Arcade Lounge

Every so often you come across an artist who really does say something new, Shawn Smith is one such artist. He is a genuinely talented guy, and I love what he does, as I’m certain you will.

Fascinated by the fuzzy intersection between the digital world and reality, Shawn Smith typically makes sculptures from tiny cubes of wood that are tactical, three-dimensional versions of pixelated images – ‘re-things’ is what Smith calls his sculpture.

“My work investigates the slippery intersection between the digital world and reality. Specifically, I am interested in how we experience nature through technology”. To view more of Shawn’s work take a look at his website Shawn Smith Art

This is definitely my favourite peice, called “Vicious Venue” it’s made using balsa wood and mixed media.

Landscape photos are often beautiful to look at but generally quite serious stuff but 8-bitscapes flips that convention on its head with their series of prints.

Originally created by artist/illustrator Jamie Sneddon and photographer Kevin Rozario-Johnson, 8-bitscapes combines fantastic pictures with elements of classic video games. Sonic running for rings in Köln. A Mario Kart banana peel dropped by an unseen Toad (it’s always Toad) ready to cause catastrophe for the approaching car. And, our favorite, Speedy the ghost waiting to seek his revenge on Pac Man in a converted Manhattan.

Each of the print runs is limited to 150 or less, so pick one of these up to hang on your wall before they become harder to find than an original Atari to play Pac-Man on! Available from  8-bitscapes  £50 – £690 per print.

I bet this map was a blast to put together, the Film Map is loosely based on those vintage Los Angeles streep maps. It features over 900 film titles and includes such favorites as Forrest Gump (which is, of course, a forest), The Green Mile, Reservoir Dogs, and the Valley of the Dolls. It even has its very own Red Light district.

Designed by Dorothy design company there is also a Song Map available. I’m hoping that one day Dorothy may put together a Retro Games Map, now that would be awesome!

Available from Dorothy, the open edition prints cost £25 each and the limited edition signed and stamped prints are going for £100. Of course this begs the question: Where would you want to live?

I wish I could tell you this bridge is actually made out of Lego bricks. Wouldn’t that be the best bridge ever if it was?

Well, this isn’t quite what it looks like. It’s a bit of an illusion because it’s an old ugly bridge that was painted to look like it was made out of Lego bricks.

Either way, this street art is awesome. I love it. The bridge is 820 feet long, and it took 4 weeks to get all the details just right so it would look like a real Lego bridge.

Painted by street artist Meqx. It’s located in Wuppertal, Germany so if you are ever in that area, please send us some pictures of you there!

This must be the most extensive charting of video game controllers ever, detailing 119 species and 11 genera over seven decades of gaming.

Each print is signed and numbered by the artists, from a limited first edition of 1000.

Using 100 lb. archival recycled stock certified by The Forest Stewardship Council, this print is pressed with vegetable-based inks in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Available through Pop Chart Lab for $30.00

Bulgarian designer, Alexander Nedelev, has produced some captivating works entitled “It’s Not a Game Anymore” where he uses retro game designs to depict messages about environmental degradation. Each black-and-white design features a stylized reproduction of a particular old school arcade game. A quote stating an environmental based statistic helps to support the message of the work.

These are the only three designs on Alexander Nedelev’s Behance portfolio but I do hope he makes additional works. There are plenty of well known retro game classics just waiting to be used as references in order to help spread the environmental awareness message.

We know many of you will be back at work this week after the Christmas break and let’s face it, it sucks!! The office decorations have been taken down, you’re feeling dreary and the office is looking that way too. Well we’ve stumbled across a new craze that will brighten up your office and reduce the boredom of being back at work….Post-It window art

Employees at Ubisoft Montreuil in France started decorating their windows with Post-it pictures but, their neighbours across the street at BNP bank took their Post-it artwork as a bit of a challenge, and started firing back with some window images of their own. Thus, the Great French Post-it War of 2011 was born. Clearly, it spawned an epic rivalry worthy of the likes of Mario and Bowser.

If you decide to create some art of your own we’d love to see what you come up with. For further inspiration check out more pictures at Kuriositas

DNA – The building blocks of life, and pretty much everything as we know it. In some ways DNA can be compared to pixels on a screen, the tiny squares on their own not meaning very much, but a few of them together can create amazing things. So to celebrate these stupendously important little squares we’ve found the 8-Bit Pixel Cube.

This nifty collection of 64 multicoloured bricks lets you build any 2D or 3D artwork in retro pixellated style. Each pixel is made from silicone, and has a magnet inside, making it easy to fit bricks together securely, whilst ensuring that any creations can be disassembled again when you want to create a new design. Just think of all those gaming characters you could release from their 2d prisons.

Available in the UK from Firebox at £18.99. 8 Bit Pixel Cube also has a Facebook page.

If you’ve seen the Banksy flick, Exit through the gift shop, then you’ll be familiar with the French street artist, Space Invader. Famous for his invasions around the world, he’s holding an exhibition in Paris until 17th July at La Générale

Blow up the crate for 1000 point bonus…

Atari cartridge stack…

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