On August 7th, the Autumn Society of Philadelphia will be hosting its first video game themed show, entitled "8-Bit and Beyond." Over 50 area artists will be presenting gaming themed art, from classic 80's titles to much more recent entries. In the time leading up to the show, we'll be presenting a few selections and conducting short interviews with the artists, getting a better look at what gaming fans have to look forward to. This week, we talk to Mike Wohlberg and Andrea Tallone about their pieces, "No Gods or Kings. Only Man." and "It's Mega Man!".

                                    

Give a little introduction to yourself.

My name is Mike Wohlberg, I go by the name theFATkid! Illustration, or tFk! for short. I currently live in Philadelphia and pass the time by doing art for various metal and hardcore bands, booking concerts in the Philadelphia area, and generally living the lifestyle of a metal junkie. I'm a graduate of the University of the Arts Digital Illustration program and have since immersed myself in the process. Despite what anyone tells you, I am fat. (www.thefatkidillustration.com)

What is the name of your piece and what medium was it done in?

My piece is named "No Gods or Kings. Only Man." based on the game BioShock. The lineart was done in pencil and the splatters and brush strokes were created using a sumi-e brush and india ink. The pencils and ink splatter/brushstrokes were scanned into Photoshop and compiled into the final image. The final product will be a 2 color screen print using black and gold ink on black paper at 11" x 17".

Why did you choose the game you did for this piece?

I first heard about BioShock in the mainstream media when conservative groups and angry parents heard about the "harvesting" aspect of the game, wherein little girls in the environment contain a substance called "Eve" and the character has to decide whether to save the girl for a portion of Eve or kill her for a greater amount. I was curious as to what the gameplay mechanic was about, so I did a little research into the basics of the game. Once I saw the look of this game I immediately couldn't have cared less about the controversy. The game was absolutely beautiful! I had seen steampunk art before, but for some reason I feel that BioShock managed to pull it off without giving it a silly, overly fantastical gloss. Everything was ugly in the best possible way. I picked up a copy of the game expecting a pretty distraction, but when I came to the opening sequence in which the character enters a tower on an island and sees a giant banner saying "No Gods or Kings. Only Man." I was immediately hooked. The game was intelligent and unique and really rekindled my interest in gaming, more specifically action and survival horror games.

Did you play games growing up?

Absolutely. My parents brought home an NES when I was about 5 or 6, but back then I wasn't all that good. I was more interested in games that had interesting characters like Mega Man or games that had great concept art like Super Mario Bros. 3. Years later I got a SNES and was drawn more to games like Earthworm Jim and Clayfighters simply because of the atypical art and subject matter. I eventually became (slightly) better at playing games, but still find myself more intrigued by unique concepts.

Are you playing any video games right now?

I don't really get much time away from the computer, but recently I've found myself getting through Resident Evil 5 and Prototype. I have a GameFly account that goes mainly unused, but if I hear about something that piques my interest, I'm sure to at least give it a try. Whenever I can I team up with good friends Sam Heimer (www.samheimer.com) and Anthony Pedro (www.anthonypedro.com) and plow through hordes of Locust in Gears of War. They're the only dudes I want watching my back in that game.

Were there any other games/compositions you considered?

When I first heard about this show, I went to my games collection and grabbed three titles: BioShock, Silent Hill 2, and Condemned. Silent Hill 2 is an amazing game that appealed to my grimy aesthetic and the horror sequences were legitimately cerebral and subtle. Taking the focus away from gameplay made it far more immersive and creepy. Condemned was a serious contender. I feel it's one of the most underrated games for the XBox 360 that follows in the footsteps of Silent Hill's isolationist horror, albeit in a first person shooter bang bang shoot 'em up fashion. Ultimately BioShock won out because the phrase "No Gods..." is an insanely loaded statement and played far more to my aesthetics and interests.

Do you think that games can be seen as art? Why?

Most definitely! Quite literally the night before answering these questions I found myself watching an episode of The Henry Rollins Show and heard a monologue about how he considers games to be a waste of time and sees them as a government conspiracy to train youth to be better soldiers in times of military conscription. He then went on to interview John Waters and verbally fellate him about his movies and contributions to art. What then constitutes art? The argument could be made that nothing more or less is gained from watching a movie or seeing a band perform or looking at a beautiful painting. There's no new inherent product as an end result from any of those as the influence can get lost if presented to the wrong crowd. Many paintings and songs we consider to be priceless articles of humanity were once considered a form of low brow rebellion, even the death of their medium. If not that gives something far more credibility than a safe piece of fluff that can easily be accepted by the masses. Games like BioShock and Silent Hill have shaped my work in the same way as artistic masters or amazing cinematographers, though how much is a matter of debate and a topic of discussion for another time. Now that video games are a multi-billion dollar industry, I'm excited to see what the additional funds will lead to in terms of the next step in the evolution of art, even post video game.


Give a little introduction to yourself.

Hello! My name is Andrea Tallone. I am a 27 y.o. illustrator from the north west of Italy. Since I was a child I was addicted to any kind of art, especially comics and cartoons, and Richard Scarry books. My other interest is photography, so I call myself "half illustrator-half photographer." (www.atgraphics.it)

What is the name of your piece and what medium was it done in?

It's Mega Man! or some other people might know him as Rockman, but who cares, the result is the same. I normally work with vector, so i've tried to homage the pixel style in illustrator, creating a "vector-pixel" piece, in order to not lose the 80s feel of the character.

Why did you choose the game you did for this piece?

When my father bought me the first game boy, I think it was in '89, Mega Man was my best friend. I spent so many hours in front of that small green screen, killing all my enemies with my plasma gun!

Did you play games growing up?

Yes, a lot. I got a Game Boy as I said, then a NES and a SuperNES. After that I went to the GameCube and now I'm a happy possessor of an Xbox 360. I'm a big geek as you can imagine!

Are you playing any video games right now?

yep! I'm playing Dead Space (and it's freaking me out!), one of the best games I've ever seen. Before this, I enjoyed a lot Battlefield Bad Company and GTA IV.

Were there any other games/compositions you considered?

Initially I was thinking about Metroid or Ikari Warriors, other NES games I played a lot during my childhood. I will probably do them in the same pixelated style in the future.

Do you think that games can be seen as art? Why?

Of course it's art! Sometimes I buy a game only for the packaging or for the art I see on the cover. Then I spend minutes seeing some parts of the game without playing, just to see the colours, the details, the lights. I always think that people from videogame studios have the most wonderful job in the world! Anyone want to hire me? Hey there are you listening to me? :-)