Maybe.

Much has been said about video games as art, and much of the arguing is rather obnoxious. I personally feel video games can ]]>

Artist draw from their surroundings and experiences, so if Van Gogh was around today, he’d probably be painting Super Mario fire flowers and stuff like that. Maybe.

Much has been said about video games as art, and much of the arguing is rather obnoxious. I personally feel video games can be art, but I can see why someone might feel otherwise, and given that it’s a medium that’s ultimately still in its infancy, I’m confident that all the doubters will feel different once enough time and territory has been covered.

And all the posturing from game academics is at times pathetic. Aside from coming off as people who love to smell their own farts (they love telling other game aficionados that video games are art, who clearly need zero convincing), its often indicative of rather selfish means. The popular defense for those who bring up the subject ad nauseam is “these questions need to be asked!”

Though now it’s coming off like “these questions need to be asked if I want to make sure I still get speaking invitations, along with all the perks that come with such stuff.” BUT ANYWAY, I’m more into artists that are inspired by gaming, which has become quite the trend as of late. Here’s just one, the Old School Video Game Art Show at Gallery 1988 in California…

… Much of it is pretty rad. For a closer look at everything, as well as to purchase a piece, simply hit the gallery’s homepage (which is down for the time being, for whatever reason).

The though the granddaddy of all gaming art throwdowns would have to be iam8bit. Which had another showing recently; here’s a bit from the opening night…

… Too bad there’s no central hub online to take a closer look at everything they had. You’ll have to wait for the official book, which is how they make all their money. Though I have pics from the first two shows on my blog here and here for those that are interested (hopefully my editor won’t mind the cheap plug for my site).

And at the very least, here’s a closer look at assorted Nintendo bad guys brought to life via fabric and Roombas that they had roaming around the gallery from this year…

Will the never-ending (and increasingly boring) “is video games art argument?” finally come to an end? Hopefully the seal of approval from one of the nation’s most respected art institutions says yes, but I somehow doubt it.

First off, let me reiterate how retarded the whole ]]>

Will the never-ending (and increasingly boring) “is video games art argument?” finally come to an end? Hopefully the seal of approval from one of the nation’s most respected art institutions says yes, but I somehow doubt it.

First off, let me reiterate how retarded the whole debate has become. At it’s core it’s a sound question, but pretty much all talk that has stemmed forth is pretty asinine and cringe-worthy. Considering how even fine artists don’t even know what art is, it’s ultimately a pointless debate. Many defend the argument by saying “it’s a question that needs to asked” which in my mind has become “it’s a question that needs to be asked so I can continue to get paid speaking at schools and conventions, plus maybe get a book deal.”

Anyway, coming early next year will be an exhibit that covers 40 years of video games by tapping into 80 different tittles. The key detail here is how they were all chosen by folks online. Hence why the selection seems a bit… well… odd. Here’s the list in its entirety:

1943: The Battle of Midway
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
After Burner
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Bioshock
Boom Blox
Brütal Legend
ChuChu Rocket
Combat
Desert Commander
Diablo II
Donkey Kong
DOOM II
Dune II: Battle for Arrakis
Earthworm Jim
Einhander
Fable
Fallout
Fallout 3
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy VII
flOw
Flower
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Goldeneye 007
Gradius V
Gunstar Heroes
Halo 2
Heavy Rain
Jumpman
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II
Marble Madness
Mass Effect 2
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metroid Prime 2: Echos
Minecraft
Myst
Okami
Pac-Man
Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Phantasy Star
Phantasy Star IV
Pikmin 2
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
Pitfall!
Portal
Rez
Shadow of Colossus
Shenmue
Sid Meier’s Pirates!
SimCity
SimCity 2000
Sonic Adventure
Space Invaders
Spy vs Spy
Star Fox
Star Fox: Assault
Star Strike
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
StarCraft
Super Mario 64
Super Marios Brothers
Super Mario Brothers 3
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario World
The Bard’s Tale III: Thief of Fate
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Walker
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Secret of Monkey Island
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
Tomb Raider
TRON: Maze-Atron
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Utopia
World of Warcraft
Worms Armageddon
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure
Zaxxon

… Oh boy. First off, I love Legend of Zelda and all, but does there really need to be so many entries? I’m also a diehard fan of Panzer Dragoon, and more than two entries is also overkill.

Also, Brutal Legends? Give me a break. And don’t even get me started on Heavy Rain. And just ONE Metroid game? Not even the original or Super? What bullsh*t. And you’ve got Starfox (cool) and Starfox Assault (okay…), yet no Starfox 64. Jesus Christ.

Well, at least Rez and Gunstar Heroes were included. That’s something at least.

The Art of Video Games Voting Results [Smithsonian American Art Museum]

A city in Iowa attempted to bring a degree of class to a local bridge, installing a work of art (see video of it here). Unfortunately, some of the locals hate it, making for some fun back and forths and art bashing.

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A city in Iowa attempted to bring a degree of class to a local bridge, installing a work of art (see video of it here). Unfortunately, some of the locals hate it, making for some fun back and forths and art bashing.

A sculpture project towering over the South 24th Street bridge in Council Bluffs is supposed to be symbolic of man, machine and transformation — a modern relic representative of an area with rich agricultural history.

But some drivers see it as something else.

“It looks like someone just went into the junkyard, grabbed some scrap metal, slapped it all together and called it art,” said Chris Ragle, who drives past the new sculptures on his way to work.

Ragle’s initial interpretation of the bridge art reminded him of a horror movie.

“It looks like Freddy Krueger hands coming down, trying to grab somebody,” Ragle said.

Bridge Sculptures Baffle Drivers [KETV via Fark]

There are so many odd little projects online that people undertake just for fun. Some seem silly, others are clearly transcendent works of art that society just isn’t ready for. You take a guess as to which category this Mario made out of toast falls under.

For literally centuries, people have wondered who the woman in the Mona Lisa actually was. Historians had thought they pinpointed roughly whom the woman might have been. Or so they thought. According to new research, the Mona Lisa might just be a painting of Leonardo da Vinci dressed up like ]]>

For literally centuries, people have wondered who the woman in the Mona Lisa actually was. Historians had thought they pinpointed roughly whom the woman might have been. Or so they thought. According to new research, the Mona Lisa might just be a painting of Leonardo da Vinci dressed up like a woman. Oh, art.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is arguably the most famous portrait in the world, but now some are speculating that the woman with the inscrutable smile may not be a woman after all. They are suggesting that the Mona Lisa may be a self-portrait, da Vinci in drag.

Italy’s National Committee for Cultural Heritage, a leading association of scientists and art historians, is undertaking the investigation. They think the artist who died in 1519 is buried at a French castle and plan to dig up his skull. Using CSI-style technology, they want to rebuild da Vinci’s face. Will he resemble the mysterious Mona Lisa?

We’re all familiar with da Vinci’s love of riddles from a rather successful succession of books and movies.

“He is interested in symbols, he is interested in puzzles, he is interested in keeping things kind of hidden and this idea about the picture sort of relates to that, that is part of this whole mythologizing of Leonardo as someone who is playing tricks, who is always a step ahead of a viewer, and someone who is making you think of his works in a very different way,” [Jason Rosenfeld, associate professor of Art History at Marymount Manhattan College] says.

This wouldn’t really surprise me at all. Not that I had any inside knowledge or anything but I always wondered why people acted like the Mona Lisa was this amazing painting of a beautiful woman and I thought she looked kind of manly and about as cute as a hypodermic needle full of hepatitis C.

Also how creepy is the Mona Lisa if it really is da Vinci painting himself while dressed in drag? Not for nothing, but a man in the 1400s staring in a mirror and painting himself as he fixes his wig and perhaps tucks his genitals into his tunic doesn’t strike me as a major advancement in art.

[ABC News]

This story is pretty shocking, not that it happened, but because it didn’t happen in a crappy Steve Martin movie in which he plays a bumbling French detective. A woman slipped while with her art class in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and her pratfall ended up ripping a chunk ]]>

This story is pretty shocking, not that it happened, but because it didn’t happen in a crappy Steve Martin movie in which he plays a bumbling French detective. A woman slipped while with her art class in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and her pratfall ended up ripping a chunk out of an extremely large, expensive Pablo Picasso painting. Womp womp.

A significant Pablo Picasso painting was damaged after a woman attending art class lost her balance, fell into “The Actor” and tore it, The Metropolitan Museum of Art said.

The unusually large canvas, measuring 77.25 by 45.38 inches (196 by 115 centimeters), sustained a vertical tear of about six inches (15 centimeters) in the lower right-hand corner in the accident on Friday.

The museum, located on the eastern edge of New York’s Central Park, did not elaborate on why the woman fell.

But The Met said the damage did not impact the “focal point of the composition” and that it should be repaired in the coming weeks ahead of a major Picasso retrospective featuring some 250 works at the museum opening on April 27.

Repair work should be “unobtrusive,” it added.

[Yahoo News]

Bugs Bunny and some ancient painting…it’s fat cock day here on the blog, hooray! Though it could be said that with me as your editor, every day is fat cock day. It is rather juicy. Where was I? Oh yeah, some Brazilian art restorer found on a centuries-old painting of ]]>

Bugs Bunny and some ancient painting…it’s fat cock day here on the blog, hooray! Though it could be said that with me as your editor, every day is fat cock day. It is rather juicy. Where was I? Oh yeah, some Brazilian art restorer found on a centuries-old painting of Priapus, Greek god of fertility, that the painting has a big erect penis which was previously painted over.

A Brazilian art restorer has discovered a new layer hidden in a centuries-old painting of the Greek god of fertility Priapus by French artist Nicolas Poussin – the deity’s erect penis.

“They hid the phallus of Priapus. It’s what we call adjustment for modesty, and it’s not uncommon,” said Regina Pinto Moreira, quoted in Tuesday’s edition of the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

She suspects the cover-up was made in conservative Catholic Spain in the 18th century.

It does seem to make more sense why he’d have that creepy smile.

In 18th century conservative Catholic Spain’s defense, who hasn’t hid a creepy old man’s erection at some point in their life? We used to do that at Christmas with my grandfather’s leftover tinsel. Outside of a bumpy ride on Santa Claus’s lap, never has childhood trauma been so heartwarmingly seasonal!

[via]

Ebony Magazine in 1985 released composite photos of what certain celebrities will look like in the FUTUREEEEEE, the year 2000. Here’s their take on Michael Jackson.

Man, being an artist is some kind of racket. I’m not saying that you needed to be able to be ]]>

Ebony Magazine in 1985 released composite photos of what certain celebrities will look like in the FUTUREEEEEE, the year 2000. Here’s their take on Michael Jackson.

Man, being an artist is some kind of racket. I’m not saying that you needed to be able to be a soothsayer and know that Michael Jackson was going to bleach his skin and get tons more work done and end up looking like a sexy Skeletor, but this is lacking in effort a bit. I could age people in the same manner too, just drawing a fake mustache and frown lines on it. I already do the same thing when I do my yearly “What if so and so were Mexican” illustrations. Though they look suspiciously more like they were done in MS Paint with poorly done images of sombreros and tequila cut and pasted in. It’s art, man, it’s subjective.

[via]

Art is totally subjective, but receiving a buttload (lolpuns) of money to study the female derrière seems a bit pointless. Sexy, but pointless.

Bonus…check out the classy comments on the source of this photo.

A CHEEKY artist has been given a £20,000 National ]]>

Art is totally subjective, but receiving a buttload (lolpuns) of money to study the female derrière seems a bit pointless. Sexy, but pointless.

Bonus…check out the classy comments on the source of this photo.

A CHEEKY artist has been given a £20,000 National Lottery grant – to look at girls’ bums.

Sue Williams was given the cash to “explore cultural attitudes towards female buttocks”.

She will create plaster cast moulds of women’s behinds to try to understand their place in contemporary culture.

Swansea-based Mrs Williams, 53, will also examine different racial attitudes towards bums in Europe and Africa. She said: “The project is taking on the issues around the bottom.”

Emma Geliot from the Arts Council of Wales, which awarded the grant, said: “This produces a tee-hee response but there is a serious point.”

Oh there’s a serious point alright…IN MY PANTS. HA! For you see I’m implying that I may have an erection due to the featuring of numerous asses. Jokes are always much funnier when you overexplain them.

I guess there’s probably some validity to studying asses and the sociological implications of them. But I don’t think I’d trust it to some old British lady. If you want an exuberant and thought provoking analysis of the female ass, I’m pretty sure there are countless guys with hidden cameras who’d be more than willing to help you out. They’d probably even pay for it themselves. Then again, they’d quite possibly be too sticky to read. And I don’t think you’d want to lay hands on the plastercast of the asses either. But you should have known what you were getting into when you hired that ass fetish pervert for free then, now shouldn’t you?

[via]

Art is very subjective, but rarely delicious. Fortunately, some heroes in New Jersey are fixing that by turning french fries into sculptures in an annual contest.

Each year on the boardwalk, thousands of french fries are consumed by beachgoers, snatched by seagulls or tossed in the trash at the end ]]>

Art is very subjective, but rarely delicious. Fortunately, some heroes in New Jersey are fixing that by turning french fries into sculptures in an annual contest.

Each year on the boardwalk, thousands of french fries are consumed by beachgoers, snatched by seagulls or tossed in the trash at the end of the day.

But once a year, the truly lucky ones become art.

Entrants in the city’s french fry sculpting contest take paper plates full of deep-fried potatoes and mash them together in previously unimaginable ways to produce oily, high-carb masterpieces.

“Anybody can work in paint or clay,” said Kevin Brown, one of about 150 contestants this year. “But it takes a real artist to work in potatoes.”

[via]

It’s Easter, the one socially acceptable time of year to eat the marshmallow crap that is Peeps. Fortunately some people have made these treats into art. Slutty art. Just how I likes it.

You can find a whole bunch more awesome Peep recreations ]]>

It’s Easter, the one socially acceptable time of year to eat the marshmallow crap that is Peeps. Fortunately some people have made these treats into art. Slutty art. Just how I likes it.

You can find a whole bunch more awesome Peep recreations here. I’m partial to Marion Barry’s arrest, myself.

In related news, I f’ing hate chocolate rabbits and wish they’d all die in a fire. They taste like crap, the chocolate is probably the chocoquivalent of the serfs in a feudal system, and frankly why the f is a bunny Easter’s mascot? Isn’t it because they used to eat rabbits on Easter? And if so, what did the rabbit do to get promoted from “food” to “mascot”? Get naked pictures of Jack Easter, the CEO of Easter? I guess I have a lot of questions even without getting to the issue of Jesus’s zombification.

[whole lot more peepage for you here]